Bit Rate Baffled

Hi
I have decided to import my store bought cds using the AAC encoder because I understand it is preferable to MP3.
It has been suggested to me that 128kbps was intended for listening directly from the Ipod and because I will play my Ipod Video(60) over my home stereo system that I should choose a higher bitrate.
I intend to customize above the 128kbps default and I am not that concerned about running out of space.
I know a ripping service that uses 224kbps and I read where someone suggested 256kbps.
However at some point these files will be approaching the size of lossless files.
My Prime Question is:
Can someone tell me at what level is the customized bitrate at AAC just pointless for casual home stereo use and therefore which bitrate should I should choose?
Also is it neccessary to check VBR which upon testing, often created an even higher bitrate?
Also what is "Optimize for Voice"?
Thanks Very Much
FUJITSU Windows XP SP2
FUJITSU Windows XP SP2
FUJITSU Windows XP SP2
FUJITSU Windows XP SP2

Choose the bitrate that sounds good to you over your stereo system. Use your ears.
Rip the same song from CD at three or four different bitrates and see if you can tell the difference.

Similar Messages

Can no longer change bit rate in AAC custom import settings

I've been re-ripping all my CDs at the new higher bit rate. My import settings were AAC Encoder -- custom, originally set to 256 kbps, VBR, and auto for the other two settings. However, some CDs I wanted at a lower setting, so I would go change the bit rate to either 192 or 224 (just so I'd have more room on my ipod) and there wouldn't be a problem. But now it's stuck -- the pop-up box no longer opens when I choose import settings, AAC Encoder, Custom, so I can't change the bit rate or anything else, and it's stuck on 224 kbps. I can still change bit rate and other settings in the custom menus for MP3, WAV, etc., just not AAC. A repair install of iTunes did not fix the problem.

Hi, Ed. I am running iTunes 9.0.3.15. When I click custom, the settings description in the details box display what they were before this thing happened = 112 kbps (mono)/224 kbps (stereo), VBR, optimized for MMX/SSE2. The pop-up dialogue box that used to appear (where you could choose the specific bit rate from the drop down menu) does not appear at all.
However, when I choose anything other than AAC Encoder, and then pick custom, the pop-up box appears and I can choose the bit rate and adjust the other settings as usual. It's just not happening for AAC Encoder anymore. Since the total un-install (following Apple's specified order) and reinstall didn't work, I'm baffled how to fix this .... (If it makes a difference, I changed the bit rate in the custom box while a CD was being burned...Apparently that was stupid, but I had done it previously without incident.) Thanks.

Can no longer change bit rate in AAC custom import setting

I want to change personal settings of AAC, but I can't. Still only the last setting, that was 192 Kbps Stereo. My iTunes version is 10.7

Hi, Ed. I am running iTunes 9.0.3.15. When I click custom, the settings description in the details box display what they were before this thing happened = 112 kbps (mono)/224 kbps (stereo), VBR, optimized for MMX/SSE2. The pop-up dialogue box that used to appear (where you could choose the specific bit rate from the drop down menu) does not appear at all.
However, when I choose anything other than AAC Encoder, and then pick custom, the pop-up box appears and I can choose the bit rate and adjust the other settings as usual. It's just not happening for AAC Encoder anymore. Since the total un-install (following Apple's specified order) and reinstall didn't work, I'm baffled how to fix this .... (If it makes a difference, I changed the bit rate in the custom box while a CD was being burned...Apparently that was stupid, but I had done it previously without incident.) Thanks.

Problem with bit rate ?

