hi there folks, mind if i make a couple of silly questions here...

Sometimes i get mp3 files that come encoded in CBR 128 or just CBR. Is it advisable to decompress them in EAC and compress them again the way i want, ie VBR. Do i have to use the same codec that compressed the file originally or can i use anyone? and if i don´t which codec was used? can i use some sort of info software that gives me that info? As i use foobar most of the times the info panel doesn´t say nothing about which codec was used.

I also noticed that since using eac to rip and burrn to cd, as i have 10cd player in my car, even using VBR 192 APE, most music gets much squeezed in high frequencies and even if if i low treble and put more bass that sensation is there (it´s not a sensation, i know the sound... because i have the original cd's) Should i decompress mp3 (or simply rip) to wav and then record wav cd (using nero) in order to have the uncompressed file on cd?

thanks a lot for your help

The Answer to your first question

I wouldn't call two a bunch.

Decompressing from MP3 to WAVE will do you no good. If you are unhappy with your settings you could try improving the quality. Check the LAME wiki page for the recommended LAME version and settings.

Is it a car CD deck with MP3 support you are talking about? What is "VBR 192 APE"? VBR targets a quality leevl, not bitrate; you must be thinking ABR. Is "APE" --alt-preset extreme? If yes, then what it has to do with 192kbps? Get that confusion out of the way. <g>

Ugh. What is that supposed to mean?

Sure, you can burn plain audio CDs from ripped WAVs; but that kind of defeats the purpose of having an MP3 deck. Though if that deck cannot play back MP3s without the mysterious squeezing, you're better off with audio CDs.