Saving as higher quality MP3

myshkin · January 12, 2008, 23:14:54

Is there any way of saving tracks as better quality MP3s than 56kbps?

The sound quality is so poor, and I've been reverting to recording the track with a live recorder instead.

Thanks!

:twisted:

Saga Musix · January 12, 2008, 23:42:21

To encode a MP3 file, you obviously need an MP3 encoder. In all recent version of Windows, there's already one present: The Fraunhofer Advanced codec. However, the only "advanced" thing compared to the standard version is that it can only go up to 56Kbit at 22KHz.

In order to be able to encode MP3 files at full quality, you'll need the free LAME encoder.
Instructions on how to install it can be found in the wiki.

I can't recommend live recording since this can introduce noise from your soundcard into the mix. However, you can export your track to Wave audio and then import it into an audio editor. Some of them come with built-in MP3 and OGG encoders, or you can just use something like lamedrop or oggdrop for quickly converting files.

Edit: Updated information for current versions

LPChip · January 13, 2008, 00:02:02

In addition, you can export to .WAV which obviously gives you the highest quality possible, and also the largest file, and use any WAV to ... convertor program. Lame also comes with this.

In fact, I rather export to WAV first, and encode afterwards using a convertor program. That way, I always have the wav file to use in an audio editor, and it allows me to convert that WAV to other formats too with different qualities.

myshkin · January 13, 2008, 00:12:53

Thanks man. I don't quite follow how to implement LAME though. I've downloaded it, it hasn't been installed anywhere, I just have the folder on the desktop, and none of the files in the folder seem to be Windows compatible.

I am totally lost.

If you could help I would be much grateful.

KrazyKatz · January 13, 2008, 00:51:01

Why not just save it as a .wav file like LPchip suggests and then convert it to mp3 in another program. If you need a converting program check out Audacity:

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Freeware and can save in .mp3 format.

Sam_Zen · January 13, 2008, 03:45:08

Of course saving as a WAV file first is the best and most versatile method. Because, before compression, it's the original.

LAME is a media codec, and just should be in the right system directory to function. Being on the desktop is quite useless.
Here's a program to check which audio and video codecs are present on your system :
http://www.louigiverona.com/webarchive/samzen/download/sherlock.zip

I checked the File/Save as MP3 menu. I noticed some odd behaviour in the 'MPEG layer 3 Convert' dialog.
First, indeed 56 KB, 22 KHz was the highest resolution, but if I pick the Driver 'MPEG Layer-3 Codec' again,
I suddenly get the complete list of MP3-resolution, starting with 320 KB 44 KHz.

LPChip · January 13, 2008, 10:46:32

In order to be able to export as MP3 with higher bitrates, you need to place the lame codecs in OpenMPT's plugin directory. Put all files that come with LAME there, then start OpenMPT, and try to export. As there's a new codec, it now should allow you to choose which codec to use.

Saga Musix · January 13, 2008, 11:43:47

hell no, since when does OpenMPT has a plugin directory?! and why would it need that for system codecs?

LAME should come with an INF file, right-click and choose "install". it should be registered as a codec then.

LPChip · January 13, 2008, 14:17:08

Quote from: "Jojo"hell no, since when does OpenMPT has a plugin directory?! and why would it need that for system codecs? LAME should come with an INF file, right-click and choose "install". it should be registered as a codec then.

By default it hasn't, but Modplug Tracker worked with this Plugins directory, and it still works.

Just make a subdirectory inside OpenMPT called Plugins and in there copy your lame files.

Saga Musix · January 13, 2008, 14:57:00

i copied the LAME binaries into the mentioned folder on a system without LAME and it didn't change anything in OpenMPT...

LPChip · January 13, 2008, 16:34:01

Quote from: "Jojo"i copied the LAME binaries into the mentioned folder on a system without LAME and it didn't change anything in OpenMPT...

So you have OpenMPT\Plugins (note the s on the end) and in there you have Lame.dll and lame.exe and what not, and it didn't worked?

Hmm, on second thought, I do see a blade_enc.dll in my main directory. Perhaps it must be inside the OpenMPT directory itself. Why the hell do I have a Plugins directory then with Lame in it? XD

Okay, I just moved lame_enc.dll from the Plugins directory to the OpenMPT directory, and it showed up.

Saga Musix · January 13, 2008, 17:10:58

this indeed works, but i never did it before and it worked

Sam_Zen · January 14, 2008, 03:32:44

Working or not, I think it's a strange construction to have to place a duplicate of any codec in the root of OMPT.

In the meantime :
If one needs an external WAV <--> MP3 converter, this is a simple (dragndrop) but versatile tool at the Edskes builds :
http://finalbuilds.edskes.net/lamedropxpd.htm

Saga Musix · January 14, 2008, 11:40:20

... and to complete the information, there's also a similar tool for OGG vorbis files (oggdrop).

maleek · January 15, 2008, 12:08:09

OGG is superior in terms of non-lossy conversion from wave (to my mind). Although it did not quite become the big alternative to mp3 it was set out to be. I usually convert my waves in Cool Edit to a 192 kbps mp3. It is the best compromise today between quality and file size to my mind.