That’s the illegal russian music site. Pirating stuff yourself isn’t exactly noble, but paying pirates to send you pirated material is a very different thing… and way over the line!
I have read many articles that say the site is legal. I’ll email the links to anyone who wants to read them. Feel free to prove me wrong because i dont want to buy music from them if they are pirated, but as far as i know, they are not.
Here’s a FAQ about allofmp3.
http://www.museekster.com/allofmp3faq.htm
Personally, I would not use it because I think the odds of the original artist getting any of that money is nil. I know the RIAA are total bastards, but at least when I buy an album domestically I know the artist gets something, even if it’s a few percent of what I paid.
The Russian music site, allofmp3, is legal as far as I know. The Russian trade office asserts that the site operates within Russian law. Apparently their copyright system allows for music to be sold at very low cost…I don’t know how they handle royalties to the artists. Another reason the cost is low is because of the strong dollar vs. Russian currency.
I do believe that the site is being challenged internationally, especially some U.S. corporations.
If you find actual evidence that they are a ‘pirate site’, then please reference it for us.
I’m using the latest LAME encoder, 3.97b and I’ve been experimenting with different settings to get the best sound from the smallest possible file. I should point out that the resultant files are for use on my portable player, not for archive or home-listening.
I used to use huge all-in-one programs to rip CDs to mp3, but I later realised that they had unnecessary functions I’d never use and took up too much room on my PC’s hard drive.
To rip the CDs to WAV files, I use Isobuster. Its basic features are free to use without registration:
http://www.download.com/3000-2248-10208087.html
There’s no CDDB look-up, so you have to name the extracted files yourself, but that’s the only trade-off for such a great piece of software.
Next, I use All2LAME as a front-end for the LAME encoder. Again, it’s a very small program but does exactly what it says on the tin:
http://members.home.nl/w.speek/all2lame.htm
I use the following command line to encode:
-V9 --vbr-new -q0 -mj -b32 -F --lowpass 19.7 --nspsytune --cwlimit 10.7 --athaa-sensitivity 1
It’s slow but well worth the wait. Don’t be alarmed by the V9 switch, the lowpass setting accomodates bitrates of up to 192kbps if necessary.
Once I’ve got my mp3s, I fix the VBR header and add ID3 tags. You need to add the VBR header manually because LAME VBR files don’t include it. It’s necessary to do this because your media player may not display the correct length of the track. Winamp definitely has a problem displaying track-length times of LAME VBR files if the header isn’t present. There’s a number of mp3-tagging programs which fix the VBR tags, but an easy one to use is MP3Tag Studio. Again, the program is free:
http://www.magnusbrading.com/mp3ts/
If I’m encoding a full album, I’ll trim the start of the first track and the end of the last track, using MP3Trim. It may only save a few bytes, but when your portable player is restricted to low capacity, you need to save all the space you can. This program’s basic features are also free to use:
http://www.mptrim.com/
Finally, once I’ve done all that, I’ll use MP3Gain to increase the volume of the files to 95.5 dB for pop/rock/dance and 91.5 dB for classical/jazz/spoken word:
http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/
Using my command-line, I can achieve compression of about 4% on some tracks without any noticeable crunch or muffle. The files are perfect for my portable, as my headphones still allow amb1ent noise to filter through when I’m taking the bus to work each day. I wouldn’t recommend the command-line for true audiophile listening, of course. I’d say the sound is better than FM and ATRAC.
Is there some bad feeling about iTunes here? I used to use Audiograbber years ago, then CDex for quite some time - but bought a Nano for Xmas. It has prompted me to start the long (but strangely satisfying) task of encoding everything to MP3, and I’ve found iTunes to be awesome for the task; great tagging, all the right options etc.
Came across this site because I was investigating the merits of VBR and can pretty much say I’m convinced by the above arguments that 192 VBR offers the best bang for your buck in the size/quality tradeoff. Since I use an iPod, I am also concerned about how VBR will affect battery life - though the Apple page on this - http://www.apple.com/uk/batteries/ipods.html - doesn’t address it directly. If anyone has an insight on this I’d be very keen to hear it.
Hm, just found…
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=28651
Interesting point made earlier about archiving at max quality then downsampling to the device in question, but it’s taken me weeks to get through only about a third of my CDs so far, I can’t face going back!
“You computer speakers probably aren’t a good indicator of sound quality.”
Sometimes I’m surprised by this. My little Logitech computer speakers are not hi-fi by anyone’s standards but they easily reveal the difference between different formats - in fact they easily dispell the myths that there is no audible difference between DVD-Audio and CD and no audible difference between CD and MP3.
There is absolutely a difference between DVD-A and CD’s. Put in Yes Fragile DVD-A and within 30 seconds there will be absolutely no doubt in your mind-no A/B test required. Some DVD-A’s unfortunately don’t yield such spectacular results, but most do.
As for CD’s and MP3’s, studies I’ve read show that 320k (constant) is indistinguishable from CD. I don’t doubt that an experienced audio engineer in a sound proof studio with $10,000 monitors might be able to spot the slight difference in compression, but beyond that, I think it’s safe to say 320k is enough if you are shooting for CD quality. And actually 256k has also been demonstrated to be indistinguishable. I won’t go any lower than 256k, myself. I have pretty decent headphones and fairly nice studio monitors and I feel like I need this rate or higher else I’m getting an inferior product, and to me, it’s all about the listening experience. I can hear the difference between 256k and 192k, and often, but maybe not consistently, the difference between 224k and 256k. For this reason I always go for 256k or higher. With hard drives as huge as they are these days, why not go for the highest bitrate? I don’t need 4,000 songs on my mp3 player anyway. I’d rather have 100 songs of excellent quality. I can always change what’s on it.
