Posted by anthonyberet on 11/28/05 16:17

david wrote:
> 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.
>
If quality is your aim, then you should probably check out flac files.
http://flac.sourceforge.net/index.html

I personally like my mp3's to be bitrate 192 and up, - 128 is a common
rate but this is definitely a bit rough for audiophiles, although of
course it is handy for slow net connections.

Why not offer a choice of bitrates on your site?

If you want to encode painlessly then cdex is good.

[Back to original message]