Hi guys,

This is my first post, so please be gentle

I've got a whole bunch of high quality VBR mp3s, problem is, that some hardware I have won't play VBR mp3s properly. I'm wondering if there is a way to convert these into CBR mp3s, say 320kbps, which would be the MAX for the frames inside the mp3 file. This means that the 320kbps frames would stay the same, and anything below that would be 'filled out' into 320kbps frames with some form of magical lossless methodology.

I'm probably dreaming, but it would be great if something could do this. The VBR mp3s in question are generally around 220-250kbps anyway, so the increase in size isn't really all that big a deal. I just want them to play right on this player... without having to burn normal audio CDs.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

I think this is possible. Someone wrote a utility that works in the reverse direction, IIRC.

Yes, Omion did.

Sweet, thanks for the info! I've managed to use his program to fill out the VBR mp3 to 320kbps. [edit]I used the '-b 320' parameter to achieve this.[/edit] It's still a "VBR" mp3, however, even though all the frames are 320kbps. Any ideas on how to change this?

Just in case anyone else is looking to do a similar thing, version 0.06 of mp3packer will now do this job. Thanks heaps Omiom!

Just use the '-b 320' option:
./mp3packer.pl -b 320 01-space_cat_-_sleep-walker-mycel.mp3 01-space_cat_-_sleep-walker-mycel-320.mp3

If your MP3 player / tool / app does not support VBR, it's broken. Get a refund.

the funny thing is I haven't even bought the unit yet... this is just in anticipation ... The product development team at Pioneer say the CDJ-200 units wouldn't have the extra processing power required for the VBR files, so a firmware upgrade won't fix it...

ah well at least if i pad out a file to 320kbps i can use the same tool to shrink it back down to its minimal VBR cousin, if i need to save space...

If the unit cannot play VBR MP3 files, it's not an MP3 player.

I wonder what is in VBR decoding so much more computing-power-hungry than in CBR decoding

My guess would be it's because the system is made for doing DJ type stuff, not just playing an mp3 linearly. For instance, maybe it's more difficult to accurately use the jog-shuttle with VBR. But really, for the kind of money this thing costs you would expect it to work with VBR without any problems.

oh my gosh. I cannot believe this. Thank the lord that I stumbled upon this page, mere instants before I was set to order a Pioneer cdj-200. -ALL- of my mp3 music in VBR. I have been backing up my vinyl to mp3 for some years now. Since the begining I have never seen any use for using CBR encoding, other than if you really want to waste extra space!!

this is horrible. because I had full plans to buy 2units of the Pioneer CDJ's. Now that I know I can't play any of my archival-quality music colletion on mp3 on these devices I am quite upset. I guess it's better this way than for me to buy them and discover in person.

here's my question: Which MP3 CDJ's can actually read MP3 VBR files on a standard ISO cd-r???? you would think it's no big deal. but if Pioneer can't do it, I start to worry about the others I have been considering: GEmini MPx30 MP3 CD player The Vestax CDX-05

If all 3 of these players refuse to read my archival quality standard VBR-encoded MP3 files --- I think I'm going to just about lose it!!!!! please help me!!

which cd player is my answeR??

btw, nice forum you guys have got here. I might just stick around

Wow, look at this!

Denon DNS1000

mp3 playback:

-- mp3 seamless looping w/ B point trim

-- mp3 scratching

-- mp3 hot starts, MP3 effects

-- C.B.R. and V.B.R. encoding up to 320 kbps

-- ID3 tags, displays (title, artist, album)

-- mp3 file search system (locate your files by name fast and easy)



http://www.samedaymusic.com/product--DENDNS1000

I think I'm in love!!

