BeSweet: strange MP3 files when using presets

[Mikele]

I'm converting a 44.1khz WAV to MP3, using Lame's --r3mix preset. Here's what I'm doing (using GUI 0.6 b15):

BeSweet v1.0 logfile.
--------------------------
Logging start : 01/20/02 , 04:33:55.

c:\VideoUtils\Aud\BeSweet.exe -core( -input c:\MP3\Elisa - Then Comes The Sun\01 - Rainbow.wav -output c:\MP3\Elisa - Then Comes The Sun\besweet\elisa-bybesweet.mp3 -logfile C:\VideoUtils\Aud\BeSweet.log ) -lame( -m j --preset r3mix --abr )

[00:00:00:000] +------- BeSweet -----
[00:00:00:000] | Input : c:\MP3\Elisa - Then Comes The Sun\01 - Rainbow.wav
[00:00:00:000] | Output: c:\MP3\Elisa - Then Comes The Sun\besweet\elisa-bybesweet.mp3
[00:00:00:000] | Floating-Point Process: Yes
[00:00:00:000] | Source Sample-Rate: 44.1KHz
[00:00:00:000] +-------- LAME -------
[00:00:00:000] | 'r3mix' preset is used
[00:00:00:000] +---------------------
[00:05:01:731] Conversion Completed !
Logging ends : 01/20/02 , 04:34:57.

The MP3 files plays ok, but it's 6.6 mb. If I convert the same WAV with lame.exe using --r3mix, I get a 5.9 mb file. And Winamp shows some strange and wrong information about it (layer 1, 48khz mono, high kbps):

Size: 6876258 bytes
Header found at: 482 bytes
Length: 132 seconds
MPEG 1.0 layer 1
416kbit, 5509 frames
48000Hz Mono
CRCs: No
Copyrighted: Yes
Original: Yes
Emphasis: CITT j.17

Something must be wrong with the MP3 header, I guess. I've tried some other WAVs and it's the same.

[MaTTeR]

What version of BeSweet are you using? Version 1.0 is the latest stable release and then check out beta15 of DD's GUI. Not sure if this will fix your problem or not though.

[Mikele]

1.0 and beta 15. Take a look at this: with 0.96, the MP3 file is also bigger, but the info showed in Winamp is correct. I really don't care about that info, what I care about is file size, it could lead to trouble when doing a whole movie.

[MaTTeR]

Please test some other files if you have them available. I'm having strange results encoding an AC3 to MP3 also but I'm using version 1.1 beta. I'll post my results later.

EDIT-
BTW- My strange results are I'm getting no MP3 file at all:( It goes through the entire process but I never get the MP3.

[Mikele]

I've switched to BeSweet 1.1b (with the modified mp3_enc.dll) and tried this:

VOB-BeSweet(Azid-Lame[--r3mix]): 3.26 mb file (average: 183 kbps according to EncSpot).
VOB-vStrip-AC3, then AC3-Azid-WAV, then WAV-Lame[--r3mix]: 2.96 mb file (average: 166 kbps according to EncSpot).

So there must be something wrong in the way BeSweet handles the --r3mix preset, because it's producing larger files than the original preset. I've not tried yet the other presets.

But I'm not having your problem though, the MP3 file is always created.

[MaTTeR]

Mikele,

Don't use 1.1b for the time being. Abug or two seems to exist in the encoding. Stick with 1.0 and see if the r3mix gives you what your looking for.

[Mikele]

As I was saying, I tried 0.96, 1.0 and 1.1, and I get the same problem with all of them.

[DSPguru]

you might wanna know that i do a straight use of the r3mix preset.
if this doesn't work for you, there must be a problem with lame_enc.dll

[MaTTeR]

I just tested r3mix with beta 15 of the GUI and BeSweet 1.0 and worked fine. Average bitrate was around 160

[DSPguru]

check v1.1b1 to see if you still get empty mp3 files.

[Mikele]

I'm not saying it's BeSweet's fault DSPguru, I'm just getting some strange results and I thought I'd let you know.
Take a look at these comparison between BeSweet 1.1b1 (with its modified lame dll) and Lame 3.91 (with the same dll, but the results are the same with 3.91's original dll):

(file.wav is a random 16.9 mb 44 khz stereo file)

1: BeSweet.exe -core( -input file.wav -output file-bs-r3mix.mp3 ) -lame( --preset r3mix )
2: lame.exe file.wav file-lame-r3mix.mp3 --r3mix

file-bs-r3mix.mp3 is 2.07 mb, js, ~174 kbps
file-lame-r3mix.mp3 is 1.84 mb, js, ~154 kbps

And this:

1: BeSweet.exe -core( -input file.wav -output file-bs-standard.mp3 ) -lame( --alt-preset standard )
2: lame.exe file.wav file-lame-standard.mp3 --alt-preset standard

file-bs-standard.mp3 is 1.57 mb, js, ~132 kbps
file-lame-standard.mp3 is 2.19 mb, js, ~183 kbps

Ok, I hope this has some meaning to you.

[damjang]

Hi
I tested Besweet1.0 for encode a wav to mp3 vbr (-V 5) and found that the info of the mp3 in winamp was like Mikele say. Then I analyze the mp3 with MP3Trim and found that the first mp3 frame heder was broken. The other frames are allright.

Hope this help
damjang