Lame (Gordion Knot) MP3 vs Radium Codec / Even Nero Wave Editor Codec

[Mr.Fred.]

I'm doing some SVCD->Divx video recoding via GKnot and saw it had the option of Muxing the Audio, or using the Lame program. I was wondering if one gave superior audio quality. The lame process seems to use an extra/uneeded step and I am thinking I may loose audio quality.

If I mux the audio the process would be:

1) Demux MP2 from SVCD
2) Recode to MP3 via the Radium Codec (using winamp probably)
My codec goes all the way up to 320kbit/s .. I'll probably use between 128 kbit/s to 256 kbit/s (15 to 31 kb/s)

The lame process is:

1) Demux MP2 from SVCD
2) Change to .wav using Wimamp -> Limit of 16 bit Stereo 172 kb/s (@44.1 kHz)
3) Let lame change the audio to MP3 using the --alt-preset <bitrate> option.

My computer registers .wav level I am usign as Cd-quality, and IIRC a 128kbit/s MP3 is near CD, making me excpect some loss.

So will the .wav conversion will loose audio quality?
Or is the Lame property of variable audio bit rate offset a lot better than just using Radium MP3 codec?

The current SVCD i'm working on is 128kb 16 bit sterio, but some are higher bit rate.

Thanks for your audio help!!

[DSPguru]

a. why not transcoding directly from mp2 to mp3 using LAME.exe ?
b. why transcoding the soundtrack instead of muxing the "original" mp2 into your divx ?

[Mr.Fred.]

> a. why not transcoding directly from mp2 to mp3 using LAME.exe ?

*DOH*, takes brain out of park. I guess that's what I get for following instructions too closely. When I try it I guess i'll find out if there is a why not.

It looks like I'll have to mux the file in with another program (for best results), but no biggy.

> b. why transcoding the soundtrack instead of muxing the "original" > mp2 into your divx ?

Defacto standard, and overall making things hard on myself. Looking at the files the difference looks negligable. The only advantage off the top of my head is VBR audio.

Thanks for the reply

[DSPguru]

Originally posted by Mr.Fred.
Looking at the files the difference looks negligable.Looking=Hearing ;) ? The only advantage off the top of my head is VBR audio.WHATEVER you do, you won't get better quality than your source stream (SVCD's mp2).