HF aberrations in MP3 music can be pretty annoying.

When I first started using MP3's I noticed some nasty "jingling" sounds that shouldn't have been there. Almost sounded like tinkling keys or a loose washer on a bolt. I was about to give up on MP3 when I decided to try different encoding software, and poof, all my funny noises went away. I assume each software manufacture implements the encoding process a little different.

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^^ Yep, I hear Music Match > LAME > Winamp for those keeping track of the free ones. I'm sure there's huge writeups about these on the web.

 

The spec clearly defines the bitstream format only, but by definition, that also means the decoder is straightforward. The encoder, however, is left open to wide interpretation... all that matters is that the resultant encoded bitstream is compliant with the spec (and therefore decodable by any compliant decoder). Unfortunately, a compliant spec does not necessarily mean a pleasing sound.

The encoder isn't merely a bitstream creator, it also entails wrapping quite a bit of psychoacoustical models into a tight machine. The spec gives some very basic models, but the only time they're really implemented are by people trying to learn the encoder/decoder for the first time. They're not very good, and most companies regard the models as proprietary and trade secret information.

I haven't looked at any encoders in over a year, but LAME is/was the hands down winner when it came to encoders. Not only were the psychoacoustical models top notch, they're open source and continually being refined. Any time someone thinks a model is finished, someone comes back with a wav file that shows a weakness... I doubt any other company can say the same with their encoders (and certainly not the ones who have hardcoded their models into a chip). If you have a C compiler, LAME is the way to go... and there are plenty of GUIs out there for those who hate command line interfaces.

 

I thought he was saying that Winamp is lame, like shitty. So LAME is a product.

 

LAME is an open source MP3 encoder project (stands for something like ? Another MP3 Encoder. Due to copyright and IP issues, they cannot offer a pre-compiled encoder, so you have to provide your own compiler. I believe they offer project files for Visual C as well as some for GNU C, so you only have to download the code, compile, then start encoding.

 

Try the freeware CDex to rip CDs, encode with LAME (from CD or audio file), and automatically pull down current CDDB info. It gets from me!

 

Wow, that all sounds really cool. Except I have no idea what you're talking about.
There's no need to explain, for I do not currently have the capacity to remember this. Maybe in a week or two I'll be interested.

Just to let you know I have no CLUE what you're saying...just sounds like Chinese to me.
No offense to anyone Chinese, I just can't speak that language.

 

[QUOTE=Incubus,Dec 7 2004, 11:51 PM]Wow, that all sounds really cool.