Quality lost at mp3

DYSRUPT

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Jan 11, 2014
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MA.
I know theres a loss of quality when converted, but it seems pretty bad! Should i over compensate and boost the highs at export?


I know its a bit of a noob question and Ive seen this discussed countless times, but as I learn more and more, the things I learned earlier in my music endeavors didn't really hit me till my ears were more sensitive to this sort of thing. Thanks in advance.
 
Most people say it makes no difference, especially at 320.
I have found some weird issues with mp3 conversion, hi hats clipping at way below the celing but kicks and snares untouched.
This is probably because of some weird software glitch rather than mp3 being inherently shit.
If you can't here the difference, chances are no-one else will either.
Audiophiles can ramble on about crappy mp3s and the demise of vinyl and other shit for years, but no-one apart from them gives a fuck.
 
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Are you normalising when exporting? I've found normalising can play silly buggers with tops all phasey and odd. Compressing to MP3 introduces digital noise more apparent in the tops. Check this out http://youtu.be/8EgamkLkXW8


That might be it. . . .Ive always had that phasey, clipping, tops issue. So ill look into that for sure, even if thats not it.. . . . But most of the time its just the energy of the track being sucked out. . . .the brightness and dimension are gone. Which is bad because most of my stuff is kind of dark and monotone anyway. so what little brightness is there is NEEDED to make it shine a little. I guess mastering is done by the pro's for a reason after all. lol
 
320 is fine in my experience. It might be your mix or the app you are using to play the MP3s. What are you using to export?

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I have too this problem with mixdown to wav, mp3 etc. in FL studio. I always use L2 waves to master when i mixdown and i must see without it. My quality lost in bassline, drums dont touched but bassline is lowest db and quality then in DAW. So in end effect mix havent power. But not always, sometimes is good quality doesnt lost and sometimes do that things..
 
It might be. I use a free converter with no issues. It's aptly named "Free WAV to MP3 Converter". I only use it for my mixes however. I normally export MP3s directly from my DAW when I need it for a track.

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Maybe you just have really great hearing? A 320 is barely any different sonically but I can almost always hear it if I put iTunes on shuffle and close my eyes. I've heard it said that it is actually better to cut the extremes of the frequency spectrum than to boost them with mp3's. Supposedly it means that the audible portion of the spectrum is encoded more accurately. This is something I learned when I was in school about six years ago and I'm not totally positive on its accuracy. It does make sense though because mp3 encoding is basically about removing data that would be masked anyway to achieve such a reduction in file size. It does so in multiple frequency bands from what I can remember. That's all.
 
Pulse code modulation makes converting A/D and D/A (analog and digital) sound like balls. Higher sample rate = higher max frequency, higher bit depth = higher dynamic range
 
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