Car Audio Advice from the Audio Gurus: Use "Search thread" before posting a new Q!

[redfire]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

redfire , use a USB drive man on your HU man. I cant :(

Yes ,I have a 2 GB transcend Jetflash connected inside my glove box . I was talking about how to convert audio CDs to mp3s with maximum quality.

[ketchup]

Thanks guys for the info on the subs. Can anyone give your views on any of the three subs for me. Sam can I request your views on the Infinity Vs the GTO-1264, even if we are comparing heaven & earth

Originally Posted by hrsraghav

Then through the USB it was better
Then through the MP3 CDs it was much better

MP3s through USB or CD will be the same. Its the same digital file.

I personally went from CDs to MP3s and was deeply disappointed at first. However I learnt to encode all my music at 320kbps, which I believe is a lossless bitrate. Anything lesser would be lossy although the loss in SQ may not be noticeable down to around 280kbps. This is my experience.

I found this site very helpful: Category:Guides - Hydrogenaudio Knowledgebase . Link courtesy Navin.

A 3 minute song at 320kbps should be around 8mb. Almost all my music collection is on one 8gb pendrive with plenty of room to spare.

- Giri

[greenhorn]

We had a discussion on that here
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/ask-gu...r-stereos.html (whats the best bitrate to write cds for ur car stereos??)

[navin]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

So wanted to know about whether there are speakers there in the market and match the sound quality of he 6X9's.

Originally Posted by ketchup

Can the shape of the enclosure be anything as long as the required volume is achieved.

About the Subs: How would you compare the SQ of a
a) Polk 12" 124DVC Sub (360rms @2ohm)
b) Infinity Reference 1250W (300rms @4ohm),
c) GTO-1264 (300rms @4ohms)

They will have to run off a JBL GTO 300.1 (300rms @2ohm / 200rms @4ohm)
This was the best amp I could find for Rs.6k

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

Yes. The shape can be tall and thin or short and fat, as long as the internal volume is the same as recommended.

Originally Posted by ketchup

Thanks guys for the info on the subs. Can anyone give your views on any of the three subs for me.

I personally went from CDs to MP3s and was deeply disappointed at first. However I learnt to encode all my music at 320kbps, which I believe is a lossless bitrate.

1. You should have about 3-4" behind the woofer so that the rear wave can be fully dissapated / absorbed.

2. i would take the Infinity sub over the other 2.

3. All MP3s are lossy. Lossless algorithims are FLAC, WavPack, Moneky's Audio, etc...

[hrsraghav]

Originally Posted by redfire

Don't think so. Audio CD has the full raw data and a 700MB CD can only include 8-9 to 16-17 songs only according to song length. Audio CD remains the best, better way to use mp3 is to use a good convertor mechanism to convert it to mp3 with maximum quality. I use EAC (Exact Audio Copy) and Lame encorder to do this. This software is free to download. This will give you mp3s in 320kbps VBR with good quality. I feel the difference in same song which I downloaded from net (128 kbps, ordinary windows media conversion) and the one I converted from Audio CD using EAC. May be some one else can suggest other ways too if any. I am also keen to know that.

The source of all my songs is from internet. I download the mp3 tracks (mostly 128 or 192 kbps).
Now I have three options
1) to put them as it is in a USB Flash Drive
2) to put them as it is in a CD
3) to make a 70 Min Audio CD
The third option is best but I cant put more songs than the 70min duration.
As suggested by you that if I try to convert the tracks in 320kbps, then sound quality will increase. But when the original track itslef is a 128kbps MP3 then will it really help to increase the bit rate?

[nishantgandhi]

Originally Posted by hrsraghav

....
As suggested by you that if I try to convert the tracks in 320kbps, then sound quality will increase. But when the original track itslef is a 128kbps MP3 then will it really help to increase the bit rate?

Is it possible to convert a 128/192 kbps song into 320 kbps? I thought the reverse is possible

[ketchup]

Originally Posted by navin

2. i would take the Infinity sub over the other 2.

Thank you Navin,

I did audition the Infinity subs, they were *heavenly*. I wasn't able to listen to the GTO-1264 which is available for less than half the price of the Infinity. I'm trying to figure out how different it is compared to the infinity. Anyone?

Originally Posted by navin

3. All MP3s are lossy. Lossless algorithims are FLAC, WavPack, Moneky's Audio, etc...

My Bad... Now I know.

Originally Posted by nishantgandhi

Is it possible to convert a 128/192 kbps song into 320 kbps? I thought the reverse is possible

You can, but the new 320kbps song will be at the same or lower quality than the original 128/192kbps. Same issue if you convert an mp3 into a .wav file for the CD. Quality won't improve.

My suggestion is burn your current mp3 files onto CDs. For new MP3s rip them at a high bitrate (~256 kbps or more); if you are downloading, check the bitrate info first.

Regards, Giri

[nickoo]

Originally Posted by hrsraghav

3) to make a 70 Min Audio CD
The third option is best but I cant put more songs than the 70min duration.

Dude, tell me one thing , say you have a bottle of whiskey placed in a English Wine and Beer shop and you get the same thing( from someplace ) but for free and get only half or a quater . Then what you do is you take the empty full bottle and pour the contents of half/quater into the bottle...and then when you drink, you feel as if you drank the complete bottlecheers:.
Did you get my point?? mate once downsampled you just CAN NOT make it sound like audio quality no matter where you store and and how you store it!! And this holds for any digital media..not only audio but video too.

