Converting to MP3 best practice for decent quality

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Jonny M
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2006/11/29 14:40:19 (permalink)

Converting to MP3 best practice for decent quality

Ok, I'm not sure if I'm going to put this into words too well but here goes.

I'm trying to upload songs onto my band's myspace page, so it has to be MP3, as specified by them. Problem is that although my song is not much different file size to everyone else's stuff, the quality is awful now it's compressed down and it still needs to keep interrupting the song to buffer – something which no one else’s seems to suffer from. So I am wondering about best practice in converting to MP3 to get the best sound possible and stop the need for buffer interruption (ruins the song).

Currently, I'm exporting the audio file directly from Sonar to my hard disk, changing the sample rate to 16bit/44.1. I'm then importing it into my MP3 converter (well, Pyro) and compressing it to about 2.3MB (from an original 70MB or thereabouts). What I'm wondering is...

Would the buffering problem be resolved (or the quality be better) if I first down sampled the track to a lower amount, before converting to MP3? My thinking behind this is that if I down sampled in Sonar (or Wavelab Light) first, it wouldn't have to compress so much to make into an MP3. Granted, the quality may reduce in down sampling first, but I'm thinking the quality loss wouldn't be as great this way because down sampling in Sonar/Wave Light (I am assuming) wouldn't cause as much audio loss n its processing than going straight from a 70MB wav file to a 2.3 MP3. Or would it make no difference because the song is eventually going to be reduced to the same size, by whatever means.

Also, should I consider exporting as a different format to wav in Sonar to start with? I.E are there other formats that convert to MP3 better to allow for easier streaming or better quality?

On a last note, I'm finding that the reverb on the vocals is a lot boomier, as are the bass notes. Is there any special prep I should b doing if I'm going to turn them into MP3s? Sorry for the long post!

The music can be heard at www.myspace.com/belongingkind - if you want to hear the mess I've made.

Jonny
post edited by Jonny M - 2006/11/29 14:58:39
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    Sbax
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    RE: Converting to MP3 best practice for decent quality 2006/11/29 22:05:06 (permalink)
    I was able to play the song with no gaps in the buffering, but, it did take a long time to buffer, about 4 minutes. The vocals had too much sibilence that was accentuated by the reverb. I listened on laptop speakers so I can't comment on bass.

    Your original wave was "70MB wav file to a 2.3 MP3"
    That doesn't sound right to me.


    MP3 at 128 kbps compresses at 11:1 to give 1 MB per minute of song.

    128 is the minimum imo.

    Use LAME MP3 decoder directly from Sonar.


    Lame in Sonar

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