IDM Mailing Archive

In the process of transferring my CD collection to disc, and I was wondering if there is a viable alternative to those huge WAV files. I deejay from time to time, and found that MP3s sound like pure shit through any halfway decent system. Has anyone had any good experience with any other formats (AIFF, AAC, etc) in terms of sound quality? Feenin' for gigabytes tg Yours truly,

mp3 doesn't sound bad if you use high quality VBR, and if you use the lame encoder '--alt-preset standard' is very good -- decent compression and good sound quality. 128k MP3s are going to sound about FM-radio quality. If you're playing out on a big system, it would be good if you got something better than builtin laptop audio -- cheap laptops sound really crap on a big system. There are other formats -- OGG, WMV, etc, but you're kind of limited to what your DJ software can read. FLAC format http://flac.sourceforge.net/ is lossless, but I don't know of any DJ app that reads it. On Wed, 23 Mar 2005 13:25:25 EST, Doopeyduk@aol.com <Doopeyduk@aol.com> wrote:

quoted 13 lines In the process of transferring my CD collection to disc, and I was wondering

> In the process of transferring my CD collection to disc, and I was wondering > if there is a viable alternative to those huge WAV files. I deejay from time > to time, and found that MP3s sound like pure shit through any halfway decent > system. Has anyone had any good experience with any other formats (AIFF, AAC, > etc) in terms of sound quality? > > Feenin' for gigabytes > > tg > > Yours truly, > >

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On Wed, 23 Mar 2005 16:38:08 -0600, Kent Williams <chaircrusher@gmail.com> wrote:

quoted 13 lines mp3 doesn't sound bad if you use high quality VBR, and if you use the

> mp3 doesn't sound bad if you use high quality VBR, and if you use the > lame encoder '--alt-preset standard' is very good -- decent > compression and good sound quality. 128k MP3s are going to sound > about FM-radio quality. > > If you're playing out on a big system, it would be good if you got > something better than builtin laptop audio -- cheap laptops sound > really crap on a big system. > > There are other formats -- OGG, WMV, etc, but you're kind of limited > to what your DJ software can read. FLAC format > http://flac.sourceforge.net/ is lossless, but I don't know of any DJ > app that reads it.

a good summary, I was going to say pretty much the same, when it comes down to encoded mp3's, don't settle for anything less than the maximum 320k sample rate -- "progress doesn't come from early risers progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things" http://n3wjack.blogspot.com http://www.jungletrain.net - 24/7 dnb radio station Plenty of gmail invites left, let me know if you want one. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

So... anyway, I get a better idea of what you're up to. First off -- if you let iTunes do your mp3 encoding, it's not going to sound so great. So if you're ripping stuff to DJ with, I'd recommend ripping to AIFF and then encoding with Lame. I'm sure there's an OSX build of lame around somewhere. I don't own a Mac so I can't vouch for the quality or utility of OS X programs, but you might try MuseP3 as an encoder front-end: http://www.thetakent.tk But I think if you're serious about DJ'ing with ripped audio, it wouldn't hurt to spend some time in the audio editor of your choice compressing and normalizing before you encode, so you don't run into awkward volume differences between tracks. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

On 24 Mar 2005 at 10:10, Kent Williams wrote:

quoted 4 lines But I think if you're serious about DJ'ing with ripped audio, it

> But I think if you're serious about DJ'ing with ripped audio, it > wouldn't hurt to spend some time in the audio editor of your choice > compressing and normalizing before you encode, so you don't run into > awkward volume differences between tracks.

This is very valid advice. Been there... done that (egg all over face moment!) I * --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

In a message dated 3/24/05 2:52:30 AM, n3wjack@gmail.com writes:

quoted 4 lines "progress doesn't come from early risers

> "progress doesn't come from early risers > progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things" > >

Thanks for all the input, though I am lazy, and basically ripping my CDs using Itunes (on a G4 ibook), which gives me the option of AAC, Apple lossless and AIFF, in addition to MP3. any of these first three work as a decent WAV substitute? Luddite seeking the fountain of tech enlightenment: tg Yours truly,

On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 07:33:40 EST, Doopeyduk@aol.com <Doopeyduk@aol.com> wrote:

quoted 16 lines In a message dated 3/24/05 2:52:30 AM, n3wjack@gmail.com writes:

> > In a message dated 3/24/05 2:52:30 AM, n3wjack@gmail.com writes: > > > > "progress doesn't come from early risers > progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things" > > > > Thanks for all the input, though I am lazy, and basically ripping my CDs > using Itunes (on a G4 ibook), which gives me the option of AAC, Apple > lossless and AIFF, in addition to MP3. any of these first three work as a > decent WAV substitute? > > Luddite seeking the fountain of tech enlightenment:

