Low bitrates

[jkrzok]

I don't know if this is a bug or should be a feature request, but it looks like make it one doesn't support low bit rates. I tried to join some files encoded at 48/32/mono and was prompted to select a bitrate. I tried 96 just for kicks as 48 wasn't on the list but ended up with an unusable file. It played but at a much faster speed than should be.

This program would be perfect if it supported low bit rates.

[makeitone]

you are absolutely correct, 96 is the lowest supported bitrate. In addition to this only 44kHz is supported. I guess this should be in the FAQ.

Interesting that it plays at the wrong speed, usually it would misreport the duration but play correctly. Thats useful to know, thanks.

However, the good news is that support will be added for lower bitrates in the next release.

[jkrzok]

That will be cool. I would use the program to join together radio talk shows into one file. They are usually posted in parts at low bit rates. Will support for 22kHz also be included?

As a side note, the files I created did misrepresent the time as well as play a a high rate of speed. It sounded like someone hit fast forward on a tape machine.

[makeitone]

I will try to support 22kHz as well as the lower bitrates. The lower bitrates are certainly more straight forward. I hadn't anticipated that anyone would use less than 96kBits/s, but seeing that people are, thats no problem.

[jkrzok]

Yes!

There's actually a large active community trading talk/Old Time Radio and our files are pretty universally low bit rate. I understand mp3 was originally developed to transfer speech across the internet. We are probably the original file traders.

[makeitone]

could you post all the formats you would like to see supported eg:
48kbps, 22kHz, Stereo
32kbps, 22kHz, Stereo
48kbps, 44kHz, Mono

thanks again for your input.

[jkrzok]

32/22 Mono << Most often used
48/22 Mono
64/22 Mono
48/32 Mono<< Often used
64/44 Mono

Stereo is not an issue at all. 44kHz isn't often used. For whatever reason those two options make the resulting files sound worse at these rates.

[makeitone]

ok, good news and bad news.

I've done some research and it all looks possible, thats the good news. The bad news is, this is a biggie and needs careful attention, it will very much change the framework behind MP3 Album Maker and I don't want to break compatibility. This means it will be a few weeks before its done.

And on a trivia note...
when is Mpeg1-Layer3 not Mpeg1-Layer3?

well, anything under 32kHz is not reported as Mpeg1-Layer3... its actually classed as Mpeg2-Layer3, well at least as far as the headers specify. Interesting, considering its generated by the same codec.

[PackBjammin]

I am a .NET programmer, and could try to help out with this low bitrate issue, if you want. It is important for anything talk based.

[makeitone]

Hi there,

thanks for the post,

Well, yeah thats two offers now and I should probably start to think about accepting. In the meantime there is good news... since the whole issue of low bitrates was announced, there are a couple of open source mp3 libraries available.

I had actually started to re-write in Java using the JLayer libraries to overcome this... I've stopped and will redirect back to C# now the .Net libraries are here.

I just need to allocate some time to it.

Now that I have announced this I will do my best to act on it.

thanks again