Bit rate of vinyl rips
Hey,
I’ve want to know how high the bit quality for vinyl rips should be. 192kbit seems ok for smaller venues, but that’s talking regular mp3 tracks, not rips.
I have found some vinyl rips online because the tracks haven’t been available as mp3. Is 192kbit good enough for vinyl rips?
Nope. Vinyl, being analogue, has an infinite bitrate. The higher bitrate you rip your vinyl to the better. So rip it to WAV and compress to FLAC for the best quality.
192 should NEVER be used to DJ out. 320 is bad enough, WAV/AIFF or FLAC is what you should be using.
there’s not much difference between 320 and WAV, most people can’t tell the difference. (I hope this won’t start a huge arguement)
It’s going to start an argument.
But yes, 320 kbps is good enough.
I rip mine at 320. I can def tell the difference between the 2 but I think vinyl sounds different than anything else. I can hear the difference between vinyl and cd and yet cant tell between cd and 256. It may have something to do with hearing the actual needle making noise
The sample rate of a CD is 44.1Khz.
For a WAV file ripped directly from CD, this is 16-bit stereo, so (44100 x 2 ) x 2 = 176400B/s or 176KB/s, which is 1411Kbps, over 4 times more information.
How is 4 times as much information not that much?
It really depends on the source quality admittedly, and the sounds on the source (genre of music), as to whether it’s easy or hard to tell the difference between 320 kbps and 1411 kbps when listening on an mp3 player, or low end home hifi. You put the same sources on a stereo of decent quality, or a club sound system, and the difference is pretty obvious.
And, as your ripping vinyl, it’s bad enough your compressing the sound down to 1411 kbps. If you look at torrent sites for example, dvd rips are dvd quality, hd rips are hd quality. So vinyl rips are never going to be vinyl quality, but for god sake, if your going to do it, do it as best you can, and FLAC it if space is such a concern.
just rip it to lossless (WAV/AIF or alternatively FLAC). keep the lossless file for the archives and create a 320kbps MP3 version of it, if FLAC is still to big for you.
So in general, avoid 192kbit vinyl rips?
Oh right. So your downloading vinyl rips? So in other words, piracy? Unless your ripping your own collection, avoid it all.
Maybe one or two have been pirated vinyl rips - admitted. But only if it isn’t available as mp3. Mostly talking my own collection. Most places don’t have TTs and no reason to use up space on my usb’s if it doesn’t matter with vinyl. But it does i see
It amazes me how many people come on here and admit to stealing music.
Ya, I know I shouldn’t do it. But it’s not something I normally do. I have two rips in my collection which isn’t my own. I should go out and buy the vinyl then rip it. However, it would be much easier if producers decided to release their old tracks as mp3.
Don’t want this to turn into a thread about pirating. We can all agree that we should support the artists and buy their music.
And thanks for the help. 320 or flac is the way to go
I get it. There’s a lot of tunes that I want that aren’t available, but part of the fun is the thrill of the hunt ie. tracking down that record you “need.”
True! Finding rare tunes etc. is always a kick
It’s also something I wouldn’t openly admit online lol.
Never know if it’ll come back and haunt you.
if you are ripping vinyl keeping it as a WAV (if you have the space) or converting to an MP3 at 320 is perfect. No one will noticed the difference if you are playing live.
no matter what avoid anything that is 128 and lower because it will sound like crap no matter where it is ripped from.
If you’re ripping your own vinyl collection, I’d record it into your computer at 16 bit 44.1k Wav of aiff. If you need to convert to mp3 after, then you can.
As ripping vinyl takes so much time, it’s not something you want to do twice, so get it right the first time! Just as important is making sure your vinyl is clean before ripping, your needle isn’t worn out (use the best you can afford) and you don’t have any clipping / red lights on your mixer or sound card.
Do it right, do it once, enjoy your music!
Hey, can I just ask a few questions.
Is it really worth converting all my banging tunes which are MP3 at 320Kbps?
I don’t really care if I notice the difference if I have headphones close to my ear (for example), but will the crowd?
If the above questions are true… What is the best way or one of the best ways of converting MP3 to WAV or AIFF?
Which is better in terms of quality WAV or AIFF?
Will this take up a fuck ton of space?
I think I have about 300GB in my hard drive (I’m not currently at my home computer). Obviously this depends on the amount of tunes I have and how long the tracks are which also effects the file size etc. But I’m talking probably no more than 100 tunes just for playing out.
NOTE: I am not selling out venues. I am playing at a few parties with no more than 150 people until I am 18 and then I can play at a few clubs in my city. So far, 320Kbps MP3 has been fine.
If someone could answer these questions, I would be grateful.
Cheers.
1. Is it really worth converting all my banging tunes which are MP3 at 320Kbps?
Converting them to what? You can’t improve the quality of a file.
3. If the above questions are true… What is the best way or one of the best ways of converting MP3 to WAV or AIFF?
Not doing it.
4. Which is better in terms of quality WAV or AIFF?
Neither.
5. Will this take up a fuck ton of space?
Yes.
Some very bold statements there. 