Stock 1987 radio very low volume

[Natedog]

AllanD, great info that I concur with all the applicable parts....I don't have as many different file type copies though.

MP3s are LOW quality and clip many of the low and high notes....buying used CDs is the way to go. If I can't find a good used copy, then I'll buy new CDs.

 

[Ranger SVO]

MP3s are LOW quality and clip many of the low and high notes....buying used CDs is the way to go.

What encoder are you using? You must be using CBR settings around 128 or lower. It is not possible to tell the difference between a CD and a properly encoded MP3.

Its time to update how your MP3 files are encoded. If your still using encoders like QDesign, BladeEnc or anything else that came out of the early days of MP3, its really time to move up.

Try using LAME 3.98. There are many rippers that will allow LAME to be used as an internal encoder. Use the VBR setting, Quality 1 or 2, select Method "NEW" and Joint Stereo. If possible, encode using an intermediate .wav file. Any decent ripper will have this option.

Lame can also be used as an external encoder.

Now there are many other good encoders out there, and if you can hear the difference between the MP3 and the CD, your not using one of them.

 

[AllanD]

I find that anything below 160kbit is pretty bad, as for clipping off the higher
and lower frequencies it's sounds that most people can't hear even if the
sounds were accurately reproduce.

For my own use I have a bunch of files compressed to 224kBit/sec
(inadvertant choice when I wanted 240k)
but anything I do now is done at 320k.
and I'm creepingly redoing all my 224's at 320k

I have the mixed blessing of still having my highfrequency hearing at 47.

As for "sounds like crap" compressing things more (smaller bitrates)
tends to create more reporduction "Artifacts", usually reported as "Tweety"
or "warbling" sounds.

a particularly bad one is in the first fifteen seconds of the Shinedown song
"I Dare You" if compressed to 128k.

as for "audio forms" I only willingly play wit CD audio (CDDA files) or .mp3's

the things I mentioned (Blade, FgH, LAME) are a few of the most
popular compression algorithms (NOT software) used to compress
CDA files to .mp3 and certainly not "file types"

I Did mention what the newer players would play.
mp3's are the defacto standard for compressed audio
but AAC's (iTunes) are quite common.
WMA's are difficult to work with due to (typically) imbedded DRM features.

files compressed to 320k can usually be expanded back to CD format without most people being able to detect it.

Generally speaking the less compression you use the less relevant
the specific compression algorithm used.

DRM is "Digital Rights Management".
Frankly it is my considered opinion that I only need to buy a piece of music ONCE.

The record companies would LOVE to make each of us pay over and over again
(each time we listen to it) but would likely settle for paying one time each for
the music as CD and each copy of the music as mp3.

Frankly If I own a piece of music on vinyl I figuire I've already paid for it and if I can get it in a digital format it's legally no different from making a Cassette copy of an LP.
Most importantly the Supreme Court of the United States agrees
with my opinion.

I use (as mentioned previously) Exact Audio Copy (you can download it free) to "Rip" from the CD to a WAV file.
I then use "Switch Sound File Converter" to compress it (LAME)

I Don't bother with VBR because I have recently stopped compressing anything smaller than 320kBit/sec. I use the highest quality and add error detection. and the typical highest bitrate supported by most playback equipment is limited to 320k anyway.

I edit my id3 tags as a seperate operation, but I'm currently looking for a new id3tag editor, the one I was using had some freakish issues... Like incorrectly identifying the bitrate of files (gross misidentification) which created issues with my burning software (Roxio) as the files are then regarded as "unsupported bitrate", until I delete, reboot, recompress from wav.

all a considerable PITA.

an 80min CD if filled with mp3's will run for 514min (8h 34min)
when filled with 224kBit/sec compressed mp3 files and if
320k files are used ONLY 360min (using "only" when saying SIX hours from a single disc seems hilarious)

IF you are fortunate to have one of the many units on the marked that'll play DVD-R/RW's loaded with mp3's? 4.7gigs is 6.2 times as much as a 702mb CD-R.
I know that the Sony MEX-DV2000 will even play the
DVD-R DL (dual layer) discs 8.54Gig! (12.16 times the
capacity of a CD)

at 320kBit that's just a few minutes short of 73hours on a single disc and that's at the lowest compression (Highest quality)
rate possible for mp3's


In my system is a Sony CDX-757MX CD changer which plays Mp3 files on CD. even presuming that I only had ten CD's loaded with mp3's that's 60hours of continuous music.... I have at last count EIGHT disc magazines. IF loaded with mp3's I can't imagine needing more than three of them for even the longest trip.

60hours of music that is "trimmed" to "only the good stuff" and
select shuffle-2... it'd be a week before I got bored, even
imagining that I didn't have a spare magazine (or two) OR
my Sirius Radio, car mounted cell phone or any of three
two-way radios...

Hell, I've been listening to one mp3/CD since last wednesday...

I think of my CD changer the way a friend jokingly refers to it...
the worlds largest 7gig iPod.

