Ripping mp3s from CDs: VBR vs CBR

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I only started listening to CDs and cassettes on a regular basis after perhaps 15 years of not doing so. I've gone the download off of peer network route, but getting all the songs off an album, without flaws is too time-consuming. So, for the past three days, I've been borrowing from the public library system.

When I downloaded, I used to get 128kbps. THen I read on forums that one should get 192kbps or higher. THe 192kbps files sounded louder than the 128kbps ones. I don't know if that means it is clearer or just louder. When I started ripping CDs three days ago, I used Audiograbber, which is freeware, and used 224kbps. I don't notice a difference between 224kbps and 192kbps. I guess I am subconsciously telling myself I am getting a better quality sound. Anyway, I also found out about VBR, which encodes the file according to how complex the music is. With VBR, one ends up with a slightly smaller file, perhaps 12 percent smaller. Sound is the same as 192kbps and 224kbps. The highest quality setting is VBR 0, and the lowest is VBR 9. I read on a forum that VBR 1 is sufficient.

WHen I burned mp3s to CDRs, I didn't notice a difference between 128kbps and 192kbps when I played the CDRs in a car stereo. I had to crank up the volume on the car stereo to an acceptable level. I haven't burned a VBR 1 album yet.

So I guess I am wondering what bitrates you guys and gals rip, download, or buy ( via iTunes) and listen to for mp3s. Perhaps I am fooling myself into thinking higher bitrate is better when all I really need is 128kbps?

A 128kbps MP3 that is well encoded with something like LAME will sound very good to most people though playing it followed by a CD most people will tell the difference. For downloading or ripping MP3s I try and get them at least 192kbps. In all cases its worthwhile to get them on a VBR or ABR. VBR uses quality settings rather than a bitrate point. I tend to use ABR (average bitrate) where there is an average bitrate for the whole track but where it can vary continuously between two points, for example an MP3 with an ABR of 192kbps might have a floor of 112kbps and a ceeling of 320kbps.

MP3s are very versatile, though these days I tend to use other formats depending on what they support. I used to convert my MP3s to 80-96kbps ABR Windows Media Audio though with a new mobile phone I have that supports MP4/AAC+ audio, its very efficient.

My advice for MP3's are 192kbps ABR, which IMHO is better than CBR. If using VBR a value of 2 or maybe 3 might be OK. But at 192kbps ABR, unless you're an audiophile that can hear a fly fart from across the room its almost indistinguishable to a CD.

Personally I use the LAME encoder to rip CD's and I rip at 320 K/sec. 128 is sufficient for streamed material, however, my ears are sensitive enough to hear the compression artifacts, and filter oscillation in the background. My main issue is the filter oscillation. It sounds somewhat like a bandpass filtered phase shifter pedal on the high frequencies.

192k/sec is sufficient for most rock,rap and pop music, but not for acoustic/ambient music with a wide dynamic range like Jazz and Orchestra, and some types of industrial and electronic music. The filter oscillation is still somewhat evident if you listen closely. Also 192K/sec is fine for normal home listening applications. --I prefer not to use low bitrate material for high SPL applications such as PA systems, because even though the noisefloor is decreased at 192K/sec, it's quite noticible at high SPL's.


That being said. I rip most of my stuff at 320k/sec with a constant bitrate in order to get as close to CD quality as possible. For ripping CD's I recommend CDEx, which utilises the LAME Encoder. CDEx is also GPL'd, and the next version will also rip your CD's to OGG Vorbis and FLAC files.

if you have the space in your computer, go with 192 or 160. As many mentioned, 128 is "ok", but later you'll start to notice artifacts, especially when using headphones. And CDex is a nice small freeware to convert music. I also like dbPowerAmp, supports many many formats, search for the last freeware version(10.1).

I tried and converted some CD's to MP4, they take very little space, but the downside is that if you own an MP3 player, you'll need to convert them to MP3.

I have a unique perspective on this because I've been posting on the JHymn forums about iTunes Music Store. Basically they encode files in mp4 formatt using AAC. The result is not an mp3 but instead an m4a (basically audio only mp4). It's the next generation of sound file, however with so many mp3's floating around it's probably never going to entirely knock them out.

Apple iTunes is encoded, so you can't play it except using iTunes itself + password to account. This can be circumvented using a direct to audio sound recorder or using QTFairUse6 2.5 (obtain from IRC freenode #hymn). I use that to get rid of the encryption, but still I've bought the songs (seems fair).

The question of what to encode with is simple, download iTunes then use AAC. The reason being it is better quality, has more to offer, and is newer. Almost my entire library of 400 songs is .m4a!

AAC @ 128 = 192 MP3

That's kinda the difference right there....

The question also comes to mind what will you use to play your music? If it only supports mp3's then always encode in that format, never transcode anything (one compression to another) as it will just decrease quality an leave more artifacts.

I'd say the preferred method for encoding is

FLAC or APE
M4A (audio only mp4)
MP3
OGG

That's what I'd shoot for. The first option is lossless, meaning it will compress it into a rather small 40mb file, but it looses nothing of the original recording. It keeps basically all audio! Using that you could in theory form a complete library that's lossless, then convert the lossless into whatever format you like... mp3, ogg, etc.

I would do that but since I don't have all the original CD's I figured I'd go with m4a.

MP3 is great because it's mostly "open-source". WMA and MPEG-4 are limited due to the fact that they're not "open-source", may contain DRM content, and aren't as popular as MP3 -- although MPEG-4 can compress with a higher quality than MP3 does.

One tip:

TRANSCODING IS BAD -- it makes your "compressed" audio files sound WORSE than the original "source files" were to begin with!!

Here's an example of what "transcoding" is:

** You take an .MP3 file...
** encode it to .WAV...
** then encode it to .WMA...

It's better to make just one conversion (.WAV to .MP3) or use "lossless" audio methods such as FLAC.

If you want to trim certain sections off from your MP3s (ex. remove silence at the beginning or end), I would recommend using a free ultility called MP3 Direct Cut. This program can trim your MP3s WITHOUT encoding them twice!!

ogg would be true open source. as for mp3s, it depends on the type of music. but i never use vbr its crap.

Use LAME and go at 320KB/s. I highly doubt you'll be able to tell it is lossy encoded.