I'm using streamripper for winamp and it save files to .aac format. the radios i listen are 24kb 44.1khz stereo, and the .aac file gets the same config, but when i convert then with foolbar the .mp3 file gets only 8khz.

i'm newbie to enconding stuff, i been reading this forum for hours but didn't find the answer...

so what i ask is what i should do to get 24kb 44.1khz stereo .mp3 files.


thanks.

First of all, converting from one lossy format to another may introduce unwanted artifacts. Secondly, the AAC stream is probably using SBR and PS to get such a low bitrate at 44.1KHz. When you try to transcode to mp3 at 24kbps the mp3 encoder will automatically resample to be able to encode the file properly. With only 24kbps there aren't enough bits to fully encode a 44.1KHz sample in standard mp3.

I would just leave the files as is, unless for some reason you have to have them as mp3.

i have to because i burn mp3 cds to listen with my discman

i get 44.1 and the same audio quality when i use standard preset, VBR, but then the file size is 8 times bigger

If you are using lame to encode to mp3 you could add the option "--resample", but I don't know how much of a difference it's going to make, there is still going to be a lowpass filter in place around 6KHz. So then you would have to use the "--lowpass" switch and the file would sound even worse.

If your discman supports VBR files, I would try using lame with the -V9 switch.

lame -b 24 --freeformat --resample 44

have fun.. it'll sound really bad though, and it wont play on most things

yeah with these settings it sounds bad

...

if i try with bitrates bigger than 128kb i get the same quality of the .aac file, with filesize 5 times bigger. i guess i can't get smaller files with the same quality then...

Not using mp3.

(I wonder how *no one* hasn't yet pointed out the HARD fact that MP3 does not support a bitrate of less than 32kbps for 32/44/48Khz.)

sattan_hussein : (huh? strange nick...). These streams you're listening use better compressions than mp3. you can not expect them to "magically" sound the same in MP3. your best bet, if filesize is that important to you ( I wouldn't think so, with a MP3 CD), you could try with settings -b 64 -m m or -b 96 ( 64kbits mono, or 96kbits stereo). That's the best you can do, if you don't want higher filesizes, but want to maintain "some" quality.
(You can also try the -V 6 or -V 7 settings)



What the *HELL* is this suggestion? first, --freeformat with a bitrate setting is incompatible, but moreover, how come you expect a freeformat stream to be played on a discman?



And that is an answer to which question?