Hi there,
Using FCP7.
After compressing a FCP project with Compressor and burning DVDSP with DVDSP, I realized that scenes containing objects or people in rapid movement where showing jerked images.
The slow motion scenes are fine.
I checked the following
settings for DVDSP burning: VBR two pass;
averageBit rate 4,0,
max rate 7,0
1) the self-contained QT that I started with is not showing this problem.
2) the m2v file obtained from compressor (I use preset setting for high quality compression) does not show this problem when I view it with MPEG streamclip
3) I tried to burn directly the QT file with Toast 10 …get same problem if not worse !.
settings for Toast
automatic re-encoding
average rate 4,0 Mbps
max bit rate 8,0 Mbps
MPEG-2
I guess my problem comes from the bit rate I used ?
I am now confused and I am not sure I understood the impact of the bit rate setting on the quality of the resulting DVD, and I believe that using a high bit rate in DVDSP might result in problems for some clients to play the DVD on their player ?
Could it be something else ?
could someone please give me advice ?
Many thanks in advance
Ivan

I can only think of two possibilities based on the info available:
1. Old DVD player (choking on the bitrate spike)
2. You need to set some compression markers around the scenes while in FCP. This would flag Compressor to pay extra attention to that area. After you output the new clip, I suggest you use the standard High Quality preset (in Compressor) for your program duration e.g., "Highest Quality 90 minute". Don't get creative with the encoding set-up. And ALWAYS used AC-3 audio.

Controlling output video bit rate in FCPX

I ran into a problem: I created a mp4 file with Share/Export File… (settings: Computer, H.264 Faster Encode, 1920x1080 - edited from an HD camera): its video always freezes at a definite point when played on my BD Player connected to my HDTV through HDMI (audio instead continues on the frozen image).
It seem that the issue is a sudden video bit rate pick of almost 50 Mbps while its average is around 20-30 Mbps. It is not clear to me if this freeze is caused by the BD Player or by the HDTV not being able to handle such pick.
As a test I used Compressor to control the output bit rate (settings: average 20 Mbps and pick 25 Mbps) and this seems to fix the problem. To be more certain I should do more tests, but I'm confident I found a possible solution.
I'd like to know if there is a way in FCPX to control such picks (without using Compressor), either in the Share commands (but it seems to me that they don't provide enough setting controls) or in the timeline. By watching the Video Scopes I can see a quite strong signal in the area where the output file has the bit rate pick. But I don't know any way to have a measure useful to identify them before sharing and avoid a trial and error approach...
Piero
Below the critical point...

Tried to upload a PDF instead of PNG, but no luck. The picture shows a quite standard (I'd say...) image but with highly dense graphic of Y' component in the Y'CbCr Parade (in the limits of 0-100 IRE): much more dense than most images in the rest of the movie. So I assume this might mean a higher bit rate... but it's just an assumption.
Let me summarize my tests:
1st test: FCPX: Share/Export File.. (settings: Computer, H.264 Faster Encode, 1920x1080)
- copied the .mp4 file to USB drive
- USB drive into a BD player connected to HDTV through HDMI >> freezing effect
2nd test: FCPX: Send to Compressor - Compressor: Create Blu-Ray Disk (on Hard Drive) and Video Job with standard Video settings (Automatically select bit rates = ON)
- Played the .img disk with "Mac Blu-Ray Player" on my iMac >> same freezing effect in same position as before on HDTV
3rd test: FCPX: Send to Compressor - Compressor: Create Blu-Ray Disk (on Hard Drive) and Video Job with customized Video settings: Automatically select bit rates = OFF - Average = 20 Mbps - Maximum = 25 Mbps
- Played the .img disk with "Mac Blu-Ray Player" on my iMac >> NO MORE freezing effect (and smaller file by 30%)
I might do more tests (mainly on my HDTV) but I believe the point is the bit rate... and the only way to control it is by using Compressor.
So now my question: is there a color setting that helps in controlling such situation ? e.g. lower saturation, or lower exposure, maybe in mid tones or highlights, or what ?
Thanks so much for your help
Piero

