How safe is MP3 ?
TJ
I've seen a lot of posts regarding MP3's which have been burned as WAV's
onto CD and though i've done it myself I am always reluctant to do so as I
am concerned that damage may occur to loudspeakers when MP3's are played
through a PA especially at any real volume as there may be some nasty
'clicks' and 'pops' present within the recording.
Does anyone have any knowledge which supports this theory or which better
still can put my mind at rest.
TJ
Philip Kaulfuss
: I've seen a lot of posts regarding MP3's which have been burned as WAV's
I wouldn't worry, most large PA systems would have a limiter hooked up
which would prevent the speakers being overdriven.
--
Philip Kaulfuss | Home: http://www.boehme.demon.co.uk
pkaulf @ yahoo.co.uk | Tunes: http://www.besonic.com/lhb
ICQ: 21755556 | Promoter: http://www.danceology.co.uk
SD
> onto CD and though i've done it myself I am always reluctant to do so as I
> am concerned that damage may occur to loudspeakers when MP3's are played
> through a PA especially at any real volume as there may be some nasty
> 'clicks' and 'pops' present within the recording.
As long as you check the file in an audio editor before you burn it should
be OK.
I'd recommend this anyway as there are some really bad quality, high bitrate
files out there!!
SD.
Jason T. Powell
higher the bitrate the higher the quality
a 22khz file at a 128k bit rate is better than a 22khz file encoded at a 56k
bitrate.
in mp3 you have the sample rate. how many samples per second. CD quality
is 44.1khz mp3s are lots of times done at 22 the second thing you have is
the compression ration which is usually done at the speed the stream will
be at 14.4 , 28.8. 56, 128, 256 etc.
a 44.1khz file at 128kbitrate is a 44.1khz file at 128bit regardless of
format wav, mp3,voc whatever and you'll have no discernable difference.
I say if you're that worried about busting your gear just buy the music.
"SD" <sden...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
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André Huisman
> you mean "low" bitrate the lower the bitrate the lower the quality the
> higher the bitrate the higher the quality
In combination, of course, with the quality of the coder and the sample
rate.
> a 22khz file at a 128k bit rate is better than a 22khz file encoded at a
56k
> bitrate.
Yes, though very VERY few audio files are actually sampled at 22kHz since
that means the bandwidth is <11kHz (and no serious audio can be recorded
with such a limited bandwidth (AM quality)).
> in mp3 you have the sample rate. how many samples per second. CD quality
> is 44.1khz mp3s are lots of times done at 22 the second
Nope. Many MANY coders leave the sample rate as is (probably close to all of
them). SOME coders DO apply a bandwidth limitation, meaning they discard
everything above (say) 16kHz to reduce the amount of information that needs
to be coded; especially so at lower bitrates.
> thing you have is
> the compression ration which is usually done at the speed the stream will
> be at 14.4 , 28.8. 56, 128, 256 etc.
128kbit per second really is the lowest acceptable limit for mp3 audio
(stereo).
> a 44.1khz file at 128kbitrate is a 44.1khz file at 128bit regardless of
> format wav, mp3,voc whatever and you'll have no discernable difference.
A WAV file is pretty much a fixed 16 bits 44k1 system (when extracted from a
CD for example). That means a bitrate of 1378kbit. How to get that number?
Simple. Multiply the amount of bits per channel (16) with the amount of
channels (2) with the amount of samples per second (44100). The whole idea
of perceptual coders (such as mp3) is to split up the signal in small audio
bands, sample these using non lineair methods, weigh their relative value
and combine the data (in a very simplified nutshell).
> I say if you're that worried about busting your gear just buy the music.
Transients, coming from (say) transmission errors can be problematic
(they'll sound terrible to say the least) but aren't, in themselves, a
serious problem unless the system is already overstressed. I'm quite sure
however that when such a thing happens, the crowd will be all over you (or
at least make fun of you). SO: Make sure your sources are impecable. This
goes for just about all sources BTW: If you have a skipping piece of Vinyl,
you'll be ridiculed as well!
What IS true is that, generally speaking, a 128kbit piece of music doesn't
sound "all that" when compared to a good quality source (be it vinyl, CD or
whatever). 192kbit static (or 160kbit variable) is sort of a baseline above
which most music sounds very very close to the original. If you want to play
it safe, use a good coder and bitrates suggested above (or higher). At
256kbit, using Lame, I could NOT hear any difference between the original
and the mp3 version with just about every type of music I tested.
--
André Huisman
New-Line licht & geluid
hui...@new-line.nl
http://www.new-line.nl
--- pardon my French, I'm Dutch ---
Jason T. Powell
"André Huisman" <see_pos...@il.ok> wrote in message
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DJ Sean P
them and if necessary use a wav editor like soundforge to tart them up if u
can.
if it sounds shite on your pc speakers.. it def will sound shite on an amped
system...
as the good folk here said, some mp3s sound great, even those at 128k it
depends on all sorts of factors how it got to be an mp3 in the first
place...
also some bought cds are crapola quality...
play it by ear mate!
"TJ" <n...@spam.com> wrote in message news:9o4hd1$nu$1...@news.netkonect.net...