Yeah those ones look nice... Denon seem to have the VBR mp3 business down pat... apparently... would be an idea to take your disc full of mp3s into a store with the players set up and see how it goes with setting cue points + looping with the VBR mp3s.... The CDJ-200's play VBR mp3s, but they don't let u set cue points or skip thru the file easily... I've ordered some CDJ-200's anyway ... cos they're what I'm used to... and pioneer seem to have a pretty good rep... if only they'd hurry up and arrive now

I did some research on the Denon's pitch shift. I am not happy with only being able to adjust the pitch +/- .1% at a time. that's what I have on my old Numark CDJs, and half the reason I'm looking for an upgrade...

so you say the pioneer CDJ-200 can decode a VBR mp3, I mean play it and adjust the pitch just like normal? holy smokes! that might just be enough for me. I mean all the fancy cueing and looping features sound nice but honestly that's not what I'm looking for a MP3 CDJ unit for. I am TOTALLY impressed by their +/- .02% pitch shift ability. I'm going to go check them out at guitar center tomorrow. if they perform as well as expected, I will walk out of the store with 2... or a couple of rain checks

can you set a cue point at all with VBR mp3s? also, can it read the name of the mp3 file and display it thru CD-TEXT with the LCD display? that would sweeten the deal!

Yes, you can play VBR MP3s and adjust the tempo as normal (the CDJ's never change the pitch tho, only the tempo - nice feature...). Yeah give em a go in store somewhere they feel nice... not as plastic as some other decks

I don't think u can set the cue points at all with the VBR mp3s... I mean sure, u can get up to a certain spot and press 'pause' but that's about it. Also, if you want to fast-forward through a track, you have to use the jog-wheel in slow mode... I'm pretty sure you can't use the normal seek functions...

Edit: And yes, it displays the filename on the display (note sure about ID3 tags). It also shows the folder names, and the 'Folder Search' buttons are prominently available on the top left of the control.

Oh yeah and there are actual Pioneer reps active on this forum:
http://www.pioneerprodjforums.com/

You can ask em any specific questions there

those guys make me feel stupid for saying that VBR is the best-bet for all-around mp3 encoding. I think they are just mad that their favorite products don't support it..... ;0 yet, here I go. I think I'm about to buy 2 pioneer cdj-200's simply because there is no other CDJ unit out there that has such fine pitch controls.

Also, I went by the store today and tried out 6 or 7 different very high $$ CDJ units from several different manufacturers. only one of them, by numark, could control my VBR mp3 files on CD with the CUE command. ALL of the rest of them shot back the standard error message - VBR!!

the cdj-200 actually has very good pitch controls, very fine jog wheel, impressive track name display...... oh and all of this actually does work fine for VBR mp3s. just don't expect to rely on the CUE button. it's a good thing that all of my mp3s have been cut to exactly the first beat, to start the track. thereby effectively eliminating the need for CUEing my mp3 singles to begin with. I don't care about advanced functions.

my question is this, does anyone know of a CDJ unit for less than ($500) that will play (and manipulate, like CUE, fast forward) VBR mp3s-- also while maintaining the ultra-precise pitch control (-/+ .02%) that the pioneer cdj-200 units do?

AFter all my research I think such a unit simply does not exist. so I will put up with the very small disappointment of not being able to cue and FF, rewind my mp3 singles and just enjoy the rest of this incredible CDJ.

Yeah I don't think such an mythical CDJ device exists... not yet anyway...
In the meantime, I'm going to either burn my VBR mp3s as audio CDs, or upscale them to 320kbps (without re-encoding, as is the topic of this thread ).

As a lot of the VBR files I have are around 200kbps anyway, it's only about a 50% increase in file size with the upscaling method... or a 33% decrease in amount of music I can store on a disc... I can live with that... I'm keen to try out the looping functions on the CDJ-200... when I finally get them! ... still waiting...

If you need a copy of the latest version of the mp3packer let me know... it works pretty fast

mp3packer is available on this thread: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=32379

I'm making a GUI for it in my spare time... who knows how that will go... will still require perl (e.g. from http://www.activestate.com) to be downloaded.

the cdj-200 is great with these converted VBR-to-CBR mp3s.

I can use all the special features. I had already given up on those when I ordered it. I am so happy!

The GUI for mp3packer is available in this thread: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=40780

Features:
. Allows for batch processing - multiple files and folders may be selected.
. Allows for processing whole folders. Will also recurse into the sub-folders and process the files in there.
. When processing whole folders, the option 'Recreate sub-folders' will put the output files into the same sort of directory structure as the input files.
. Will figure out what the optimum CBR bitrate is for a VBR file, useful for putting the files on the CDJ-200's