PROBLEM with 24/96 bit-rate USB DAC that worked fine until I plugged in two

I'm using a late 2008 15" Macbook Pro that I bought Jan 2009 right before the SD card models came out. Mac OSX 10.6.4 and iTunes 9.2 are installed. I have a Nuforce Icon HDP and a CEntrance DACport 24/96 bit-rate USB DAC (external sound cards) that still work great right now. Note - 16 bit/44 Khz is CD quality, and these 24/96 files are hi-resolution downloads that are closer to SACD or DVD audio.
I have been evaluating a new third 24/96 USB DAC plugged directly into the Macbook USB port (no hub) which has been working fine for over 2 weeks with 24/96 bit-rate lossless music files in iTunes. Audio Midi Setup is set for 24/96 to match the music file's resolution. After making suggestions to the manufacturer they made some improvements and sent me a new version to listen for the differences.
I listened to the new one for a day and it worked fine, but when I plugged in the original test sample into the second USB port at the same time as the new one in order to compare them, the sound became garbled and noisy. This never happened when either one was plugged in by itself. Note, if I make changes to the DAC's bit-rate in Audio Midi Setup I usually close iTunes first and then re-open it when I am done.
Upon hearing this new problem I unplugged both of the new USB DACs and plugged just one of them back in, but now it causes iTunes music playback to pause when one is plugged in and set for 24/96 in audio midi setup. Prior to plugging in both at the same time, either one worked just fine by itself. There is no reason when unplugging one or the other that they shouldn't start working again. But now I can't play any 24/96 music through either one anymore. In quicktime player the songs don't pause like with iTunes, but there is no sound coming through even with just one DAC plugged in at a time. Then I discovered that if I go into Audio Midi Setup application and lower the bit rate to 24/48 then iTunes will resume playing again and I can hear the music fine with iTunes or Quicktime player.
Basically, my Macbook Pro has now lost the ability to play 24/96 bit rate with either of these new USB DACs, when they both worked fine before I plugged them in at the same time. More confusing is that they use the same USB receiver chip as in one of the DACs that I mentioned above in the first paragraph, and both the HDP and DACport still work fine at 24/96 bit-rate. It's only these two new USB DAC that require me to lower the bit rate in Audio Midi Setup to 24/48 in order to listen through them, and this wasn't a problem as recently as yesterday!
The computer is acting like some setting needs to be wiped out - it's DEFINITELY NOT the USB DAC's that are faulty because they still both work fine at 24/96 on my wife's iMac (I'm afraid to try plugging in both at the same time to the iMac in case I screw that Mac up too).
I have reset the PRAM a few times, and this doesn't fix the problem. I thought maybe the com.apple.audiomidisetup.plist file could be corrupted and deleted it, but that didn't help. I don't know what to try next to get the Macbook to start fresh when trying to use these devices, short of having to re-install OSX.
Please, does anyone have a suggestion of how I can make the Macbook forget it ever saw these two USB DACs, and let me start fresh so they start working normally again? I do dozens of reviews for Head-fi.org and I can't afford to have my Macbook Pro compromised like this, which could prevent me from doing some reviews or evaluating new products.

UPDATE:
As noted in the first post, both of these newer USB DAC work fine at 24/96 on my wife's iMac, so it's clear that they didn't both become defective when I connected them to the Macbook Pro at the same time.
Resetting the Macbook Pro PRAM didn't help, so I removed the hard shell laptop case to get to the battery and remove it, then reset the SMC. After that I could use the original DAC at 24/96 again, but only IF it was plugged into the rear USB port. If I plugged it into the front USB port then the sound was garbled and filled with noise. This was a vast improvement over no sound at all.
Then I switched to the replacement/updated DAC, but I got no sound at all from either USB port at any bit-rate. And returning to the original DAC again now results in no sound again.
Sigh... I will reset the PRAM and SMC again, and see how far I can get with this. I'd still love some help. Thanks!

HT4914 I have an iTunes library of some 18k tracks. If I subscribe to iTunes Match, can I delete my library from the pc hard drive and then download my entire collection back at the higher bit rate of 256?

