.shn and .flac music files..

[nicK]

i've got a large number of .shn music files on my hard drive taking up a lot of space (50mbs per track) so i'm thinking i should convert them into a smaller file like .mp3 to save space... it would also be handy for playing in itunes.. (my chosen audio player)

the audio quality is fairly important to me but 50mb per track is just too big.. should i be considering a different format than .mp3 if i want to keep most of the quality?

anybody have any experience with this kind of thing? software?

PiE

Mp3 format at -alt preset standard... or -alt preset extreme if you want to be finicky.

4Xcut

Use eac and alme codec. convert to at least 192, 384 gives really great results. Much smaller than 50 mb per song....

TempestSabre

Since you can get a big HD very cheap I don't see the point of doing all the compressing. Unless of course you have a portable player that you want the small format for. While some music managers like iTunes can compress on the fly as they transfer the bigger file to your portable. It does take a good bit of time.

mp3guy

ogg. Smaller, and 0 quality, thats 64kbps VBR is about the same as mp3 128kbps.

Giblet

Convert to --aps Mp3s

ShiverinEskimo

mp3guy wrote:

ogg. Smaller, and 0 quality, thats 64kbps VBR is about the same as mp3 128kbps.

If someone called oggGuy came on here would he be the new and improved version of you? Take up less space but have more quality?

I have all my mp3s at 192 and it does grand.

greglo23

in iTunes go to edit/preferences/advanced/importing and choose what you want from there. you have a choice of AAC/AIFF/Apple Lossless/MP3/WAV. each one of these has it's own set of choices as well.

DemonOfTheFall

4Xcut wrote:

Use eac and alme codec. convert to at least 192, 384 gives really great results. Much smaller than 50 mb per song....

I'm reasonably sure that mp3 can't go above 320 kbps.

To OP: Grab this link here http://homepage.ntlworld.ie/demonofthefall/all2lame.zip . It's a zipped up release of ALL2LAME and TAG (both free programs), all set up with the latest LAME preset settings.

-b 320 is the ultimate quality mp3 setting, 320 kbps.
-V 0 is a tweaked variable bit rate setting, between 220 kbps and 260
-V 9 is a tweaked variable bit rate setting, between 45 and 85 kbps.

The other V numbers fill in the VBR gaps between 0 and 9.

I use -V 0 myself, 320 kbps is just a ridiculous file size. I don't know could I tell the difference between 0 and say 2 or 3, but I decided better safe than sorry when I was ripping a few hundred CDs.

That zip has the latest version of LAME in there, so you're not going to get better quality MP3 than from that setup. Just run ALL2LAME.exe and you're off.

EDIT: some further reading for you http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=LAME

Giblet

Oh yeah, I use V0 aswell. 320C is a waste.

[nicK]

DemonOfTheFall wrote:

I'm reasonably sure that mp3 can't go above 320 kbps.

To OP: Grab this link here http://homepage.ntlworld.ie/demonofthefall/all2lame.zip . It's a zipped up release of ALL2LAME and TAG (both free programs), all set up with the latest LAME preset settings.

-b 320 is the ultimate quality mp3 setting, 320 kbps.
-V 0 is a tweaked variable bit rate setting, between 220 kbps and 260
-V 9 is a tweaked variable bit rate setting, between 45 and 85 kbps.

The other V numbers fill in the VBR gaps between 0 and 9.

I use -V 0 myself, 320 kbps is just a ridiculous file size. I don't know could I tell the difference between 0 and say 2 or 3, but I decided better safe than sorry when I was ripping a few hundred CDs.

That zip has the latest version of LAME in there, so you're not going to get better quality MP3 than from that setup. Just run ALL2LAME.exe and you're off.

EDIT: some further reading for you http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=LAME

nice one, everything i was looking for, in one post..
i'll give this a go with the -v0 preset, cheers..


there have been some other good recommendations but .ogg is out of the question as i'd also like to import it to an ipod..

also, itunes can't import .shn so for as i know..

tempestsabre, it not just the hd space.. i'd like the files to be more compatible with more audio programs, portable music players etc..

DemonOfTheFall

You could probably safely drop to V 0 without losing any quality unless you spent a few grand on your sound setup. I only used V 0 because I had just bought 2 x 160 gig hard drives when I was ripping

TempestSabre

[nicK] wrote:

...
tempestsabre, it not just the hd space.. i'd like the files to be more compatible with more audio programs, portable music players etc..

Ummm. If I was you I'd convert everything to Flac and stick on a new HD. Then rip it all to MP3, but keep the FLAC library just in case you feel like re-ripping to something else in the future. If you use some thing like Media Monkey it can rip on the fly to MP3 from FLAC when putting music on your portable.

That said I use between 160-320 Lame CBR, because from experience CBR is more compatible with the players I've used. The lower bitrates for bad recordings, or stuff from tape. The higher bitrates for classical and acoustic stuff or favorite albums. I don't bother with FLAC myself, though I have experimented with it in the past. With my low end earphones and in less than perfect enviroments, I doubt I hear much of a difference. Decent earphones and player would make more of a difference than really high bitrates or lossless. That said I though I think I can hear a difference between ATRAC 352 and ATRAC 256kps. But not enough to really bother me.