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[bigcuedaddy]

Anyone been working on a plugin for MP3SX (Surround sound) files?
I hear that one of the advantages of using the SX files is that they help to restore (or at least imitate) soundstage placement lost in the formatting.

[Alex B]

Surround mp3 files that are encoded with Fraunhofer IIS surround MP3 encoder need a Frauenhofer surround decoder for decoding the surround channels info. It is not likely to be included in MC or in a third party plugin.

In any case it does not reproduce soundstage of stereo files better than the LAME MP3 encoder that is used in MC.

The included Monkey's Audio encoder stores the soundstage placement perfectly. You should use it or some other lossless format if you are worried about the soundstage reproduction.

For multichannel encoding I would recommend a format that can really keep the channels separate. At least multichannel Windows Media is supported in MC.

[bigcuedaddy]

I imagine I am best off just using the extreme VBR settings on Lame, then.

[Alex B]

Yep, LAME VBR extreme is about the best MP3 has to offer. CBR 320 kbps can sometimes be better if the VBR system makes mistakes, but usually you cannot hear any difference.

The possibly audible difference between the original source file and a high bitrate LAME MP3 file is not usually in the soundstage reproduction. The reported problems are mostly artifact type sound errors. I.e. very short passages when the sound is more or less somehow altered.

Some newer lossy formats may have a bit less problems with difficult to encode material, but the best way to ensure perfect quality is to use a lossless format. Then there is no doubt.

[bigcuedaddy]

Agreed. I simply dont have enough disc space to use lossless, so a compromise is unavoidable.  I stream most stuff to the TIVO, and I was listening to some some known excellent recordings that seemed flat, with little soundstage presence, and I was hoping there was a fix of some kind. Thats when I discovered the mp3sx format, which CLAIMED it helped fix the soundstage problem. Then I realized that TIVO only supports plan mp3 anyway, so anything sent to it would be the same as what I have now. I guess the ultimate answer would be unlimited storage and a tivo that would play ape files!!!