eclectica
2004-02-20, 04:19
Sometimes I get mp3 files in which the attributes are not detected properly by a program. For example, the bitrate or frequency comes up displayed blank or as a strange number. Often in these cases the file is Variable Bit Rate (VBR) instead of Constant Bit Rate (CBR), and that causes compatibility problems. I don't like VBR mp3 files, due to their widespread compatibility problems.
In Windows XP I can get a display of an mp3's bitrate and time length, but some of them come up blank. Also, in WinMX when I check my shared files I will see some that give odd information for bitrate and frequency. There seems to be a distortion, so that if the frequency is less then the bitrate is more. I'm wondering, if it's the case that bitrate times frequency equals file size, and if programs deduce the time length from the file size and the bitrate.
Here is an example of some mp3s that gave me trouble. I downloaded the mp3s from DJ Danger Mouse - The Grey Album (http://www.illegal-art.org/audio/grey.html). Winamp read the files as 44,100 hz with a bitrate of 192. WinMX read the files as 38,569 hz with a bitrate of 212. In Windows XP there is no bitrate or time length displayed for those files, unlike for most songs. I then tried to open one of those files in the program Goldwave 4.26, and got the message that Goldwave only uses BladeEnc and LAME encoders. So I did some searching and it looks like there are basically four types of codecs for mp3s: BladeEnc, Fraunhofer, LAME, and Xing. I would guess that the reason for this compatibility problem, is that the programs I used didn't recognize whatever codec it was that was used. Or maybe the mp3s files used the Average Bit Rate (ABR) encoding method, which is like CBR in file length but VBR in the encoding?
In Windows XP I can get a display of an mp3's bitrate and time length, but some of them come up blank. Also, in WinMX when I check my shared files I will see some that give odd information for bitrate and frequency. There seems to be a distortion, so that if the frequency is less then the bitrate is more. I'm wondering, if it's the case that bitrate times frequency equals file size, and if programs deduce the time length from the file size and the bitrate.
Here is an example of some mp3s that gave me trouble. I downloaded the mp3s from DJ Danger Mouse - The Grey Album (http://www.illegal-art.org/audio/grey.html). Winamp read the files as 44,100 hz with a bitrate of 192. WinMX read the files as 38,569 hz with a bitrate of 212. In Windows XP there is no bitrate or time length displayed for those files, unlike for most songs. I then tried to open one of those files in the program Goldwave 4.26, and got the message that Goldwave only uses BladeEnc and LAME encoders. So I did some searching and it looks like there are basically four types of codecs for mp3s: BladeEnc, Fraunhofer, LAME, and Xing. I would guess that the reason for this compatibility problem, is that the programs I used didn't recognize whatever codec it was that was used. Or maybe the mp3s files used the Average Bit Rate (ABR) encoding method, which is like CBR in file length but VBR in the encoding?