[hrsraghav]

Originally Posted by nickoo

Dude, tell me one thing , say you have a bottle of whiskey placed in a English Wine and Beer shop and you get the same thing( from someplace ) but for free and get only half or a quater . Then what you do is you take the empty full bottle and pour the contents of half/quater into the bottle...and then when you drink, you feel as if you drank the complete bottlecheers:.
Did you get my point?? mate once downsampled you just CAN NOT make it sound like audio quality no matter where you store and and how you store it!! And this holds for any digital media..not only audio but video too.

Dear make two CDs, one full of MP3 upto its maximum storage size, and another a Audio CD, using same tracks.
Then listen to the same track through both the CDs, you will know what I meant to say.
Anyways Iam glad that I don't drink.

[nickoo]

Originally Posted by hrsraghav

Dear make two CDs, one full of MP3 upto its maximum storage size, and another a Audio CD, using same tracks.
Then listen to the same track through both the CDs, you will know what I meant to say.
Anyways Iam glad that I don't drink.

hahaha....be happy if you can find the difference

[redfire]

Originally Posted by hrsraghav

The source of all my songs is from internet. I download the mp3 tracks (mostly 128 or 192 kbps).

My post has nothing to do here. I was talking about converting tracks from the original Audio CDs to mp3s so that we can carry more songs per CD or songs in a USB drive. Though I play only Audio CDs, LPs, Tapes at home (I don't have an MP3 player), I play mp3 in car coz of convenience. I use the EAC/Lame software in that case to convert. If your source is internet 128/192 kbps mp3s then don't do anything. Play them without any change/mod/compression/format change. If you do, the poor quality mp3s will again have some loss. No matter you convert the 128/192 or any mp3 to audio CD format, IMO the resultant sample would never be bettered than that source. If you feel so I am wondered!

[JPL]

Gurus the fuse to my mono amp is melted. I had taken out the sub (JBL 1204BR) as I was going shopping for monthly groceries.

And after a day when I put the sub back in and started my car I could smell something burning faintly.

I rechecked the connection to the sub and all I was fine, then restarted the car and see that the blue LED's on the sub were not lit (CS 300.1), so I open the bonnet and see a melted fuse !!

What could have caused this? After I removed the sub I shoved the speaker wires to the sub under the stepney tray.

Thanks.

[nickoo]

Originally Posted by redfire

My post has nothing to do here. I was talking about converting tracks from the original Audio CDs to mp3s so that we can carry more songs per CD or songs in a USB drive. Though I play only Audio CDs, LPs, Tapes at home (I don't have an MP3 player), I play mp3 in car coz of convenience. I use the EAC/Lame software in that case to convert. If your source is internet 128/192 kbps mp3s then don't do anything. Play them without any change/mod/compression/format change. If you do, the poor quality mp3s will again have some loss. No matter you convert the 128/192 or any mp3 to audio CD format, IMO the resultant sample would never be bettered than that source. If you feel so I am wondered!

@hsraghav..mate i have a another plan for you. You can further improve the quality of ut downloaded mp3. just follow the following steps:
1. Buy a re-writeable CD
2. Make an Audio CD using this rewriteable CD
3. Now from the Audio CD that you have made rip the songs into MP3 with 320kbps as bit rate and sample them at the maximum quality or if you have access to itunes use Apple's native lossless ripping format
4. Now you have a better quality mp3 compared to what you had downloaded(if we go by your thumb rule)..Right??
5. Now again write it back to a normal CD making it an Audio cd..so the end result is that you have made a better quality Audio CD starting from a low quality 128kbps/44.1 khz audio file

if you are not satisfied by the quality you can repeat this process as many times as you want till you achieve the desired quality
What do u say redfire?? Shouldn't i get a nobel prize for this theory i just refuted the basic laws of data compression
Well i could be wrong too , might be that he's using some encoders while writing the mp3 to audio CD that "very intelligently" add the missing frequencies depending on the song. Well if that's true i will be more than happy to give away my nobel prize to the guy who has designed this alogorithm!!
cheers...

[greenhorn]

nickoo, that prize will have to be given to the engineers ( or rather the folks at marketing ) at creative labs for the X Fi crystallizer which claims

24-bit X-Fi Crystallizer enhances MP3s and movies to sound better than they do on their original CD or DVD

I believe the technology is similar to what is called " advanced sound retriever" in pioneer HU's

They dont go as far as to say that it will sound better than a CD , but still claim that it will make an mp3 sound as good as a CD

ASR is usually the first thing i turn off whenever i find any Pio HU

[nickoo]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

nickoo, that prize will have to be given to the engineers ( or rather the folks at marketing ) at creative labs for the X Fi crystallizer which claims

I believe the technology is similar to what is called " advanced sound retriever" in pioneer HU's

They dont go as far as to say that it will sound better than a CD , but still claim that it will make an mp3 sound as good as a CD

ASR is usually the first thing i turn off whenever i find any Pio HU

agreed greenhorn, engineers at creative are up with the X Fi but its a real crap thing for the kind of money they charge. I bought it from US but had to return it withing a week because it was not that good probably that's the reason why its not able to capture any market.
Its almost same as what Sound Retriever does in Pio HU. The XFi does not improve the quality it just adds another dimension to music more like little loudness and what you call the WOW effect from Windows Media player!!
I used to be a creative fan but after the Xfi i have lost interest in their technologies as i have lost faith in SONY after hearing Alpine and Clarion!!
If you have itunes try ripping an Audio CD using their native lossless compression its pretty good above all its free.