Audio conversion question

V

vwgtiturbo

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Hello fellow Tuxers! First visit here, after sailing along on my own, and finally have a need for outside intervention.

I have a Linux server (headless) that I use for, among other things, storage of my Apple Lossless files (for access from iTunes on a Mac Laptop, if that matters).

I also maintain an MP3 copy of this library in my laptop itself, for syncing to an iPod and SD card for listening to music on my truck stereo.

I've noticed recently that there are quite a few artifacts in my MP3s (all converted to MP3 by iTunes) and am wondering...

Back in the day (mid 2000's) there was quite a debate concerning the quality of MP3s produced by iTunes, versus those produced by LAME. Is that still an issue? Is there a difference in the resulting file quality of one over the other?

I'm debating recoverting the Apple Lossless to MP3 using LAME (keeping the ALAC, just making another 2nd set for iPod/SD) in an attempt at reducing artifacts and increasing the quality of my MP3 collection, but am nut sure if it is a moot point after all of these years (I.e. I don't know if iTunes converter has improved and is now on par with LAME).

I thought about ditching MP3 altogether (since the truck stereo is certainly good enough for lossless), but the stereo only supports WAV for lossless (WAV doesn't support tagging, does it? It's been a while since I ditched WAV and at the time, it didn't...).

Any insight would be awesome. I need some professional guidance! Thanks in advance :)
 


Honestly, I can't say for certain; I don't buy through iTunes or use it in general. My solution would be as follows, but I don't know how well it'll actually work:
Find a track that's particularly problematic. Keep the first MP3 conversion, create a second MP3 through iTunes, and a third with LAME. Compare each of them (using a blind test by friends, family members, or coworkers, if necessary) and figure out which sounds the best. Try the test again with another couple tracks to verify the results.

I can't say I've found myself in a situation like this; most of my bad tracks have been because of shoddy CD ripping when I was too young to know better, and I've never had a good enough sound system to take great note of these things anyways. Hopefully this'll be of some use to you; sorry I couldn't do more.
 
Lol, that's exactly what I started doing today. But that led me in another quest... I have to find out how, on my Linux box,I can convert from Apple Lossless to FLAC, then to MP3 using LAME, and keep my tags. I COULD move them to the laptop and convert them in batches, but have to take the laptop with me everyday (whereas the server runs 24/7, so I might as well use it to do the conversion). Then I could just script it, set it, and forget it.
 
I should add... Beyond possibly having better quality MP3s, I'm also looking to move the lossless stuff over to FLAC so I can get rid of bloated iTunes. I've never had a real problem with it, but would like something a little slimmer.
Just wanted to explain my motivation for this project...
 
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