DJn out with 128 quality mp3's

[robbmasters]

he, he...funny!

so all your big contrivancer out there, all day flying on the moon and having sex with little green mens, i forward an invention called "lossless compression with mp3".

Closest I know of is APE (Monkey's Audio).

[kramer]

Hi guys, just a bit of advice here please. Would the sound of my 128 mp3's be helped with an L2 ultramaximiser put on the master out of my ab5 whilst playing out in a club? It all sounds fine at home on my alesis mk2 monitors, and the L2 is set to -1.5db with -3 threshold.

ANY help would be appreciated. Other than that, I think I should maybe start saving my mp3's as 320? Right?

cheers

Andy Ictus

Well....of course higher quality MP3s are always better ...BUT... odds are you will be DJing to a bunch of people who listen to low quality MP3s all the time. Let's be real. 95% (or better) of people in any given crowd aren't going to care or notice. The PA and whatever else you're running through is more important. You can make 128kpbs MP3s sound perfectly acceptable if you know what you're doing. Running an outboard analog compressor (among other things) can work wonders. Millions of people everyday listen to internet radio that streams at 128kpbs and they think it sounds as good or better than regular radio and probably couldn't tell the difference between internet and satellite radio in a blindfold test. Most non-musician or non-audiophile type people can't even tell the difference between a wav and an MP3 in a blindfold test. None of it sounds as good as records anyway...just my preference.

[ChiDJ]

Hi guys, just a bit of advice here please. Would the sound of my 128 mp3's be helped with an L2 ultramaximiser put on the master out of my ab5 whilst playing out in a club? It all sounds fine at home on my alesis mk2 monitors, and the L2 is set to -1.5db with -3 threshold.

ANY help would be appreciated. Other than that, I think I should maybe start saving my mp3's as 320? Right?

cheers

Andy Ictus

Well....of course higher quality MP3s are always better ...BUT... odds are you will be DJing to a bunch of people who listen to low quality MP3s all the time. Let's be real. 95% (or better) of people in any given crowd aren't going to care or notice. The PA and whatever else you're running through is more important. You can make 128kpbs MP3s sound perfectly acceptable if you know what you're doing. Running an outboard analog compressor (among other things) can work wonders. Millions of people everyday listen to internet radio that streams at 128kpbs and they think it sounds as good or better than regular radio and probably couldn't tell the difference between internet and satellite radio in a blindfold test. Most non-musician or non-audiophile type people can't even tell the difference between a wav and an MP3 in a blindfold test. None of it sounds as good as records anyway...just my preference.

Can't argue with you. But, why would you want to play sub-par quality music when you are representing yourself in a club???

It's like being and NFL player that wears a helmet from Walmart.

[kramer]

Hi guys, just a bit of advice here please. Would the sound of my 128 mp3's be helped with an L2 ultramaximiser put on the master out of my ab5 whilst playing out in a club? It all sounds fine at home on my alesis mk2 monitors, and the L2 is set to -1.5db with -3 threshold.

ANY help would be appreciated. Other than that, I think I should maybe start saving my mp3's as 320? Right?

cheers

Andy Ictus

Well....of course higher quality MP3s are always better ...BUT... odds are you will be DJing to a bunch of people who listen to low quality MP3s all the time. Let's be real. 95% (or better) of people in any given crowd aren't going to care or notice. The PA and whatever else you're running through is more important. You can make 128kpbs MP3s sound perfectly acceptable if you know what you're doing. Running an outboard analog compressor (among other things) can work wonders. Millions of people everyday listen to internet radio that streams at 128kpbs and they think it sounds as good or better than regular radio and probably couldn't tell the difference between internet and satellite radio in a blindfold test. Most non-musician or non-audiophile type people can't even tell the difference between a wav and an MP3 in a blindfold test. None of it sounds as good as records anyway...just my preference.

Can't argue with you. But, why would you want to play sub-par quality music when you are representing yourself in a club???

It's like being and NFL player that wears a helmet from Walmart.

I'm not saying I would want to or that I personally even would. I'm just saying that if you have to for some reason it's not that big of a deal.

I have to disagree with your analogy...If an NFL player uses a helmet from Walmart then most football fans are going to notice and the player will definitely notice. My argument is that most people won't notice MP3s...so it won't really have much effect on how you represent yourself.

[BASSbüro]

Closest I know of is APE (Monkey's Audio).

wow, i'll try this. thanx!

[ChiDJ]

Kramer,

Yes, you are right the audience probably wouldn't know the difference, (until you got hit and your shoddy Walmart helmet splintered into pieces and your brain turned into squash).

But, the other players would know. The coaches would know, the announcers would know.

Your fellow DJ's will know. The club owners will know.

I have too much respect for myself and my audience to perform with anything less than the best quality tools. But, I truly encourage other DJ's to use mp3's. It makes it easier for me to sound better!

