DP MP3 creation vs iTunes.

[monkey man]

Thanks Monkey Man.
I'll do some testing.

My pleasure, Neal.

I used to bounce to mp3s (320 bitrate) but last year I started bouncing to AIFF. Next I open the AIFF with Audicity - partly so I can see the result of the soundwave. From there I export to 320 Mp3. But since I lack expertise in mastering, the results vary in quality anyway.

Yup. I use also WAV or AIFF in Audacity for the MP3 export, albeit converted from FLAC using XLD, Bobby.

Hi Neal:

I usually use XLD (X Lossless Decoder) as my converter from uncompressed formats (AIFF or WAV) to AAC or MP3 encoded files.

XLD is great, Rich.

I didn't even know I could use it for MP3 export. As I said to Bobby, I use it to turn FLAC into WAV for MP3 conversion in Audacity.

To recap in case anyone's confused by all this:
Don't use iTunes for MP3 conversion unless quality isn't paramount to you.
Use Audacity or any other app that employs L.A.M.E. as long as you're able to define the CBR, 320k and "Normal Stereo" parameters.

Beyond that, there's really nothing else to know. I guarantee that your own side-by-side comparisons will confirm the efficacy of this approach.

[rp88.2]

To recap in case anyone's confused by all this:
Don't use iTunes for MP3 conversion unless quality isn't paramount to you.
Use Audacity or any other app that employs L.A.M.E. as long as you're able to define the CBR, 320k and "Normal Stereo" parameters.

Beyond that, there's really nothing else to know. I guarantee that your own side-by-side comparisons will confirm the efficacy of this approach.

Agree! Choose 'Stereo' as opposed to 'Joint Stereo' in the export/converter options.

Good luck!!

[monkey man]

[IsrealHernandez]

I always use iTunes to convert MP3 files. It's much more convenient and faster than DP.

[FMiguelez]

Hm.
Just wondering if I should take the 320k mp3s I already made and make 256 instead.
Or is that a waste of time?

Will customers who get the 320 be able to play it on anything they have?

When in doubt, I REALLY recommend doing a null test between the bounced 32bFP wav file against the different app sources and rates of mp3 of interest, and even among the mp3 against themselves.
Use a nice FFT analyzer that shows you the full dynamic and freq. ranges for best comparisons (i.e., Voxengo, Melda).
This is a great way to become familiar with any mp3-created artifacts. You can easily hear the exact difference between them and tells you what to listen for in blind tests.

Play with this stuff for a couple of hours or so. Quite educational and fun!

[mikehalloran]

I always use iTunes to convert MP3 files. It's much more convenient and faster than DP.

Although true on both counts, there are faster and better tools for batch conversion—which iTunes/Apple Music also does..

DSP-Q is one that I have but TwistedWave is my go-to. I can convert hours of mixed file types to mp3 or m4a and export them to a new folder or sort them into their original folders as I like — takes a few seconds to a couple of minutes depending on how many of hours the source material there are. Was Mac only but there's a public beta for Windows on the site now.

https://twistedwave.com/

When in doubt, I REALLY recommend doing a null test between the bounced 32bFP wav file against the different app sources and rates of mp3 of interest, and even among the mp3 against themselves.
Use a nice FFT analyzer that shows you the full dynamic and freq. ranges for best comparisons (i.e., Voxengo, Melda).
This is a great way to become familiar with any mp3-created artifacts. You can easily hear the exact difference between them and tells you what to listen for in blind tests.

Play with this stuff for a couple of hours or so. Quite educational and fun!

mp3 players and browsers can play back just about anything though some old units have problems with m4a. I did a comparison on file sizes about 6 months ago between 256k and 320k. Apple iPods and iPhones default to 256kHz if selecting mp3 — even a 256GB Touch 7 like mine. I select m4a Apple Lossless 16bit instead, of course.

My old iPod Shuffles take either full .aif or 128k mp3 — tried listening to one on a cross-country flight in March. Yikes! My hearing has deteriorated over the years but not so much that 128k mp3s sound good. Where's that old 6 Transistor radio I had as a kid?

[EMRR]

Hmmm. Haven’t tried LAME in a long time, Itunes always kicked the crap out of it. LAME sounded….lame, and broken, at least 5 years ago. Nothing like the orig WAV, itunes was about indistinguishable.

YMM(clearly!)V