I would like to improve the quality of my iTunes library, most of which were ripped at the old 'higher quality' setting and not lossless.
I would consider subscribing to the iTunes Match programme if I would later be able to download my music back on to my PC at the improved higher bit rate stated.
Is there a problem with this?

In iPhoto, Select All the Photos you want to move... Then goto > File > Export >
Choose the settings as seen here
Click Export and select your External Drive
Best to create a Folder to put them in... and away you go...

HT204406 how do I download higher bit rate songs from itunes match to replace the lower bit rate I have on my itunes library?

I have itunes match and I have about 500 songs that were ripped at 128kbps. I have been tolf that I can replace them via itunes match to improve them to 256 or 320?
I have put them into a playlist in my itunes library and I want to know how I can upgrade their bit rate via itunes match. Can anyone help me?

Sid,
With the device connected, click the Summary tab and you will see the "Convert higher bit rate..." option. Set it to 128. See picture below:

How Can I Make Encore Create a Bluray Image that uses a Bit Rate that Really Fills The Disc?

I have searched and browsed but have not seen this specific issue.
I realize that if you leave the bit rate alone, Encore will use the best bitrate. In my experience, it doesnt. I have also found that the Disc Info on the Build tab is never correct. The final transcoded size of the ISO is always very different from what is shown.
With the current disc I am making, I am encoding 4 HD m2t video files that total 20 GB on disk. The total running time is about 1hr 50m. Leaving everything set to defaults, the final size of the ISO file is 12 GB. I would like the final size to be around 20GB. I would expect that Encore would do this automatically. Changing bitrate in the project settings and re-transcoding does not change the final size. If I manually set the encoding, the size does change but since the Disc Info is unusable, it is excruciating trial and error. You have to pick settings that you think will work, wait hours for it to transcode, then it is way to big or way to small. I cant figure out how to get it to my target size.
Also, when I transcode the files, Encore never lists the bit rates of the transcoded files. The field is always blank.
It may also be note worthy that I have to first transcode the files, then build the disc. If I dont do that, the transcoding will hang. Even when I do separate the steps, sometimes when I build the disc from the transcoded files, the build of the disc still hangs.
I am running a 3 GHz Quad CPU with 4 GB of Ram in 32 bit XP Pro. I have 5 physical drives of 500 GB each. I also use separate physical drives for the source files vs the target ISO. Disk space is not an issue.
Also, is there any timeframe for when Adobe is going to release a new update? I have also run into other problems on this forum like the wonderful error 6 and the hanging transcoding, although my solutions to both problems were different than what was posted. It is all hit or miss.
Does anyone know if Adobe going to add a feature like on other disc authoring programs where you click a Fit to disc button and it then calculates the best bit rate for the specified disc size? That would make me very happy.
I would appreciate any help here.

Encore does have a fit-to-disc feature, called "automatic transcoding", which chooses the bit rate based upon how much media there is to encode, how much room is currently on the disc, and applying format-legal restrictions (minimum and maximum bit rates allowable by the format).
So for instance, 30 minutes of video will never fill a disc because the required bit rate to do so would be higher than allowable by the format.

IPod not playing re-ripped tunes with higher bit-rates

Since I got my iPod and have more storage I have been slowly re-ripping some of some tunes at a higher bit rate. iTunes doesn't appear to try to sync these songs and re-upload them to the iPod.
What happens is that the song stops playing part-way through the song. My guess is that it is due to the file size of the old (lower) bit-rate, as if it still thinks the EOF is at the same spot even though the file is now larger. It's almost as if the index doesn't get updated properly somehow.
I've tried deleting all the songs on the iPod and even doing a restore, but that doesn't always fix it. Some songs do it, some don't.
I know the rips are good because I can play them all the way through with either iTunes or Media Player.
Any help on getting it to sync them properly?

