Configuring the MP3 Export Format to Convert from WAV, WMA, OGG, or MP3 Files

MP3 (MPEG-1 Layer 3 audio) is the most widely used audio compression format, especially suited for music which can be transferred to a wide range of portable music players including mobile phones.

Huelix Audio Converter uses the LAME MP3 encoder, known for its excellent quality.

The MP3 Settings configuration screen is shown below:

Choose Bitrate

MP3 bit rates (amount of data per second - higher bit rates usually provide higher quality but will also result in larger files) can be configured in two ways. The CBR or constant bitrate option is the default. This means that no matter what the audio content is, the data rate is always the same. To select the CBR format, check the radio button named CBR (or hit C).

The actual bitrate used is now selected from the drop down list below the radio button. The default value 128 kbps, is usually good enough for most kinds of music and provides a good trade off between file size and audio quality.

The other bitrate option is called VBR (for variable bit rate). As the name implies, the bit rate will change depending on the actual content of the audio being compressed. This can be more efficient in terms of file size, because certain content-specific optimization can be performed. To choose the VBR format, click the radio button called VBR (or hit V). This now enables the three drop down lists below the button. You can now choose a minimum bit rate and a maximum bit rate. The encoder will actually use a value between this minimum and maximum for various sections of the audio file. The third list, titled, VBR Quality, controls how the encoder tries to find the best possible bit rate. The possible range of values are 0-9, with 0 offering the best optimization. The lower this value, the harder the encoding engine works, requiring more CPU cycles and slowing down the compression process.

Note: VBR formats provide better compression for a given bitrate by adjusting the bitrate continuously.

Choose Encoding Quality

Even with a given bitrate, the encoding quality can be adjusted to get better quality at the expense of CPU power. The maximum quality setting provides the best audio quality, but also requires the most CPU power. Please make sure that you have a capable CPU and do not have other resource hungry applications running in the background if you choose this setting.

The lowest quality setting uses very little CPU, but the audio quality may be affected. To adjust the quality setting, move the slider to the appropriate position, while noting the tooltip text for a description of the position.

The recommended setting is about half way between the two extremes.

MP3 Metadata

MP3 files can inherently contain some information other than just plain audio. The following metadata are supported.

Copyright - Check this to indicate that the audio file is copyrighted (or hit P).

Original - Check this to indicate that the audio content is original (or hit O).

CRC Checksum - Check this to add CRC protection to the audio file (or hit R).

Channels

Mono - Resulting MP3 has a single channel (or hit M).

Stereo - Resulting MP3 has two audio channels (or hit S).

Joint Stereo - This has two channels as well, but the relationship between the two channels are considered by the encoding engine. This can result in better compression ate the expense of extra complexity (or hit J)..

Sampling Rate

MP3 can support a number of sampling rates. The most common one is the CD-quality rate - 44100 Hz. For special applications, you might want to use a lower or higher sampling rate. To select an appropriate sampling rate, choose one from the drop down list titled, Sampling Rate.

See also:

Convert WAV to MP3
Convert OGG to MP3
Convert WMA to MP3
Convert MP3 to MP3

 

Huelix Audio Converter - Audio Format Conversion between MP3, WMA, OGG, and WAV formats






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