CBR and VBR Encoding?

[tavravlavish]

I'm pretty sure I've always been using CBR, a have a vague idea of what both of them do, but have no idea when one should be used over the other? When does it matter to make the choice, logic has CBR on by default. Nerds commence!

[jrisreal]

wHaT Я u gOiИg On AbOuT??!!!

[Shum]

If your encoding at 320, CBR (Constant BitRate as opposed to Variable BitRate mp3 encoding for Mr. Special above me) is fine.

[Depone]

Well, vbr is variable bit rate, and it adjusts its bit rate throughout a song depending on the complexity of the audio. This is more of a space saver really. Cbr is constant bit rate. And is fixed at the desired rate. Seeing as 320 is the highest bitrate, cbr is the best 'quality' vs vbr at this bitrate as vbr cant go over 320, only under it.

So to summerise, cbr is the one you want

[jrisreal]

for Mr. Special above me

@Depone - But theres no quality loss in using vbr? That would save a LOT of time sharing tunes over AIM and uploading to SC but I dont want to do if sacrificing any quality

[Depone]

for Mr. Special above me

@Depone - But theres no quality loss in using vbr? That would save a LOT of time sharing tunes over AIM and uploading to SC but I dont want to do if sacrificing any quality

To be honest, it doesnt kill that filesize by much, and was used more in the early days, but isnt really needed in this day of fast internet and big storage devices.

Is it really worth just shaving a few megs? Im sure your aim contacts can wait that extra

[Electric_Head]

or just compress the file before sending
as in zip

[tavravlavish]

Thanks for clarifying filling me in, glad I finally got around to asking what the hell I'm doing when bouncing my tunes.

[VirtualMark]

+1 for cbr. At the end of the day, any less bitrate means less quality whether you can tell or not. I like to use maximum settings, as file size doesn't bother me these days but quality does. Apparently vbr will intelligently allocate the right amount of bits depending on the music, but i'd rather not leave it to chance and just use the highest available.

[timmyyabas]

wav or non-lossy formats like flac are the way forward. mp3 is always gonna result in quality loss.

[wormcode]

for Mr. Special above me

@Depone - But theres no quality loss in using vbr? That would save a LOT of time sharing tunes over AIM and uploading to SC but I dont want to do if sacrificing any quality

You can hear quality loss in VBR versus CBR files, I hear differences on monitors. More so than 320 versus .wav IMO. At least a 320 VBR file should be fine for playback, but the file size ratio isn't really worth it. 320 CBR wins. FLAC is great, but not compatible with most stuff yet.

Zipping MP3 won't do anything as it's already compressed. If you zip a 10 MB mp3, it won't shrink much more. Zipping is good for keeping file integrity though, and obviously great if you want to send multiple files. Zipping WAV files works much better.

[Electric_Head]

yep, forget losing quality with mp3.
It`s all wav and flac.

[VirtualMark]

yep, forget losing quality with mp3.
It`s all wav and flac.

usually the choice to encode mp3 isn't governed by quality, rather file size and compatibility. i use mp3 for my car head unit, it only accepts 4b usb sticks max, and doesn't work with flac. but i can get loads of albums on it, and don't have to have a car full of cd's. so its not just an open and shut case, it depends on the application you're using it for. mp3 will be around for a while more until something better replaces it.

[sackley]

somewhere along the lines another format will take over. MP3 is just convenient because so many people use it now (especially the masses who aren't musicians/producers/audiophiles). As much as I want to convert to .flac it's just too much to switch over now, and when I'm cruising along in my car with the windows down I doubt I'd hear as much difference between 320 kbps mp3s and flacs as say 128 kbps mp3 vs 320 kbps mp3.

Just my thoughts! I love better sound quality, but until the rest of the world believes it MP3s will most likely stick around as the main format.

edit: Realized I didn't even touch on the OP - 320 CBR all the way. Depone covered it already. Only time I've seen VBR now is when someone released something as a promo and wanted the listener to buy a higher quality version.

[deadly_habit]

at the cost of what hard drives are now vbr should just be a tech demo when it comes to audio unless it surpasses cbr in any form
saving bytes bits etc is great but with how cheap data is now there is no need to skimp on fidelity

[Electric_Head]

at the cost of what hard drives are now vbr should just be a tech demo when it comes to audio unless it surpasses cbr in any form
saving bytes bits etc is great but with how cheap data is now there is no need to skimp on fidelity

Data is not cheap in South Africa, nor is the connection anything to talk about.
Off-topic though and certainly not disagreeing with the original premise of the thread.

[deadly_habit]

well get a usa head to buy and send ya hard drives
i jus got a 2 tb for like 60$
wavs all the way when it comes to digi
either that or hook up with the counterstrike boys as they seem to have a usa hook up comp wise parts

[Electric_Head]

well get a usa head to buy and send ya hard drives
i jus got a 2 tb for like 60$
wavs all the way when it comes to digi
either that or hook up with the counterstrike boys as they seem to have a usa hook up comp wise parts

Nah, computer components are not an issue.
Internet bandwidth however, is.
It`s just either too expensive or too slow.

[deadly_habit]

well get a usa head to buy and send ya hard drives
i jus got a 2 tb for like 60$
wavs all the way when it comes to digi
either that or hook up with the counterstrike boys as they seem to have a usa hook up comp wise parts

Nah, computer components are not an issue.
Internet bandwidth however, is.
It`s just either too expensive or too slow.

argh shame
bandwidth should be free and unlimited imo

[Electric_Head]

well get a usa head to buy and send ya hard drives
i jus got a 2 tb for like 60$
wavs all the way when it comes to digi
either that or hook up with the counterstrike boys as they seem to have a usa hook up comp wise parts

Nah, computer components are not an issue.
Internet bandwidth however, is.
It`s just either too expensive or too slow.

argh shame
bandwidth should be free and unlimited imo

Yep, shame for me indeed.