I assume that I have to re-rip the songs at the higher bit rate, unless there is Is there an easy way to do that without re-ripping them.
Assuming you want the higher audio quality (and not just a puffed up version of the same low quality track) you will have to re-rip from the CDs.
Also, what happens to the lower bit rate songs in my playlists, especially if I delete the lower bit rate versions from my library?
Under certain conditions, iTunes will recognize the CD and ask you if you want to replace the existing versions. Say yes, and the rip process will automatically do the replace.
In case it does not ask, just go ahead and rip, and then do the replacements manually.

How can I download music from itunes store at a higher bit rate than 128k?

I have been able to import music from cd's at bit rates higher than 128kbs by clicking into the preferences item under the "edit" drop down menu. however, I have not been able to locate a similar command for itunes music downloads. is it possible to increase the bitrate of music downloads from itunes faster than 128kbps? if so, how?
gateway Windows XP AMD 64

No, store downloads have always been ONLY 128 kbps. With new deal between EMI & Apple, sometime next month you will be able to download EMI artists only at a higher bitrate without the DRM, for a slightly higher price. For now, though, all downloads are still 128 kbps. Your import settings only affect the CD's you rip your self. Hope this helps.

How do I change the conversion to 128Kbps option to a higher bit rate?

I have a lossless music library spanning 160 GB. Of course this will not fit into an iPhone, so I want to convert it to a lossy format for the time being.
I also want to keep my lossless library in iTunes. So the only option that I see for these two conditions to coexist is the "Convert to 128Kbps when syncing" option.
However, I find 128Kbps VBR too low quality. Is there any way to increase the bit rate (perhaps to V1 or V0) without manually re-incoding my music library?

Prodo123 wrote:
Is there any way to increase the bit rate
not in iTunes. however, you can use this script:
Lossless to AAC Workflow v2.2
Two scripts assist with importing/managing Apple Lossless or AIFF audio files and sending converted AAC copies to a mounted iPod set to "manually manage songs and videos".
Lossless to AAC Workflow (CD->iPod):
Imports each enabled CD track as an Apple Lossless or AIFF file Makes a converted AAC copy of each imported file Adds the AAC file to iPod, deleting the original AAC from iTunes.
Lossless to AAC Workflow (iTunes->iPod):
Makes a converted AAC copy of each Apple Lossless or AIFF track selected in iTunes Adds the AAC file to iPod, deleting the original AAC from iTunes. In this way you can keep archived lossless files on your hard drive, and manageable AAC files on your iPod.
Yes, iTunes 9.1 will auto-encode tracks to iPod, but only 128 kbps AAC; these scripts enable use of your Custom AAC encoder setting.

After I download a 256 kbps song using ITunes Match, how do I get it to play on my computer at the higher bit rate once I turn ITunes Match off again?

After I download a 256 kbps song from the cloud using ITunes Match, how do I get it to play on my computer once I turn ITunes Match off again? I have been using ITunes Match for awhile now to increase the bit rate on songs to 256 kbps. Once I download the songs at the new bit rate, I turn off Match because I want to eliminate duplicates. Usually there is no problem. This time, however, 278 of my songs lost their file association and were unplayable unless I locate the song files within my computer. These are songs purchased from Amazon. In order to play them again in ITunes (Match is now off), I must locate each song file individually (I've tried to do it in bulk but have not succeeded) but now the bit rate has returned to the lower number BEFORE I matched the song. I should have never used Match in the first place. Any ideas, anyone?

I discovered that the NEW 256 bit file does reside on my computer, in the ITunes files (My Music/ITunes/ITunes Media/Music. So I can bring the songs back as 256 kbps, and I have been successful now at locating more than one file at a time, by clicking on the "find other missing files" tab in the popup window. Previously, I'd been going back to my Amazon files, and not only was I unable to bring back a 256 version, but the popup window would not locate similar files. So while I wish ITunes Match would automatically associate the ITunes Match file, at least I can retrive the file association without hours and hours of work.

