Carey Carlan wrote:
> "geoff" <geoff@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
> news:Z6KdnefW47O6GILVnZ2dnUVZ_gmdnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>> It always amuses me when the next greatest memory technology is
>> invented and the technology 'journalists' say that now we will be able
>> to store 10 billion songs on our 'ipods'.
>>
>> Why don't they say that we can now store one billion songs, and they
>> won't have to sound like crap ?!!
>
> How about the few hundred songs I really like and they sound
spectacular!
That's why I also prefer uncompressed linear-PCM audio over all other
digital audio formats. The sample-rate must be at least 44.1 kHz and the
bit-resolution must be at least 16-bit.
If you must compress, use WMA but do so with the following wisdom:
Beware all digital audio compression formats other than WMA, stink badly!!
Here are my rules for digital audio:
A. Whether compressed or not, the audio must be monaural and with a
sample-rate of at least 44.1 kHz.
B. The only compression allowed is WMA. No other compression format is
permitted.
C. In its uncompressed form, the audio must have a bit-resolution of at
least 16-bit
D. If compression is used, then the sample-rate of the compressed and
the uncompressed version of the audio must be the same.
E. If compression is used, the only thing that should be decreased is
the bit-resolution. The sample-rate must remain unchanged [e.g. WMA in
44.1 kHz sample-rate, 20kbps bit-rate, and mono]. Notice the sample-rate
should not change, just the bit-rate.
Let's say a song that was originally recorded in stereo is given to me.
The song must to be converted to mono* via the following steps:
1. Record audio from CD [or other stereo audio source] into Wavelab,
Adobe Audition [or other audio software] into a file. For simplicity
let's call this file "Track1.wav"
2. Make a copy of Track1.wav and save the copy as "Track1B.wav"
3. Open Track1.wav and reduce the gain of its audio by 77.5%
4. Convert Track1.wav to monaural audio
5. Save Track.1
6. Open Track1B.wav and reduce its audio gain by 50%
7. Invert the phase of the left channel of Track1B.wav
8. Convert Track1B.wav to mono
9. Save Track1B.wav
10. Create a new stereo wave file whose bit-resolution is 16-bit and
sample rate is 44.1 kHz. For simplicity let's call this file
"untitled.wav"
11. Copy and paste the audio of Track1.wav into the left channel of
untitled.wav
12. Copy and paste the audio of Track1B.wave into the right channel of
untitled.wav
13. Convert untitled.wav to mono
14. Save untitled.wav
*Songs that were originally-recorded in stereo need to be converted to
mono via the above 14 steps because different sounds are recorded
differently in the L and R channels. The audio that is originally panned
to the center is significantly louder than the audio whose phase is
different in the left & right channels. This is why I reduce the
loudness of non-inverted stereo audio file by 77.5% [before converting
it to mono].
In the stereo file whose left channel has its phase inverted, I decrease
the loudness only by 50% and then convert it to mono. Usually -- the
lead vocals, bass, and percussion are recorded identically in both the
left and right channels. The piano, chorus, guitar, and synth pads are
usually recorded differently in the left and right channel.
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