mp3 bitrate

[timtim]

Is it possible to encode to mp3 at a higher bitrate than 128kbps in Audacity? As far as I can see 128 is the only bitrate Audacity will do, and it sounds horribly distorted on quiet music.

[ignatz]

Do you mean export a captured sound file at a higher rate than mp3?

I do that all the time. I use quality 2, VBR, and joint stereo.

The resulting mp3s are generally around 200 kbps bit rate, give or take.

The setting is done at the moment of export, from the "options" button at the lower right of the export window. Once set, it will stick unless you later change it. You can choose mp3, WAV, etc at the same location.

[timtim]

Well I meant mp3 at 320kbps. I've just taken a look at the Export window and found 320kbps in Options, so thank you!
Incidentaly will mp3 players play VBR and ogg vorbis and all those other wierd codecs?

[ignatz]

I never heard of an mp3 player that will not play VBR mp3s.

I know nothing about OGG files and would guess compatibility varies between brands of portable players. I don't own one.

[steve]

Incidentaly will mp3 players play VBR and ogg vorbis and all those other wierd codecs?

For hardware MP3 players - most will VBR MP3s correctly, though they may display the wrong track length (this does not usually affect playback, only the display of the length/play time of the track). For other formats (such as OGG,WMA, ...) it is as ignatz has said - it depends on the make/model and many/most will only play MP3s. A few old players do not support VBR but that is pretty rare these days.

For software MP3 players, most will play OGG files, and many will play other formats including WMA, FLAC, and so on. Some software players may require additional (usually free) plug-ins for supporting OGG and FLAC.

[timtim]

Thanks to you both. I've been doing tests on quiet guitar and vocal music, and to my ears 320k constant bit rate sounds perfect, so does VBR 220-260, VBR 95-135 sounds less than perfect, and 128 constant BR sounds horrible (distorted, muddy, no clarity). My last question is what is the difference between Stereo and Joint Stereo?

[ignatz]

Look here for a pseudo-technical explanation. I'm sure you can google a master's thesis worth of stuff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_stereo

Lots of detail in this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthre ... 26&page=15

For the layman it means this: joint stereo encodes a lot quicker with no perceptible quality loss. I think that is because joint stereo allows high frequencies to be treated as mono. Apparently the ear can't detect left versus right in certain cases.

It's been the highly recommended choice for the average user in the last few years--as is VBR.

Constant bit rate is frowned on. I'm not sure if that is solely because of the large file space it takes, or if there are audible reasons to avoid it.

[timtim]

Thanks. I read all the info and I don't think I'll use joint stereo - I'm not that desperate to save a few bits. According to Audacity info VBR is usualy better quality than constant bitrate. I think I'll always use VBR 220-260 stereo in future (until it becomes possible/economical to use WAV for everything.)

Tim