Quality Loss in Wav to Mp3 Conversion

[ninjacats]

Hi, I have a question.

I'm saving tracks I've made in Ableton Live as Wav files with a 192000 sample rate (a very large file). I try to export this as a 320 kbps Mp3 file using Audacity. When I do I get a message saying,

"The project sample rate (192000) and bit rate (320 kbps) combination is not supported by the Mp3 format. You may resample to one the rates below:
32000
44100
48000"

I choose 48000, but when I do this I notice a very tangible decrease in the quality of the sound in the exported Mp3 file. It sounds muddy and not what I would one would expect from an Mp3 at 320 kbps. Is there something I should be doing differently? Is there something I'm doing wrong so that the sound becomes this muddy?

Thanks for any help!

[kozikowski]

See if the original WAV files will open in iTunes. Change iTunes preferences so conversions are done to MP3 instead of AAC wherever it is now. See if those don't sound better. Lame, the Audacity MP3 software is a work-alike, free program. iTunes and Apple have real, paid Fraunhofer Gesellschaft MP3 licenses.

Koz

[steve]

It sounds muddy and not what I would one would expect from an Mp3 at 320 kbps.

That conversion should be excellent quality. I don't know what it is, but there is a piece missing from this picture.

How are you playing the MP3 file?
How are you playing the original WAV file?