Interesting. I buy some stuff from Amazon, and I'm not aware of any other
choice than 256-kbps MP3. So I have to use what I get when I buy from them.
Unless I am mistaken, 320-kbps mp3 is also lossless, not so? Most of my
conversions are from that. I was not aware of VBR, so I didn't think to try
it. However, the audio converter I've been using, Freemake, does not support
converting to that in any event. If Switch does, then I can try it out and
see what happens.
As far as the more conversions, the more loss goes, I'm doing one
conversion, usually from 320-bit MP3, sometimes from WAV, and sometimes from
256-bit MP3 when that's the best I can get. The files sound good to me, and
no, I'm not going to rerip all my CDs. I don't buy many these days anyhow.
Most of what I get is downloadable. The roughly 650 CDs I did rip, I used
Winamp and ripped them to the same bit rate M4A as the downloadable files
I've been converting lately, and they sound really good to me. Now if I were
using some really high end equipment and had no need to conserve storage
space, then I wouldn't convert anything, but I don't have any of that, and I
do need to conserve storage space. I'm not sure whether the Book Sense will
play VBR files. I'll have to look into that. If it does, then there's
nothing that says I can't start using that if it really does save more space
than an equivalent sounding M4A file.
Thanks for the info on that.
Evan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dane Trethowan" <grtd...@internode.on.net>
To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 01, 2014 7:43 PM
Subject: Re: Looking for a New mp3 to m4a Converter
They sound similar, my real point here is that the more conversion
decoding/encoding that takes place then the more loss of quality results.
Each to their own but the way you've done thing here is not the way I'd done
them.
Firstly I wouldn't have bothered with such high bit rates when intially
converting to MP3, I would have used VBR - after setting the encoding
options properly - that would have given you a much smaller file size thus
you wouldn't have needed to convert anything at all, encoding would have
been far more efficient and loss of quality limited etc.
The other way you could go - if you can still get hold of the source
material you encoded - is to encode directly to FLac and then convert to
AAC/M4A, just making these comments for future reference and I appreciate
that no one wants to rip a whole CD collection again but often its very
worth while, I had everything once in MP3 but now its all FLAC thus I can
convert to any audio format under the planet as often as required without
any loss in quality etc.
On 2 Feb 2014, at 10:41 am, Evan Reese <ment...@dslextreme.com> wrote:
Yup, this is true. I've converted thousands of 256- and 320-kbps mp3 files
to variable bit 128-kbps m4a and they sound great. And they're
considerably smaller, which was my original reason for converting them.
Evan
----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Nutt" <st...@comproom.co.uk>
To: "'PC Audio Discussion List'" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 01, 2014 6:31 PM
Subject: RE: Looking for a New mp3 to m4a Converter
Hi,
I disagree. M4A sounds better than MP3 at the equivalent bit rate. So a
128KB M4A sounds more like a 192 MP3. MP3 is the worst kind of
compression
out there.
All the best
Steve
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Tel: +44(0)1438-742286
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-----Original Message-----
From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of Dane
Trethowan
Sent: 01 February 2014 23:23
To: PC Audio Discussion List
Subject: Re: Looking for a New mp3 to m4a Converter
Dumb question I'm sure but why do you want to convert from MP3 to M4A or
AAC? Mp3 should play just as well and you're certainly not gaining
anything
in audio quality doing this as you're converting from 1 lossee format to
another thus losing quality in the conversion anyway.
If it helps I use the Switch Audio File Converter.
On 2 Feb 2014, at 10:15 am, Evan Reese <ment...@dslextreme.com> wrote:
Hello,
I've been using the Freemake Audio Converter since March of 2012 with
good
results. However lately, it's been having trouble opening multiple files,
and the conversions it makes play in Winamp just fine, but they cause my
Book Sense fits. I have to remove the battery to get it to speak correctly
after trying to play one of these. I've converted several hundred CDs with
it and those play in my Book Sense just fine, but the most recent dozen
albums or so are having this trouble.
Well, I tried an uninstall and reinstall, but that did not go well
because
apparently it didn't really uninstall, because when I tried a conversion
after reinstalling it, it remembered the last album I did, and it also
remembered where I told it to store the converted files, which is not
where
it stores them if you don't change it. And, needless to say, the files I
converted after a reinstall aren't any better.
So I think I'm gonna have to switch to another converter. I found some on
Google that say they convert mp3 to m4a, but I don't know how accessible
they are. So that's what I'm hoping someone here can help me with.
I'd appreciate any advice. This Freemake Audio Converter is accessible,
and a cinch to run, and I did thousands of files with it, but apparently
I've got to get something else.
Thanks much for any suggestions.
Evan
**********
Dane Trethowan
Skype: grtdane12
Phone US (213) 438-9741
Phone U.K. 01245 79 0598
Phone Australia (03) 9005 8589
Mobile: +61400494862
Fax +61397437954
**********
Dane Trethowan
Skype: grtdane12
Phone US (213) 438-9741
Phone U.K. 01245 79 0598
Phone Australia (03) 9005 8589
Mobile: +61400494862
Fax +61397437954
