I'm done with WAV files

[Tyrannocaster]

I have always monitored my mixes with MP3 files and then done the final mix with WAV files. No more. Most people don't listen to CDs at all, and my experience with a recent project where I followed that plan was not successful: my WAV mix did not sound like my MP3 mix. Where it was really noticeable was in panning - I had included some hard pans from one side to another, and the WAV version just didn't replicate what I was getting with MP3s. I suppose I could avoid this by doing everything as WAV from the beginning, but I do a lot of iterations, and they add up.

Peeved.

[poetnprophet]

hmm, I actually do the opposite: record/mix everything as WAV, then export as mp3. Only difference I notice are the quality of mp3 but that's ONLY if I'm listening on CD or headphones. If I stream bluetooth or listen from an upload they both sound the same to me.

If you can spare the storage space, record/mix in WAV or FLAC...that's my recommendation.

agreed that nobody listens (or worse, BUYS) cds anymore. I rented a chevy impala last week that didn't even have a CD player, I'd imagine it'll be totally obsolete in 5-10 years.

[future fields]

I've heard it all

Processing vocals as MP3 "because I like what it does to the top end"

Bottom line, do what you want

But you may have to reencode that MP3 mix as a WAV anyways, some streaming services wont take MP3

[EpicSounds]

hmm

*checks calendar*

It's not April 1st but I'm not falling for this anyway

[fakemaxwell]

Is there a gas leak on this forum?

[synkrotron]

What is MP3?

[synkrotron]

Apologies for silly response.

I rarely render to MP3 nowadays. Did a WIP track the other day so I could send it over Telegram for my lad to listen to.

If I purchase music online I usually download the best quality MP3 file available.

Other than that I always work in WAV all the way and upload them as is to SoundCloud and Bandcamp.

[Coachz]

192 sample rate mp3 here only. Sounds great

[MRMJP]

There must be something wrong with your settings.

Aside from that, even though " Most people don't listen to CDs at all", you still need to submit a WAV file to the digital distributors to get the music on iTunes, Spotify, etc.

You wouldn't want to submit an mp3 (even though DistroKid will accept it) because the audio will again be converted to mp3 or other similar lossy formats and you'll really notice a loss in quality.

I would check your render and playback settings because there is no reason for your WAV renders to sound different/worse than mp3.

[EvilDragon]

Nice troll.

[Cranky Emu]

Originally Posted by Tyrannocaster

the WAV version just didn't replicate what I was getting with MP3s.

Something not right there, the file format has absolutely nothing at all to do with panning. What MP3 format are you rendering to?

[nofish]

Originally Posted by Cranky Emu

Something not right there, the file format has absolutely nothing at all to do with panning. What MP3 format are you rendering to?

Well, mp3 does do (or rather, may be allowed to, depending on settings) some mid/side trickery at least while encoding afaik.
If this could have any effect on the perceived stereo image I dunno though.

http://lame.sourceforge.net/ms_stereo.php

edit:
This is rather interesting, didn't know:

If the left & right channels differ by a lot, then the side channel will contain a lot of information. Errors encoding this information will show up as noise in both the left and right channels after decoding.

Reaper has a tickbox to allow joint stereo or not when rendering.

[Tyrannocaster]

Thanks for all of you thinking I was trolling. I'm not. It's a real issue, but never mind. As one person already said, do what works.

[mccrabney]

i record everything at 2x speed and just pitch it down. saves me half the time

[zookthespook]

Originally Posted by mccrabney

i record everything at 2x speed and just pitch it down. saves me half the time

hahahahahahhaha

[Cranky Emu]

Originally Posted by nofish

Well, mp3 does do (or rather, may be allowed to, depending on settings) some mid/side trickery at least while encoding afaik.

I never use joint stereo when rendering MP3, just good ol stereo.

[Fergler]

I'd ditch both for .ogg

[woogish]

I think they feel the same way.....

[ernzo]

There's actually a variation in Sound/depth when comparing MP3/WAV,
but it's so small it would be almost impossible to discern by anyone except yourself (as you've worked on that mix very closely),
specially if they don't have access to both mixes..

Part of it is the sheer difference in raw Bitrate/Quality,
part of it is the Psychoacoustic filters MP3 applies on conversion, and whatever other stereo tricks it might do.

But in any case, I think it's better to stick to WAV, at least for recording your takes/stems, or exporting the digital instruments tracks;
and only use MP3 conversion as a last step.


Still there's another important factor which is Dithering..
If you render directly to MP3 you're either using the MP3 codec's built-in ditherer, or Reaper's built-in ditherer, to convert 24/32 bit to 16 bit..

So as good as they might be on the task, I say you would get much better results using a more dedicated Dithering software like Ozone RX.


The difference in sound between a 32fp and 16 bit WAV file is more noticeable to me, than the difference between a 16bit WAV and a 320kb MP3, specially if unoptimal software is used.

[shady]

wait why is no one using WavPack ?

[Bri1]

wait why is no one using WavPack ?

heh-1 iz! =wavpack >> ogg >killakombo..half decent kbps+rearendering..quite zippy..