Question bout mp3 and blah

i just bought one of these babies: Iriver H320

and i'm transfering my entire music collection to this thing. i have a few questions

1. most of my music are encoded @ 320 kb/s. how much better is it compared to say 192kb/s or 128kb/s?? other than that it takes a hell of a lot of space

2. I have bout 1 gig of classical music at 320kb/s. is that good or bad? should i just re-encode them down to 192 or soemthing?

3. If I re-encode all my mp3's down to 192 ish, is there a software that can do that quickly? the iriver i bought is like a portable hdd. so it doesn't come with encoding software or anything like that (drag and drop in regular windows explorer)

It all depends on your ears really. Convert a couple of tracks to 192 VBR and see what you think. Personally I can't tell a big difference between 320 and 192, but I wouldn't go any lower than that.

Personally I'd keep the classical stuff at a higher bitrate - it tends to use a wider frequency spectrum than pop music and suffers more from compression.

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/ does a job job of converting between bitrates and is nice and easy to use, but there's a lot of software out there for that and you'll probably get a few other suggestions.

i used Advanced Mp3 converter. is db converter better?

Well they both use Lame so that's a good thing.

Dunno though really, I used dbPowerAmp and liked it so stuck with it, haven't really used a lot of other programs.

dbPowerAmp does have a reputation for being fast though.

does the mp3 player i bought (the iriver h320) play vbr mp3's?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by abu_has_the_power

does the mp3 player i bought (the iriver h320) play vbr mp3's?

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anyone?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by abu_has_the_power

does the mp3 player i bought (the iriver h320) play vbr mp3's?

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Only one way to find out ;)

Keep in mind that encoding from 320kb down to 192kb is not the same as
encoding from wav to 192kb.

I dont know how much difference there is since I dont re-encode files.

The best judgement for what rate you like your files is your own ears.
Do some testing on a quiet evening, encode different type of songs to different
rates and just listen.

:cool2:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Guitar-Slinger

Keep in mind that encoding from 320kb down to 192kb is not the same as
encoding from wav to 192kb.

I dont know how much difference there is since I dont re-encode files.

The best judgement for what rate you like your files is your own ears.
Do some testing on a quiet evening, encode different type of songs to different
rates and just listen.

:cool2:

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done that. the only difference i notice is that the 320kb mp3's are a bit deeper and louder. but how much of a difference would that make when played through headphones??

I dinno man, I got a lot of stuff at 192kb here,
but I still wouldnt re-encode or delete the 320kb files.
If the space is really an issue, I would probably DL
the 192kb versions of my favorites or something...

You just have to make a decicion what is more important,
size or quality.
The loudness is not really a problem, if you got the
volume-button nearby.

:cool2:

ok. cuz i have 11.4 gigs rite now of stuff, and my thing is only 20 gb.

the loud thing isn't a prob. it's actually good cuz the headphones that come with this are supposed to be shitty

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tifosi

Only one way to find out ;)

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two ways... one is obvious.... and the other is our friend "GOOGLE"... or the third alternative... smash the damn machine and listen to cassette tapes hehe

but seriously you can go to the website of the manufacturer and find out if that info is in the FAQs or you can always contact them directly and ask them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by abu_has_the_power

done that. the only difference i notice is that the 320kb mp3's are a bit deeper and louder. but how much of a difference would that make when played through headphones??

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As for the headphone issue... another thing you should actually test for yourself. That is, if you already have the player you are referring to. Just dont delete the originals. Encode them a number of a different ways... and listen to them on the headphones, and see what suits you best.

Post your results here... so people know of your findings.

Cheers!!!!

As for will it play vbr Ive never seen an mp3 player that couldnt and if it cant get a refund fkin quick although Im sure it does...

good. i don't have the thing yet. it's getting shipped out tomorow. stupid ebay stores. i'll post some results when i get it