What is bit-rate?

Bit-rate is the number of bits transferred in one second, the more bits you send a second the better the quality, for mp3 i personally like to use 190, i think its a good compromise between file size and sound quality.

I tend to use VBR when encoding, as it gives a good balance between file size and sound quality...

ORIGINAL: rabeach

mp3 is a compressed format and just sucks.

I take it you don't like movies on DVD either then...

Well I didn't grow up with it, but I don't have any great issue with it, as it is a good way of distributing music on the net. Once everyone has ultra high speed connections then non-loss formats will no doubt become de facto and we can all enjoy perfect quality music...until then it is a case of 'needs must'.

ORIGINAL: rabeach

dvd is 24 bit with a sampling frequency of 48k Hz. that is 24 bits are sent 48,000 times a second. could be better but that is fine by me. look at a werner herzog film on film then on dvd. hollywood it don't matter. true art it matters. mp3 is not anywhere in that neighborhood or the neighborhood of 16 bit at 44.1k Hz. if you grew up with it it sounds fine if you grew up listening to vinyl through crown tube amps and klipschorn speakers it sucks beyond reproach.

Ok, you're comparing apples to oranges now.

Have you listened to a 192 Kbps or 256 Kbps mp3 through those crown tube amps and klipschorn speakers? That's the only way you could make a meaningful comparision.

For a real comparision try this: take a 16-bit, 44.1 Khz WAV file and encode it as a 192 Kbps MP3. Now listen to both files through the same system (same soundcard, speakers, etc.) and tell me if you hear a difference.

And no, I didn't grow up with MP3. I listened to vinyl and tapes a lot, and I still listen to CD's a lot.

Wow guys, I didnt expect so much feedback. Thanks!

And what about the Hertz? Is higher better?

Thanks again
-C W

CloudWalker:

The sample rate (given in Hertz or KiloHertz) determines the maximum frequency you can reproduce in a digital signal. This maximum frequency (called the Nyquist frequency) equals half the sample rate. For example, with a 44,100 Hz sample rate you will be able to reproduce frequencies up to 22,050 Hz. Any frequencies higher than that will "bounce back" as aliased frequencies, and this is an undesirable effect.

The human ear can only hear frequencies from 20 to 20,000 Hz, so in most cases a sample rate of 44,100 Hz is more than enough. However, many softsynths and plugins produce frequencies higher than the Nyquist frequency (this is what we mean when we say a certain plugin "aliases"). Those frequencies will bounce back towards the lower part of the spectrum and may be heard as a inharmonic, metallic hiss. One way to reduce, or even eliminate this effect is to push the Nyquist frequency far up from the human hearing limit. This is achieved by using a higher sample rate.

However, a higher sample rate also means you're recording and playing back much more data per second, which results in bigger audio files and lower CPU performance. What I recommend is recording and mixing at 44,100 or 48,000, and exporting the final mix to 96 Khz before mastering. Do the whole mastering process in 96 Khz and then convert to 16-bit, 44.1 Khz for burning to CD or encoding to MP3.