Adobe premiere elements 11 rendering at lower bit rate than i select

Hi, I'm using Adobe Premiere Elements 11, 64-bit Windows.
I keep trying to render a project at a bit target bit rate of 10.05 MB/S (.h264 1080p MP4) but the resulting .mp4 file keeps coming out with an average bit rate of around 7000kb instead of 10,000kb...
The source files used in the project are 17mbs..
Other projects are rendering fine.
Would be very grateful for some advice.
Edit: Now realised it's happening to a substantial fraction of my projects. I am being very careful to select the right render settings

Sminty
Please confirm
Premiere Elements 11
a. Export as
Publish+Share
Computer
AVCHD
with presets = MP4 H.264 1920 x 1080p30
and, under the Advanced Button/Video Tab of the preset, what are your setting for Maximum Bitrate to go along with the 10.5 Mbps Target Bitrate (the units there are Mbps or Mb/second which is megabits per second).
b. I believe that each encode needs to be looked at separately.
One example...Original AVCHD.mov file, 1920 x 1080p29.97, 69.9 MB, 12.579 seconds, and Bitrate Overall 46.6 Mbps and Bitrate 45 Mbps.
I decided that i would try for an AVCHD.mp4 export whose properties read out would include bitrate 10.5 Mbps.
I selected Publish+Share/Computer/AVCHD with Presets = MP4 H.264 1920 x 1080p30, and, in the Advanced Settings set Bitrate as VBR 2 Pass
Target 10.5 Mbps and Maximum 15 Mbps.
The result was an AVCHD.mp4 1920 x 1080p30 file with a Bitrate Overall 10.8 and Bitrate 10.6 Mbps.
Second example..Original AVCHD.mov file from another camera, 1920 x 1080p30, 24.0 MB, 14.14 seconds, and Bitrate Overall 14.4 Mbps and Bitrate 12.2.
I selected Publish+Share/Computer/AVCHD with Presets = MP4 H.264 1920 x 1080p30, and, in the Advanced Settings set Bitrate as VBR 2 Pass
Target 5 Mbps and Maximum 10 Mbps.
The result was an AVCHD.mp4 1920 x 1080p30 with a Bitrate Overall 5.17 Mbps and Bitrate 5.006.
Please review and consider.
Thank you.
ATR

When is the h.264 bit rate issue going to be fixed?

If you export a project in After Effects using the H.264 codec the file you export does not have the correct bitrate. Meaning if you export a video at 1mbps compression rate you will not get a video that has 1mbps bitrate. This has been an issue since day one along with header issues in the .mp4 file. Please do not tell me not to use AE to create H.264, this is what we used and works fine in CS4. The same issues arrises when you use Adobe Media Encoder CS5.
Does anyone have a solution or anyone from Adobe have any suggestions?

Thanks but that didn't help.
I believe I have found out the actual issue. CS5 will not render a project above the lowest bitrate of the source video for H.264. So if you have a video file at 300kbps it cannot be rendered above that point. This is a problem when you understand how bitrates\codecs work. Not all codecs need an extremely high bitrate in order for the quality of the content to look good. We use the TechSmith screen capture codec a lot. This codec is create for screen capturing, it provides a low bitrate file which is small in size and easy to handle. We have been using this combination with the CS package since before it was CS. The videos we procude look great in CS4 but awful in CS5. When using mediainfo to check out a video file compressed in CS5 it gives us a Bit Rate and a Normal Bit Rate. Normal bit rate is what is requested, say 1mbps and the actual Bit Rate is what the source material was.
In any case the video files look like crap because a 250kbps .mp4 looks awful compaired to a 250kbps video using the TSCC codec. So yeah, not using CS5 and most likely won't be doing any more upgrades in a while. I'm responsible for purchasing over 10 licenses. Just wanted to let Adobe know they won't be getting that money again for a while until they figure out there compression issues.

Bit Rate Baffled

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