Posted by david on 11/28/05 15:50

Hi all,

I am starting an online label for high quality mp3 downloads and was
wondering what "real people" think about some questions I have. The
main question is: what quality settings should I use for encoding?
I'm using 'lame' as my encoder and have been looking at the presets
available. As my aim is to offer music with the best available audio
quality, I have been using the "insane" preset, which theoretically
goes up to 320 kbps. One CD I encoded--about 1 hr in length--came in
at around 138 MB, so a little more than twice the size of what seems to
be the de facto standard. If you are familiar with lame you're
probably wondering which version I have, and unfortunately it's on my
other computer, sorry. 2.something. Also, I have had trouble with the
tagging functionality--couldn't get it to parse the command line
correctly in either the bash or dos shell. So.. any general tips are
appreciated. Just surfing around, I noticed a front-end called
Razorlame. Is it any good? Anyway, time for a poll!

As a listener, can you tell the difference in encoding quality at
different bitrates and other settings?
Would you be more or less likely to purchase an album at 138 MB vs. 60
MB, assuming the larger file would have noticeably better audio?
What would you like to see in an online distributor that is not already
being addressed by the major players?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Lastly, if you would like to join my "spam list", email me with the
words "SPAM ME" in the subject. I am hoping to launch officially on or
before 12/18/05, but I will probably be announcing only on
rec.music.progressive, which is most appropriate for my current focus
musically.

Best Regards,
David Oskardmay

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