[kramer]

Kramer,

Yes, you are right the audience probably wouldn't know the difference, (until you got hit and your shoddy Walmart helmet splintered into pieces and your brain turned into squash).

But, the other players would know. The coaches would know, the announcers would know.

Your fellow DJ's will know. The club owners will know.

I have too much respect for myself and my audience to perform with anything less than the best quality tools. But, I truly encourage other DJ's to use mp3's. It makes it easier for me to sound better!

I still have to disagree. Most people won't know unless you tell them. That includes club owners and other Djs. As a matter of fact ...they will believe you if you lie to them. Tell them that you're using 32-bit wav files and then use 128 kbps MP3s. I contend that you will rarely encounter anyone that can tell. There's an old saying..."Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the general public."...or something like that. I recently did a gig at a house-party and I was trying to explain to the guy about how I only use CD-quality wavs and other stuff about how I record from vinyl...then I realized this guy didn't really care because he listens to most of his stuff on MP3 through some kind of iTunes rig and he thinks it sounds F'n great. He's the norm. I'm not saying there's even anything wrong or bad about that....it's just how it is.

[Tarekith]

If all they played was 128 mp3's, then yeah, no one would probably know. But the second you play one against a vinyl DJ, or high quality audio, it's really noticeable. So if the DJ after you is using better audio files, it's just going to make your set be memorable for sounding poor in comparison.

[ChiDJ]

If all they played was 128 mp3's, then yeah, no one would probably know. But the second you play one against a vinyl DJ, or high quality audio, it's really noticeable. So if the DJ after you is using better audio files, it's just going to make your set be memorable for sounding poor in comparison.

Exactly! Things for the clear and concise point Tarekith!

[kramer]

If all they played was 128 mp3's, then yeah, no one would probably know. But the second you play one against a vinyl DJ, or high quality audio, it's really noticeable. So if the DJ after you is using better audio files, it's just going to make your set be memorable for sounding poor in comparison.

Again...I disagree. If people can't tell in a blindfold test then they certainly can't tell in noisy crowded club or party. Also....like I said before...it depends on the other gear you're running. Someone running MP3s through a high-end mixer with some nice outboard gear is going to sound better than someone running wav files through a cheap mixer with nothing.

[STRATEGY_510]

AAC

I wonder what the pro's & cons of AAC vs. FLAC are?

As far as I know they're both lossless and substantially smaller than wav..


STRATEGY

[koneko]

some people cant "tell" the difference between 128kbps mp3 and uncompressed wav file, but "telling" a different is more than just sensitivity to quality, its rather an ability to analize and refelct back.
people enjoy music without understanding it. thats the beauty of it. they will move they're hips to something that grooves. your job as a musician/dj is to make the magic, they are the audiance and they're there to enjoy, not to think. they DONT WANT to know.
bottom line - they might not be able to "tell", but they sure feel. those who can "tell", will vote against, loudly. those who cant, would just not feel it, would not enjoy it and would not dance to it.

[Tarekith]

If all they played was 128 mp3's, then yeah, no one would probably know. But the second you play one against a vinyl DJ, or high quality audio, it's really noticeable. So if the DJ after you is using better audio files, it's just going to make your set be memorable for sounding poor in comparison.

Again...I disagree. If people can't tell in a blindfold test then they certainly can't tell in noisy crowded club or party. Also....like I said before...it depends on the other gear you're running. Someone running MP3s through a high-end mixer with some nice outboard gear is going to sound better than someone running wav files through a cheap mixer with nothing.

I find it's ten times more obvious over a loud club PA actually. If you playback a 128kbps MP3, and then a full on wave file version or a vinyl record right after it and not notice a difference in sound quality IMMEDIATELY, well... ?!?!?!

[shurik]

If all they played was 128 mp3's, then yeah, no one would probably know. But the second you play one against a vinyl DJ, or high quality audio, it's really noticeable. So if the DJ after you is using better audio files, it's just going to make your set be memorable for sounding poor in comparison.

Again...I disagree. If people can't tell in a blindfold test then they certainly can't tell in noisy crowded club or party. Also....like I said before...it depends on the other gear you're running. Someone running MP3s through a high-end mixer with some nice outboard gear is going to sound better than someone running wav files through a cheap mixer with nothing.

I find it's ten times more obvious over a loud club PA actually. If you playback a 128kbps MP3, and then a full on wave file version or a vinyl record right after it and not notice a difference in sound quality IMMEDIATELY, well... ?!?!?!

ABSOLUTELY! I was shocked how obvious it even is if you play a FLAC or a vinyl after a 198kbs mp3! in fact in the club its most noticeable, because its not so much about having fine fidelity ears, but much more about the POWER and the PUNCH that a uncompressed track suddently has. and I tell you, the people on the floor react on that!
also I found the mp3s sounding noticable harsh, you always have to take out some high mids on the mixer. its crap.