Now if I could only make the id3 tags work on my head unit display.... I know that it'll never display a title for more than 99tracks on a single disc but the newer units are a bit more forgiving....

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[Ranger SVO]

I find that anything below 160kbit is pretty bad, as for clipping off the higher
and lower frequencies it's sounds that most people can't hear even if the
sounds were accurately reproduce.

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A majority of the population cannot tell the difference between a 160kbit and a CD. They just think they can

I have the mixed blessing of still having my highfrequency hearing at 47.

As for "sounds like crap" compressing things more (smaller bitrates)
tends to create more reporduction "Artifacts", usually reported as "Tweety"
or "warbling" sounds.

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Same here on the hearing thing

The people who developed LAME worked hard on the "artifact" problem. By the time they hit version 3.94, "artifacts" were a none issue, especially if your using bitrates around 128 or better. Yes I've been using LAME that long.

I Don't bother with VBR because I have recently stopped compressing anything smaller than 320kBit/sec. I use the highest quality and add error detection. and the typical highest bitrate supported by most playback equipment is limited to 320k anyway.

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I use VBR because I am still trying to save some space. All of my music is on two Ipods, 10 and 20 CD's laying all over my truck is unexceptable. CBR works for me. I work in car audio and I demo my system all the time and I have NEVER had a customer that was able to tell the difference between the Ipod and the CD. Again I use quality setting 1 or 2 and have, personally, never been able to tell the difference between the two settings.

 

[AllanD]

MP3 cd's in my truck aren't "laying around" they are either IN the
XA-250 ten disc magazine in the changer or in the spare magazine
in it's magazine sleeve. and since I have a supercab the Disc magazine
(a package the size of four gem cases stacked together) is hardly noticeable.

In addition to that I carry a 20disc wallet of CD's (my 15-ish favorite
complete albums a few empty slots and a couple compilation discs)

"Loose CD's" (either file format) quickly find themselves scratched and
subsequently shitcanned.

I don't tolerate "loose discs" either. they are either IN one of the
media players or in the disc wallet

at the moment I can only play mp3 discs in the changer
and direct access to any particular album/artist/song on
an mp3 disc is impractical (often involving pushing "next track" 70-80times)

So at the moment my mp3 discs are all random (actually aplhabetical)
that I play by selecting shuffle1 (shuffle one disc)
Though if I had magazine full of mp3 discs I could select shuffle2
(shuffle all discs in the changer)

currently I have my music catagorized as
"Grunge": Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Guns & Roses
Pearl Jam, etc
"Hard Post-Grunge", Creed, Alter Bridge, Breaking Benjamin Chevelle, Nickelback, etc.
"Soft Post-grunge" Evanescence, Vertical Horizon, Tonic, Live, Incubus, Collective Soul, etc
"Hard Rock", Disturbed, Metallica, Chevelle (there's some overlap) Deftones,
"Bar Rock" AC/DC, Airbourne, The Poor, Rhino Bucket, Jackyl.
"Hair Metal" Dokken, Great White, Queensryche, Warrant, Jackyl

Not to mention the stuff that can be salted in several catagories
and those things that don't mix well... Rush, Kansas

And other things that don't exactly "fit" where they are generally classified
Like Jackyl and Cinderella which are typically classed with "hair metal" but
are actually quite blues/southern oriented (Ignoring that Cinderalla is out
of Philadelphia

The Neat thing is I'm still "playing" with the CD loading, and the fact that my new changer plays CD-RW's allows me to expirement (and if I find something that should or shouldn't be included I can alter the songs on a particular disc.)

Eventually when I find a happy combination I'll take the same files and
load them onto an iPod..... ONCE, and bury the ipod (or similar mp3 device)
somewhere back behind the dash(actually wrapped in a ziploc bag and taped to the backside of the glovebox) directly connected to an iPod/USB compatible
(back cable) sony head unit.

as cheap as CD-Rs are CD-RW's can be written/erased several thousand times
and thus can save many wasted Write-once discs.


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[Ranger SVO]

I'm sure you've seen these (My Ranger)

In my car (Mercury Tracer), I use both MP3 CD's and an Ipod (which is in the trunk with the XM tuner)

 

[AllanD]

I the system I'm building, with whatever Sony Headunit I end up using,
Access to the iPod (or USB storage device) isn't necissary...

when you plug the iPod into an "iP" suffix Sony headunit
the controls on the iPod are disables and the display shows
the sony "Xplod" logo as long as it's connected.

So I'd only need access to initially program it and to
change/update the programming later.

My main concern is HIDING the iPod so that actual dismantling of the truck
would be required to locate it let alone remove it.

Inside the garage door opener remote compartment in the overhead console
is "slick", but it's an obvious place for a thief to look.

I like things less than visible.... Kinda like the way the 7W amplifier for
my CDMA cellphone is mounted to the armrest support bracket inside
my console. (where it fits both neatly and invisibly leaving no suggestion
that it is even there

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