program for re-encoding mp3 into better quality

[nurdonsite2]

hey, i want to know what is a good program for re-encoding mp3s that i already have on my hd into better quality? price does not matter as im looking for the best. however, if there are any good free programs, that will be great.

thanx.

[OuTpaTienT]

There is no such program. It's impossible to do.

You can use any of dozens of encoding programs to reencode your mp3s but they will not sound any better at higher bit rates. As a matter of fact it's very likely they will sound worse. I'd recommend keeping your mp3s at their current bit rate.

When you reencode an MP3 from a lower bit rate to a higher bit rate essentially what you are doing is taking a one gallon jug of water and pouring it into a 5 gallon bucket. Even in that big 'ol bucket it's still just one gallon of water. Nothing will change that.

For mp3s to sound good they need to be encoded correctly and with sufficient bit rate (192 or higher) when they are first ripped. And mp3s should never be REencoded. Remember old VHS video tapes? You can think of encoding mp3 as similar to recording on a VHS tape. If you ever made a copy of a copy of a VHS tape then you know how very quickly the quality went downhill. Same thing happens when you reencode an mp3.

[nurdonsite2]

ok thanx for clearing that up. im a noob to this audio stuff lol.

[LnxMad]

wellllllll there is some way to do that but its very very very advanced. Its taking old sound and making it sound insane. Like I got a back to thr future trilogy on dvd. Its remasterd in 5.1 and i hear things that i never heard before in the tapes. Also the video is incredibly sharp and very good. I have no clue how to remaster those types of things.

[HeadBand]

for that a major company with a lot of money will make it from the origonal source

[Bullion]

Audio compression is lossy, meaning information is lost. Once gone it cant be recovered unless you do some advanced data reconstruction. I dont think there are any commercial apps for this as it is very very, uber even, difficult

[OuTpaTienT]

Originally posted by LnxMad
wellllllll there is some way to do that but its very very very advanced. Its taking old sound and making it sound insane. Like I got a back to thr future trilogy on dvd. Its remasterd in 5.1 and i hear things that i never heard before in the tapes. Also the video is incredibly sharp and very good. I have no clue how to remaster those types of things.

LOL. This is funny. They didn't remaster the sound using an old vhs tape as the source. They used the original multi-track audio source. I'm sure it was already in a surround format. Movies have been using surround sound in one form or another for 30 years!

Good guess, but really doesn't have much to do with this topic.

[JohnE.]

Yep, once it's gone it's gone and nothing on earth will bring it back, except maybe "Holy Grail" v2.05c

Just wanted to add that not all audio compression is lossy... there are several freeware lossless audio encoders available with Monkey's Audio, FLAC and Shorten being the most common Windows applications.