LAME Alternative?

[brute]

Hi,

I'm searching for an alternative MP3-Encoder!

Why? :
All my mp3's that are encoded with the Lame Encoder are playing worse on my Carradio (Panasonic CQ-DFX 572n) and on my new portable MP3-Player. Actually I was finally able to focus the prob to the Lame Encoder!

So...Does anybody know a good alternative Mp3-Encoder that has a really good quality, or the best? It doesn't matter if it's a little bit slower, but the quality has to be quite good!

[KpeX]

Hi -

This doesn't sound like a quality issue to me. Probably, your player does not support VBR audio correctly, or some feature of the MP3. Are the files that play correctly CBR, or something else different from the Lame files? Check your player's manual. Lame is the highest quality MP3 encoder in existence so good luck finding something with higher quality.

[brute]

my player supports all mp3 bitrates and kinds. And the car MP3Player does this, too! LameVBR are the most that aren't workin ore have terrible noise, but LameCBR's have snappings.

With EncSpot i could see which encoders the mp3's are, and only the ones with lame make problems during playback. I've files from almost 10 encoders!

And lame ist opensource, as you can see how bad AC3enc performs, you can imagine, that even lame has some major bugs!

[KpeX]

Originally posted by brute
And lame ist opensource, as you can see how bad AC3enc performs, you can imagine, that even lame has some major bugs! Your logic is completely flawed. Before you start making completely wrong statements about MP3 I recommend you read the MP3 FAQ (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=68300#post424065) and some reading at www.hydrogenaudio.org . Lame has been around for years and is the most stable and highest quality MP3 encoder.

I'm sure there is something else about the files that makes them play poorly. Do they play back correctly on your PC? What's your lame command line used? And in my experience, just because an MP3 player claims to play everything, it usually doesn't.

[brute]

I see, that lame is your favourite, but could you suggest me an alternative?

[Boulder]

Which Lame version have you used? Version 3.90.3 is the recommended one at the moment.

There are no better alternatives you know;) I suspect there's something wrong with the settings you've used or as KpeX said, your players don't like the files much.

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?showtopic=478

[bond]

if have a little bit time wait until the end of the month and you will find a public blind listening test comparison of the available mp3 encoders at 128kbps conducted by rjamorim on his listening test site (http://audio.ciara.us/test/index.html)

[Gabriel_Bouvigne]

The problem is not in Lame bug in your decoder, which is unable to properly decode some mp3 files.

Stop encoding in plain stereo (use joint stereo), and it is likely that your problem will vanish.

[brute]

I've used several versions, and all play fine on my computer, but in all portable devises they sound strange, sometimes in silence there is some rustle.


Why joint stereo? and why version 3.90.3, i thought 3.93.1 was the latest stable?

[Gabriel_Bouvigne]

Joint stereo because it will lead to better quality...

...and also because an mp3 decoder chip used in some car players from Clarion/Sony/Panasonic has some problems decoding some stereo frames.

[brute]

but stereo is standard, waht should be so difficult there? it sounds like i shouldn't use mono, because the player can handle joint mono better. *g*

I'll try all, thanks for the tips till now!

[bond]

gabriel is one of the lame developers, you can trust in what he says ;)

[brute]

lol, good to know ;)


But what version would you suggest to use? and What settings?

I use Audiograbber with 192kbit, CBR, default Method, JointStereo, Quality:High (highest)

[Gabriel_Bouvigne]

Well, if you are already using joint stereo, then the problem is somewhere else.

Regarding why stereo would sometimes cause problems, well that is what is called a bug, and sometimes it happens. We discovered that those decoders are unable to properly decode streams when there is a long block on a channel and a short one on the other channel. In joint stereo this configuration never happens.

As for recomendations, if you want to encode in CBR I would choose to simply use 192kbps with the default settings using lame 3.95.
But as always, it is likely that other people will recommend something else.

[tiki4]

Please read up about recommended LAME settings and compiles here (http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?showtopic=203&).

tiki4

[KpeX]

Originally posted by brute
But what version would you suggest to use? and What settings?
This is all covered in the MP3 FAQ (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=68300#post424065). However, your requirements are different as you need the hardware device to decode the MP3 correctly. I'd recommend looking for other differences between the files that play correctly and the files that fail, the encoder is probably not the problem. Additionally, you'll want to read more on hydrogenaudio, there is more discussion of hardware MP3 players there.