What stereo unit to use in S2

[MidnightBlueS2]

( I've gotta be more AWARE of what I'm doing... )

[MidnightBlueS2]

MP3 audio quality

Hi all,

There's something I don't really get here...
I'm a bit of an audio quailty freak and I listen to 192 kbps MP3 files daily and honestly, and I have pretty good hearing, I can't hear a difference between the original CD and the copy MP3 CD that I make to listen to my albums in the S2.

I am a quite recent user of MP3 music ( 4 months ago ) and I'm wondering, ever since MP3 players came out, have there been different versions, upgrades of the sound quality of the players ? ( Just like Sony is now at it's 4th or 5th version of it's Minidisc player )

Were previous MP3 players that bad ?

Or is it because my Alpine WMA & MP3 head unit and 6 cd Alpine MP3 changer are the best MP3 players available on the market ?

Take care,

David

[GlynRS2]

MP3 quality is all in the encoder software used. Have a read of THIS article if you want to find out more.
The best place I have found & download MP3 files from that is completely legal and above board is HERE. You can choose what format and file size you want and using their explorer tool is dead simple. Check out the prices, basically you are buying music at Russian prices in US dollars! I have used this site loads as have many of my friends. None of us have had a duff file and all transactions go smoothly.

[A6 2,7Biturbo]

I convert my mp 3's to 320 kbps, that overthrows the cd quality I think

[rotoryboy]

im a Becker fan myself.
I have the Becker mexico pro,with mp3 availability.Since it has an aux port i can connect whichever external pod i like,but since the new ones are ipod ready,then it is even better.
I dont really need any external source for now!

What car is that becker unit in mate? not the RS2?

[GlynRS2]

I convert my mp 3's to 320 kbps, that overthrows the cd quality I think

I use LAME VBR (variable bit rate) set to the "Standard" setting for encoding. This basically allows a bit rate right up to 320 kbps maximum, but generally gives a file size equivalent to that of 192kbps, as in quieter bits it may drop to 128 kbps. There are some in the know who say it actually gives better quality than 320 kbps CBR (constant bit rate). I can't comment on that, all I can say is that I can't tell the difference between that and a CD even on my home hifi set up.

[A6 2,7Biturbo]

Or instead of mp3 I can convert to ogg vorbis ...

[dan_b]

The problem with MP3 per se is that it's a lossy compression system - once you go to MP3, you're chopping out information that you'll never get back, regardless of what bit-rate you use. The compression algorithms delete data that it thinks you'll not hear, but that's not exactly a perfect technique. You get all sorts of strange sound-side-effects from this, harsh, rough tones, wierd aliasing noises and what I can only describe as a "fog-like" lack of detail. I loathe the dynamic range compression you get too.

That's just my view on it. CD is not perfect either of course, and nor is vinyl, but then no audio reproduction technique ever will be. MP3 is very convenient though and does allow pretty cool playback devices. Give it a couple of years to develop storage capacities and bandwidth further and we won't need to bother compressing the music in the first place. Either that or we'll all be walking around with a billion songs in our pockets.

[Jamo]

I use LAME VBR (variable bit rate) set to the "Standard" setting for encoding. This basically allows a bit rate right up to 320 kbps maximum, but generally gives a file size equivalent to that of 192kbps, as in quieter bits it may drop to 128 kbps. There are some in the know who say it actually gives better quality than 320 kbps CBR (constant bit rate). I can't comment on that, all I can say is that I can't tell the difference between that and a CD even on my home hifi set up.

Ditto i use VBR for my mp3's, people who complain about mp3's the answers simple, dont listen to them and dont complain.

It's highly convient because of the size of files but the drawback is sound quality loss

But with a decent encoded VBR you can hardly tell the difference.

[Greg_S]

I havent tried variable bit rate yet. Might have to give that a try

[Jas11n]

people who complain about mp3's the answers simple, dont listen to them and dont complain.

I don't
Everyone has their own opinion Jamo Be a sorry old world if we kept them all to ourselves

[A6 2,7Biturbo]

I can't fast rewind or do fast forward with VBR tracks on my mp3 player
It does it only with VBR tracks...

Anybody know why?

[mreinders]

I have this one in my s2 coupe. looks great. Alpine 7619r
In fact there's one on german ebay now

[Jamo]

I don't
Everyone has their own opinion Jamo Be a sorry old world if we kept them all to ourselves

Not stopping you mate, but i would never buy another head unit without the ability to play MP3's, those who have heard my car will tell you it aint to shabby

[S2central.net]

Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) technology provides for better sound quality at the same bitrate as good old MP3 format. This comes under the world of MPEG-4 and is already supported by Apple's quicktime and iPod family. Its the wonder of how our brains actually perceive what is sound - scarey stuff - proper engineering and lots of PhD's have been in this area to get the technology to where it is today.

The concept of VBR is to only use high bandwidth when required - for particularly different sequences of content, and allowing extremely low bandwith during silences for example.

CBR uses the same bit rate all the time - so sometimes you are wasting it and sometimes you would like some more.

CBR => variable quality

VBR => constant quality


Paul