SixtySix

192kpbs is a good all around rate. If you were to go down to 128kpbs you may notice that the low's are a little muddy, and the high's lack definition.

Dusty1

I tried ripping an album at 128k, and I agree with you--the highs are definitely degraded. I don't think the gain in space is worth the loss in fidelity. I'm sticking with 192k.

Dusty1

Has anyone tried Nero? I just purchased the latest version from their website, and it offers a lot more flexibility in selecting databit rates and quality of encoding...

....but I don't particularly like the way it lumps every song into the same directory. I actually like how Windows Media Player movies each album as a subfolder under a folder with the band's name.

If I could configure Nero to do the same thing, I'd be really happy. Having just installed it, it's going to take a lot of work to learn all the ins and outs.

Dusty1

I've spent the afternoon doing some experimenting...

First off, the disclaimer. Audio is an extremely subjective topic, and my findings will no doubt be disputed. I can only say that I spent quite a bit of time with this test and tried to make it as insusceptible to error as possible.

After downloading Nero V6.6.0.13 this morning, I found the databit rates are much more selectable than with Windows Media Player. In addition to databit rate, you can select encoding quality from a scale of 0 (highest quality/slowest rip) to 10 (lowest/fastest) using the PowerPack Lame MP3 Encoder included with Nero. For this experiment, I ripped the same song at the highest quality/slowest rate (0). I didn't want too many variables in the test.

I then ripped the same song (Mariah Carey-"Emotions" 4 minutes, 7 seconds in duration) using every available databit rate. I chose this song because in the first 2 seconds, there is a lot of thumping bass and a clashing cymbal. This made it easy to advance to the next databit rate and hear both bass and treble and compare it very quickly. This made it easier to detect the muddying of bass and loss of high end as the databit rate was reduced.

The high end equipment I used was a Yamaha C-80 Pre-amp, Yamaha M-85 amp, Sony RCD-W500C CD recorder, and Klipsch KG-4 speakers. (A set of good sealed heaphones would have been even better for this test)

Nero permits the following Databit rates (from highest to lowest quality in KBits/file size in kBytes):

320/9738 kBytes (for this song)
256/7791
224/6817
192/5843
160/4870
128/3896
112/3409
96/2922
80/2435
64/1948
56/1705
48/1461
40/1218
32/974

After burning the CD with the same song in all the databit rates, I used my remote and quickly went through 2 seconds of each track to see when I detected a significant loss in frequency response.

I was very surprised to find I could go as low as 80 kbits and still consider the frequency response acceptable. Now, I know that "acceptable" is very subjective from one person to the next. However, it wasn't until I hit 64 kbits that I really noticed a significant drop in high end. Muddy base was also more apparent, but I noticed bass degredation sooner; at 96 kbits it was noticeable but not really annoying yet.

Now, to be totally fair, I was listening on a home stereo system with absolutely no other sound in the room. Cruising in a GT with the top down would introduce a significant amount of ambiant noise which would have to be compensated with more volume, and the increase in distortion that accompanies it.

After this experiment, I am willing to burn a CDR at the 80 kbit rate and see how it sounds in the GT Vert, but that will have to wait until October when I take delivery. Or, someone else with Nero can give it a try.

Previously in this thread, it was said that 192Kbits was a good databit rate to use with no degredation. I will agree; but I think you can go even lower and still have great sound.

Every software package is different, so I can't say that Windows Media Player at 192kbits sounds exactly the same as Nero at 192Kbits. There appears to be much more adjustability with Nero, but that's because it set me back $79.95, and Windows Media Player (V10) is free.

In a 700 Meg CDROM, I could get 120 copies of "Emotions" if I recorded with 192 Kbit compression. Or, I could get 287 copies at 80 Kbit compression, or 1722 copies if I used all six slots in the shaker's changer (not that I would EVER want to listen to this song that much!)

It all boils down to--just how many songs do you really need at one time in that Shaker?

I hope this was helpful.

Fellser

Okay, but where do you go to change the bits?

I have MM Jukebox and Windows Media player, but I still don't know how to change it.

:bang:

Dusty1

In Windows Media Player, go to Tools and select the RIP MUSIC tab, and at the bottom you'll see a sliding bar that lets you select 4 levels of compression: highest compression/lowest fidelity to the left.

I don't know about MM Jukebox, since I've never used it. Good luck!

stever

One thing that has not been brought up here is encoding using VBR (variable bit rate). Simplified, VBR rips songs from your cd's, and adjusts the bitrate based on how "busy" the music is. It saves quite a bit of room file size wise, but still gives you better quality than 128. I have ripped over 600 cd's from my collection using this method, and am very happy with it.

I haven't used Windows Media Player for a while, but I know that there used to be an add on that would allow you to rip in VBR. It wouldn't surprise me if it is built right into the palyer now.

Currently I use iTunes, which does a great job encoding. Plus it's free. I switched over from Music Match and Media Player a couple years ago after I bout my iPod because trying to manage a music library over several software packages is a nightmare. If I can recommend one thing, it is to find the program that works best for you and to stick with it.

Dusty, as you mentioned, a lot of audio quality is preference, but this was the best combination I found.

Hope I didn't muddy the waters even more. Just my experience.

ponyboy66

I use an early version of Nero express 6.

I rip with WM at 256. I can't deal with quality less than that. I notice it.

Open up Nero and select burn MP3.

Nero allows you to arrange by folder.

The only thing that I do not like and I would think it comes from WM is the album tag info. The shaker sees the name of the song, the album, but not the artist.

What is a good site to get album info? Or, what am I doing wrong?

Shutter866

How good does the Shaker 500 sound?