eMusic’s MP3 Bitrates - they have shit the proverbial bed
I have bought a few mp3s from emusic before, I have a membership there, generally I get passable VBR stuff ( >240 or so) but today I got 3 albums (a plush recordings compilation knockoff, Toez’ record on Textures Music Group, and Ace Ventura’s Compilation on Iboga ‘Re:Boot’) and the lot of them’s bitrates are all sub 200.. the ace ventura compilation in particular is maddening, nothing over 160 and most between 140 and 150 kbps…do I have a legitimate complaint… I have cancelled my membership.. I realize that 49 cents for an mp3 is a good price no matter what, but they just plain don’t push my speakers at all (I have a very nice set of logitech 2.1 speakers) I don’t hear the bottom end at all, is there any way to fatten out my mp3s…any advice is welcome
I’d say it’s worth the dollar per track to not go in and fix them yourself. That’s bogus dude… I agree with you. If I’m paying for a track I feel I deserve a 320 regardless.
Not so much a 320 regardless, I understand the premium paid for the high quality sites, but higher than 192 at least…not something one could actually use as a tool, but a toy more or less…and before the bitrates were quite a bit better…
Go for constant 192-320kbps (preferably the later). It will pay in the long run if you want to play them in anything bigger than your current speakers. Your ears will thank you
Ive never had issue with my tracks from emusic. I get a lot of dnb and dubstep from them and ive never noticed the difference in quality from a 320. Ive rocked plenty of parties on big rigs with my 256 VBR MP3’s, no issues.
How are you checking the bitrates? Bear in mind that media player / itunes will simply add up the bitrate and divide by seconds. If you have a particularly minimal track where most information can be safely compressed out, then you end up with a lower bitrate.
You should buy one of the tracks as a 320 and compare the sounds. The tracks you bought might have been badly mastered in the first place. . .
Earlier when I bought some tracks from them (early last year) I didn’t have a problem with how the tracks sounded at all…and to be fair the Plush Recordings comp wasn’t terrible, but the ace ventura compilation is pathetic. The low end psytrance sound doesn’t have any fullness or warmth. The mp3s are hardly driving my sub, and it’s not like its an 18 or anything like that it’s a freakin 6" logitech subwoofer…The toez album is somewhat the same, the basslines just don’t have the appropriate warmth…no low end to them at all…
As far as how I am getting my bitrate for the songs, I just use traktor’s info
ok, could you link to a layman’s explanation please photo, I’d like to understand it a bit more…I’m pretty clueless, I just do this for fun though I have started to get a few club and private parties to do so I should probably learn a bit more…
