Is there a program out there that can ID that a mp3 file was encoded from a lossless source,(apple .m4a lossless, wav, ape, ...etc) and not another lossy format?

How can you tell if a 128kbps mp3 file has been re-encoded to 320kbps?
Thanks!

So many geniuses here and nobody has a reply?

Use auCDtect or Tau Analyzer: http://www.true-audio.com/

128k has a 16khz lowpass, So its likely that a transcoded 320k file also has that lowpass.

Thanks guys but those programs check CD records autheticity detector CDA files, anything for checking MP3's?

Burn the MP3's to a CD?

well well i sense some fucking attitude.. and to answer your question let your ears be the judge. if certain instruments sound smeared, if there's some pre echo, if the frequency cutoff is well below 16 kHz (yes i know frequency sweep says nothing about quality but when you think about it this method can be handy in identifying these files) these are all indications that more than one encoder was used. but for best results use your ears in this situation. and use headphones.

If you don't know the lineage of your mp3 files, you've probably got no business having them!

HA is not a playground for piracy.

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"Now, now fellas"...

Dude's got an interesting question there - one I have wondered myself in the past. I'm sure that one of the software devs' on this site will have a succinct answer. Just a hunch, but I suspect that there must surely be some header information (perhaps I use incorrect term), squirreled away in the MP3's code... No? Wouldn't cha' think? I had generally imagined that there would be some metadata in a frame that tracked the file as it was manipulated.

PS: Ozzy' man - check the cheek, it'll always get cha' burned online...

Andrew D.
www.cdnav.com
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LOL ... it also got him two immediate replies, after waiting 5 days.

Regards,
Madrigal

Whatever it got him, he's still shit outta luck since he's looking for something to detect a re-encoded mp3. auCDtect and Tau Analyzer will be of no use.

Before I had an iPod... I made mix CDs. I probably have 30-40 of them lying around in various CD binders, etc. Many of these were made in the 1990s by laboriously swapping original CDs out during the burning process. Many of these were made back in the days of iTunes 1-4 from MP3s encoded by iTunes. While, I can usually hear the difference, it would be nice to have a tool that would quickly tell me the source...

*shrugs*

So its ok to use programs to check the quality of CD's but not MP3's?, If you have the original CD's why is there a need to check CD's?

Thanks to those that deserve a thanks...

oh come on now you're not expecting me to believe that you've never downloaded anything you don't owe the right to from the internet. regardless of whether his are legal or not, he was asking a simple question without really referring to anything illegal for all we know. there are plenty of download shops and online record shops, especially electronic music, who sell "high quality" mp3s and i've personally seen re-encoded shit coming from them. were you here a few years ago when i posted tracks that i received on CD that were all wmas masquerading as original masters?

Indeed, looking at the waveform should say enough about the audio file to determine if it was 128kbps to start with. Doing so could be done with a free tool such as Audacity and will most likely be more exact than any auto-checker assuming it's in the hands of soemone capable to understand the output.

Though, if we're assuming we're not talking about pirated mp3s here and just mp3s for someone's personal collection listening to them and determining if they sound good or not should be enough.

I could see if someone was posting links to download files, that has nothing to do with this forum since no files are hosted here which everyone knows...

If you can post software links to check the quality of CD's and say THATS OK, but condem someone for asking about checking MP3's quality, well something is definately wrong with the mind set...

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/