AIFF isn't compressed either, just like WAV, so there's no point in using that, I don't know AAC myself, but a quick google tells me this is an Apple custom compressed QuickTime format (http://www.apple.com/mpeg4/aac/) and according to the Apple page, it's the shit... but hey, they are talking about their own product, so what do you expect, it all depends on what the soft you're going to be jamming those tunes in supports I guess, can you crank up the MP3 quality when ripping with iTunes btw? Otherwise I'd go for that, but then again, I hate quicktime... -- "progress doesn't come from early risers progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things" http://n3wjack.blogspot.com http://www.jungletrain.net - 24/7 dnb radio station Plenty of gmail invites left, let me know if you want one. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

On Mar 24, 2005, at 7:33 AM, Doopeyduk@aol.com wrote:

quoted 16 lines In a message dated 3/24/05 2:52:30 AM, n3wjack@gmail.com writes:

> > In a message dated 3/24/05 2:52:30 AM, n3wjack@gmail.com writes: > > >> "progress doesn't come from early risers >> progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things" >> >> > > Thanks for all the input, though I am lazy, and basically ripping my > CDs > using Itunes (on a G4 ibook), which gives me the option of AAC, Apple > lossless and > AIFF, in addition to MP3. any of these first three work as a decent WAV > substitute? >

AIFF is pretty much equivalent to WAV. It is uncompressed, and on the Mac nearly any audio app can read it. The files are fast to rip and really huge, but they sound just like the original. Apple Lossless also sounds just like the original, but it is compressed, so the files are about half the size of an AIFF or a WAV. They take longer to rip, but if you're short on disk space, this will save you a lot. It is a proprietary format and software support for it is still limited, however you can always use iTunes to recover an AIFF from it. AAC is lossy, like MP3, but is reported to have a better audio quality/size ratio. So a max quality AAC may sound a bit better than a max quality MP3, but I don't know how significant the difference really is. Software support for this is also fairly limited, though I know Traktor adds support for it in 2.6, if that's what you're using. Still, it seems like this option may not be the best for your needs. -- Tim Moore --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

You can rip with iTunes at 320k and VBR... I do it all the time, and they sound as good as any CD... I also DJ from my laptop, and unless it was a dodgy slsk download, all my mp3s sound great. -xenlab On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 07:33:40 EST, Doopeyduk@aol.com <Doopeyduk@aol.com> wrote:

quoted 20 lines In a message dated 3/24/05 2:52:30 AM, n3wjack@gmail.com writes:

> > In a message dated 3/24/05 2:52:30 AM, n3wjack@gmail.com writes: > > > "progress doesn't come from early risers > > progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things" > > > > > > Thanks for all the input, though I am lazy, and basically ripping my CDs > using Itunes (on a G4 ibook), which gives me the option of AAC, Apple lossless and > AIFF, in addition to MP3. any of these first three work as a decent WAV > substitute? > > Luddite seeking the fountain of tech enlightenment: > > tg > > Yours truly, > >

-- - xenlab - http://www.ezrpm.com/ - http://www.xnlb.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

I meant to also add, to get to 320k, use the Custom... setting iTunes... On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 10:56:25 -0500, egyptian zombie robot <egyptianzombierobot@gmail.com> wrote:

quoted 34 lines You can rip with iTunes at 320k and VBR... I do it all the time, and

> You can rip with iTunes at 320k and VBR... I do it all the time, and > they sound as good as any CD... I also DJ from my laptop, and unless > it was a dodgy slsk download, all my mp3s sound great. > > -xenlab > > On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 07:33:40 EST, Doopeyduk@aol.com <Doopeyduk@aol.com> wrote: > > > > In a message dated 3/24/05 2:52:30 AM, n3wjack@gmail.com writes: > > > > > "progress doesn't come from early risers > > > progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things" > > > > > > > > > > Thanks for all the input, though I am lazy, and basically ripping my CDs > > using Itunes (on a G4 ibook), which gives me the option of AAC, Apple lossless and > > AIFF, in addition to MP3. any of these first three work as a decent WAV > > substitute? > > > > Luddite seeking the fountain of tech enlightenment: > > > > tg > > > > Yours truly, > > > > > > -- > > - xenlab > - http://www.ezrpm.com/ > - http://www.xnlb.com/ >

-- - xenlab - http://www.ezrpm.com/ - http://www.xnlb.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org