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More => Old Versions => Media Center 11 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: Dieter on October 17, 2003, 08:54:22 pm

Title: Encoding Voice Only Files Using MC9
Post by: Dieter on October 17, 2003, 08:54:22 pm

How do I encode a voice only (no music) .WAV file into an MP3 at 16 kbps mono using MC9?  There does not seem to be an option for this on the menu.  How do I set up MC9 to do this automatically?  Is this the best way to encode voice only files to minimize disk space?  Thanks!

Title: Re:Encoding Voice Only Files Using MC9
Post by: rocketsauce on October 17, 2003, 11:07:19 pm

In the Quality drop down list you'll have to choose Custom and use a commandline to get the settings you want. You could try:

--alt-preset cbr 16 -m m

(-m m specifies to encode mono)

As to whether this is the best way to encode voice-only files, I don't know. You might try a few different bitrates and also try without the mono switch too see if there is really that much difference in the file sizes. The .wav file I tested came out to 300kb for both stereo and mono versions at 16kbps.

You could also try:

--alt-preset 16 -m m

(which would encode in average bitrate rather than constant bitrate)

--preset voice

(will be bigger filesize and not mono, but might be useful if the sound quality of 16kbps is unacceptable)

Rob

Title: Re:Encoding Voice Only Files Using MC9
Post by: Dieter on October 18, 2003, 12:58:53 am

--alt-preset 16 -a

seems to work best.  The quality is better than MMJ using 16 kbps CBR mono and the file sizes were about the same.

Thanks!

Title: Re:Encoding Voice Only Files Using MC9
Post by: Soundman on October 18, 2003, 01:05:41 am

Hi.  For what it's worth, through much experimentation, I settled on these settings for Audio Books:

-m m -a --cbr -q 0 -b 24 --resample 16

This downmixes to mono, uses a bitrate of 24kbps, and downsamples to 16kHz.  The reason I have to use Constant Bitrate is that my portable MP3/CD player (A RioVolt SP100) cannot seek properly in VBR files.  I don't know if that is common with other MP3 players, but seeking is important for audiobooks that have 45 minute tracks!

Title: Re:Encoding Voice Only Files Using MC9
Post by: rocketsauce on October 18, 2003, 05:31:40 am

Quote from: Dieter on October 18, 2003, 12:58:53 am

--alt-preset 16 -a

seems to work best.  The quality is better than MMJ using 16 kbps CBR mono and the file sizes were about the same.

Thanks!

Great!

Just FYI, after rereading the LAME commandline switch reference, if your source files are just regular stereo .wavs, technically the correct commandline should be --alt-preset 16 -m s -a.

Rob