i keep hearing this bull**** about how MP3 quality doesnt match other types of audio. Whats this nonsense about M4U quality and bitrate and shiot? I want to get an MP3 playing head unit but if it doesnt sound as good as a regular cd, than forget it.

This post has been edited by Terzin1: Mar 29, 2005 - 6:05 PM

its all about what bitrate your recording at, and in a car as long as your above 128 u won't know the difference. i normally do mine at 192 bitrate.

by the way at 128 u won't know the difference either.

when u burn a cd in mp3 format it compresses the format, it does sound worse, but its not like the diffrence b/t cd or FM. its not that noticeable. unless u got a 4ch amp and 2ch sub.

its just like drocay said, if you do it at 128 or above, your listenting to it at cd quality. but most mp3 players, in order to hold as many songs as advertized, you have to have it play at 64 bps....which is where you'll notice a difference. (this is why when i only wanted to have like 2000 songs on my player, i got a 20 gig, because it advertizes 7500 song storage, but thats at 64 bps....a 5 gig wont hold that many when playing at 128+ bps.)

I would have to disagree. 128 is NOT cd quality. depending on how your stereo is set up, you can easily hear the difference between 256 and a regular cd. mp3 compression gets rid of frequencys below ~20hz and above ~18-20khz, as well as cutting out the sounds that we dont hear as well. compared to cds, mp3 dont sound nearly as full, and are almost always harsher on the ears./

EDIT
here are some other links about mp3s
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/mp3.htm
http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_...ID=43770&KW=mp3

if you have a decent setup, then you'll hear the difference. you have to decide whether the difference is worth it or not, and if you want to listen to mp3s, what bitrate you will be happy with.
My HU plays mp3s, and i really like the feature, but id much rather listen to an original cd.

This post has been edited by mikew04: Mar 29, 2005 - 10:34 PM

from what I understand the majority of people can't tell the difference between a 256 kbps mp3 and a cd. I know I can't. honestly I can't really tell much difference with an mp3 at 160 either.

then again I don't invest much money in audio equipment either so that could be it. regardless for most people an mp3 is good enough ..

-mikew04+Mar 29, 2005 - 11:26 PM

there isnt really anyway to get cd qaulity.... because its bitrate is way over 320 and so on... being that its a wav file.... i prefer 192... the lowest 128(if its a decent 128)... when you convert music or rip it, it will lose quality... if you have a song that has a 96bitrate or something and convert it to a... 192... it will lose quality... if you are in need of a cd or song, i may have it.. if not i can probably get it...

msn: jared_s_c@hotmail.com
aim: Scarr3ll

I use mp4, I can't remeber the bitrate but when I burn it to a CD it sounds much better than mp3.

-Drocay+Mar 29, 2005 - 11:28 PM

I can tell a difference. I think cd quality is 192.

-CheesyLobster+Mar 31, 2005 - 12:45 AM


ya, 192 is cd quality, just wait until dvd's replace cds and you have your songs at 1028 bitrate, imagin the quality then :-p

cd's are 176.4 kB/s uncompressed streams (kilobytes) not bits, although not all of that contains sound information.

This post has been edited by Snarfer: Mar 31, 2005 - 7:05 PM

cd quality is 16bit 44.1khz uncompressed audio.

mp3 is compressed and measured by the bitrate of compression.

i think dvd audio is 24bit 96or192khz, but this is not the same as the 192 bit rate used in mp3 compression.

if you want the best quality, compress your songs at 192. 128 souds ok, but you loose a lot of highs and lows in the audio.