As for VBR, I’m interested in doing a lot of A/B tests on various recordings. I’ll always go with 256k or 320k CBR if possible, but this is not always an option at mp3 download sites. I want to know what average bitrate with VBR is generally needed to achieve a comparitive quality of 256k or higher CBR. I know it is quite dependent on the sound source however so I suppose I’ll never get the definitive answer I want. Unless somebody here can give me some insight into this??
Interesting, I think the fact here is AAC @ 128 doesn’t sound bad, but niether does it sound fantastic. When considering this I decided better to spend 279 dollars for 279 songs then buying each CD seperately an spending a fortune. iTunes is alright…
As for VBR, sounds good, then again something about having a file that’s going to vary from another VBR encoded from the same source doesn’t sit well with me. At least with CBR you know what’s what, the bitrate isn’t changing all the time.
I think 320 for mp3’s is really high, if you want the best then go for it, although I also think 256 offers the same quality, although like people say is there really that big a difference in size?
Ah well… if I could have all my iTunes in 192 that would be preferable, 192 seems to be the sweet spot.
Hmmm…arguing about CBR and VBR doesn’t seem to bring any conclusive answers as to which is better.
Assumming file size is NOT an issue, I begin to wonder whether CBR or VBR is better from a quality stand-point.
I was always told that a bitrate of 320 in CBR is better than VBR. Is it true that 320 CBR is an exception in terms of quality standards? That is, will music ripped at a bitrate of 320 kbps using CBR have higher quality than music ripped in VBR?
Interesting thread. I rip all my CD’s to AAC at 192 in iTunes. I can dump them on the Nano, and using Airport Express, send them to the stereo in the other room. NO they don’t sound as good as the CD’s, but are much easier to deal with and I am not throwing away the CD’s so I have the “originals” if I ever want to re-encode. Since what I have read, the iTunes AAC maker is CBR, that is what I choose to use now that I have to convert some FLAC music, which can be done in a single step in Toast, quite easy. I am not sure what license they are using for their AAC converter, or even how good it is, but iTunes does NOT convert FLAC and program like XAct are a two set process I don’t want to be bothered with. So just for compatibility sake I choose the CBR setting at 192 in the Toast FLAC to AAC settings. I’m on a Mac so there are less choices I guess for converters. I did do a single FLAC to AAC at VBR, playing the AAC back in QuickTime with the INFO panel open, the rate never changed, which was surprising, I guess I need other software to see if the rate varies. I have Peak and Soundtrack, not sure if they will show the rate changes as the file plays. Anyways, it is a fairly big decision we all have to make, as redoing 200 CD’s or FLAC conversions is time consuming a pain, but as long as you keep the original source music, you are not dead, besides all our hearing will eventually and slowly faulter…
amen to that.
Has anyone experimented with the VBR option in iTunes? It allows you to select VBR up to 256kbps.
The AAC VBR option? Go ahead and turn it on (it can’t hurt), but it’s not “true” VBR as what most people are used to. It’s basically ABR (average bit-rate)… slightly tweaked from the normal CBR. (Which is technically ABR, too. Don’t ask. No need to get into details.)
Also, don’t bother with AAC beyond 192 Kbps. In fact, 160 Kbps should be enough for most. If you can ABX at higher bitrates, you are super human.
Fantastic thread!!! Learned a great deal. Thanks!
Audiograbber vs. EAC…
…use what you like. Audiograbber hasn’t been updated in years now, but the basic engine is there and works fine. EAC offers more bells, whistles and error-checking if you think you need it. I have both and use them. They’re both using the LAME engine to encode the files so it’s really up to you.
VBR…
…been using it for quite some time. Here’s a useful website:
There you will find that you can use LAME to invoke the lowpass filter etc. There’s some helpful tips on command lines like…
-V2 --vbr-new -q0 --lowpass 19.7 -b96
…and an explanation to ‘Why the freakin’ lowpass?’
And for all of the discussion about what’s the best bitrate, if you’re using headphones, you should be able to hear richer, more detailed renderings of your music at higher rates. If 128 works for you, be happy. The command line above will give you an MP3 file that sounds great and has response up to 320kb/s, but mostly in the 192kb/s range.
I’m going to give eMusic a try. But I will always buy the CD of the music I really want to own.
I was too curious about this, I’m thinking what should I use in importing using MP3 Encoder in iTunes, is it 192kbps or 320kbps?
What most people use bit rate that will suit for them?, somebody help me I want to know if 320kbps is the best bit rate.
Hey there, great site, nice explanation of VBR and such!
Before I went AAC+ I was using EAC and LAME and I was AMAZED how much more depth you can give your MP3’s by tweakin LAME a little.
I had played a lot with the settings and came out on this:
-V2 --vbr-new -q0 --lowpass 19.7 --cwlimit 10.7 --scale 0.99 -b96
But in the end I realized that --alt-preset standard or --alt-preset fast extreme create almost the same “transparent” output.
(meaning you can’t hear the difference anymore between MP3 and CD)
since I am all Mac now, I use AAC+ with variable bitrate (built into iTunes) - creating transparent results at 64k already.
Most my music is coming from online (AAC+)streams anyway (SomaFM!), my mp3-collection is only a historic collection of stuff I really liked.
regards
andreas
I have a problem…I have a DJ friend of mine wanting me torip about 300 CD’s into MP3 format and mix them and burn to cd’s… In the past I used CBR at 256kbs and he said it was “slipping” when played at high volume.
So I am wondering at what MP3 settings to rip at? I think I want VBR, and right now I have the setting on EAC at 192kbs, but I am concerned about clipping again.
Any advice???
Please contact at adrianjohnm@hotmail.com