Mp3's to Hi-MD

[phoboskitty]

just wondering what the loss in sound quality is if i am converting an mp3 to ATRAC3Plus format ( my MZ NHF-800 dosn't play Mp3 ), is a 1:1 conversion like 256kbps Mp3 to 256kbps ATRAC3Plus?

should i convert to Atrac3Plus and a higher rate KBPS than the Mp3?

just wondering

i do not genrally have Mp3' below 192 kbps

[bobt]

you really will not notice any real loss. There may be some minor issues, but if you keep close to the bitrate of the MP3 you shoudn't notice much difference. The main thing to remeber is that MP3 is not a fidelity format, but a space saving format. You will achieve best results if you can use source material, but I do have a few MP3's listened on my NH1, and am relatively satisfied, but again for critical listening some losse may be noticed.

Best advice, record the same MP3 at different Atrac rates and see what you like.

Bob

[maxthrusters]

I agree with bobt, rip from CD to ATRAC if you have the CD. That being said, I routinely convert Mp3s to ATRAC3 132kbbs all the time. Some sound better than others, mostly I think because some Mp3 files themselves were poorly encoded in the first place (older encoders, low bitrates, whatever).

My ears can't usually tell a difference between ATRAC3 converted from an Mp3 encoded with LAME alt preset standard and the mp3 itself, even when played on my stereo. Some songs sound "different", but not "better" or "worse", and even then I only would notice in an A-B test.

Since I routinely plug in my players into a stereo receiver ATRAC 132kbbs is as low as I will go to acheive reasonable quality. I do notice "muddiness" with ATRAC3plus 64kbbs this way.

You need to find what works best for your own ears. Good luck!

[ATELETRONICS]

USE HI-SP 256k. i think its easy to tell the difference when converting from 192k mp3 in comparison to lp2 132k.

[Tunster]

There are two rules to this fun and games....

1) You know what is acceptable in terms of quality to yourself.

2) The better the source, the better the outcome when you downgrade the bitrate. For example, 128kbps MP3 to 64kbps ATRAC will be worse than CD to 64kbps ATRAC.

There's no point going upwards from a already low bitrate file.

ATELETRONICS: There's no point going up from a 192k MP3 to Hi-SP. You're wasting space gaining nothing extra. Anything 192k MP3+ (or any other format inc. ATRAC3plus) is very negligent in terms of losing quality. Only if you have trained ears that you can hear the artifacts.

To me, 192k ATRAC3plus would be a good downgrade from 192k+ MP3 files. You're not losing any more space or quality. If you find 132k ATRAC3 acceptable, go for that.