Question....

[Macers]

I posted something like this before but Im still confused (Duh.....).

When putting Mp3's onto your computer how do you put them on on a high bit rate. Cd quality is 128 so I presume that to cant get any better of a cd?

Help...............I have Music Match by the way.......

[Turiel]

Yes yes you can get WAY better. 320kbs is the usual max you can get off a CD. So you need to find a drop down or option or something which sets the encoder quality. I don't have music match, so I can't tell you what exactly. You WILL loose quality if you encode at 128, go for at least 192, or the full 320 if you're not stuck for harddrive space.

[Original Tyrone Gobshite!]

128 is regarded as "CD Quality" - but it actually isn't. However the majority of listeners will find 128 kbps good enough and regard it as CD quality. 320 kbps is usually the highest bit rate an MP3 can be encoded into and the sound quality at that level is brilliant. The bitrate of a CD is 1440 kbps, stereo sound of a NICAM TV broadcast is 728 kbps.

If you have Musicmatch jukebox, go to "Options" -> "Recorder" -> "Quality" and this will allow you to use the most common options. For more detailed options use "Options" -> "Recorder" -> "Settings"

[Mike]

yeah the terms "CD quality" "FM quality" etc are fairly meaningless and are only intended as a rough guide.

CD quality = a WAV file (16 bit/44.1 KHz/Stereo)

Any type of MP3 coding involves some quality loss (especially where sampling rate conversion is involved as well)
128Kbps is ok for casual listening but 160 or 192 sounds far better and for really serious use go for 256 or 320.

The quality of the codec used in the encoding(recording) and decoding (playback) process is a big factor too. 128 on a good codec will sound better than 160 on an indifferent one. Generally Software packages you buy have better codecs than free ware or bundleware.

Some encoders can also have a speed setting which enccodes faster but at the expense of quality so check your settings