As Jimmy says, "it depends".
The higher the bit rate the better the quality but often you have to compromise on file size depending where your MP3s are going to go. I try to keep at 192kbps or above.
Similarly, if you codec gives you the option of variable bit rate (VBR), that can do a better job than constant bit rate (CBR) because it makes more efficient use of the available bits. However, there are some players out there that can't handle VBR so, unless I know where the MP3 is going, I tend to stick to CBR for anything I'm sending away.
This site isn't convinced about the benefits of FLAC
Thanks Boosy. You have answered my quesyion about VBR.
I use an old version (1.5) of Adobe Audition for MP3 encoding but MAGIX Samplitude Silver has an encoder in it all for free.
If I have mangaged to get the attachment "attached" can you tell me what all those options mean please?
Dave.
There's also the probem of how few of the popular media players - especially steamers and such - play FLAC.
I'll try.
Intensity Stereo is a technique to reduce bit rates by only coding a single mono channel plus directional information for the higher frequencies (which human ears detect more directional info) only. It tends only to be used at low bit rates.
"Mid Size" is probably a typo for "Mid/Side". The L and R channels are summed to a "Mid Channel" while difference info is coded to give directional info.
Mixdown to Mono (I assume) is self explanatory--a mono track uses half the bits of a two channel (stereo) track.
"CRC" = Cyclical Redundancy Check. The MP3 spec allows for the inclusion of some extra data bits (16 per frame from memory but don't trust me) to check on the accuracy of the transmission. Frankly, in my opinion it's a waste of the bits since errors are rare and the error correction unreliable.
The others are, I assume, just marking the metadata in the MP3 with the information as stated.
Good point. I should have added "depending on the encoder" since different versions handle things differently.
Without using special techniques, stereo IS two discrete audio channels, hence a mono wave of a certain duration and spec using have the data of a stereo wave file of the same duration and spec.
However, for transmission purposes (like your Nicam or FM stereo examples) there are neat tricks that can be used to minimise the bandwidth. Most of these use some variation of transmitting a centre channel plus information detailing the differences needed for L and R.
MP3 can be the same. The basic stereo format is, in effect, two discrete audio channels but there are lots of techniques that can be used to simulate stereo--for example the "intensity stereo" listing on the menu you posted, However, different codecs will handle things differently so I was over simplifying to say "stereo is double mono". I can be but, as with so many answers in here, "it depends".