I am not sure if this has been discussed here already - didn't get lucky with the search.

I have some MPC -xtr and -std files that I want to use with my TerraTec M3PO. So transcoding to MP3s.

How bad is the damage? I remeber Dibrom pointing out that MPC->MP3 isn't as bad as MP3->MP3, but I think Dibrom used a very up tuned MPC settings.

Would --alt-preset standard be sufficient, or straight up to "insane"? "insane" vs. "extreme" in this matter?

I'm curious about this too, as well as transcoding from MPC insane to MPC extreme. I have some MPC insane encodes that are a bit big for my tastes but I don't know if transcoding MPC->MPC makes any sense whatsoever Suggestions?

To answer the first question, I think transcoding mpc -xtreme to --alt-preset standard should work out pretty well. My understanding of it is that the nature of subband encoders lend themselves more towards transcoding than most other methods. Of course, transcoding is never ideal, but in the case of mpc -xtreme to --alt-preset standard, I doubt there would be significant damage done.

I'd imagine one could transcode from mpc insane to mpc xtreme as well, probably with even less of an issue. In the case of insane to xtreme, you also have the advantage that insane provided full frequency reproduction to at least some extent.

I think where you are going to really run into trouble the most is doing mp3 to mp3.