How to convert mp3 files to a higher quality.

[Redhawkcrazed]

How to convert mp3 files to a higher quality. Or does anyone know a source where I can buy high quality Audiomachine albums?

[BoredErica]

You cannot convert mp3 into lossless and upgrade the quality. Audiomachine isn't mainstream, good luck finding a way to buy their tracks losslessly, I've tried. If it makes you feel better, lossless will sound the same as mp3 to you.

[Dredgy]

iTunes is the obvious answer. They'll have high bitrate AAC and ALAC which can be converted to MP3 or FLAC, though AAC will play on most players, ALAC perhaps not so much.

[BoredErica]

iTunes sell Audiomachine tracks in ALAC? I don't have iTunes but I doubt that.

[Guest]

You can never add quality to an audio file. PM me and I can help you get them in lossless.

[Shalashaska]

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/audiomachine/id516670462

 

Maybe you can get apple lossless, but to be honest if you have 320kbps mp3 it is nigh on impossible to tell the difference between it and a CD/FLAC.

 

Maelstrom and Epica are on TPB in FLAC, as is the complete set in 320kbps mp3 (which will sound the same to you) but I won't link it.

[BoredErica]

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/audiomachine/id516670462

 

Maybe you can get apple lossless, but to be honest if you have 320kbps mp3 it is nigh on impossible to tell the difference between it and a CD/FLAC.

 

Maelstrom and Epica are on TPB in FLAC, as is the complete set in 320kbps mp3 (which will sound the same to you) but I won't link it.

Can you really buy all that in ALAC? Do iTunes typically sell files in ALAC? 

[Shalashaska]

Can you really buy all that in ALAC? Do iTunes typically sell files in ALAC? 

 

I don't know, I have never bought a track from iTunes because I dislike their use of proprietary codecs and also their practice of locking out free codecs on their playback devices.

 

They take the codec elitism to a silly level in my opinion, they even stream their keynotes in quicktime only formats that won't stream natively on Windows or Android which I consider petty.

[Jack.EXE]

It wont change the sound much, but you can use LameXP to convert.

 

I convert EVERYTHING to 512 Kb/s m4a, as that's the best my phone does. (Yep, gotta convert them flacs)

[Guest]

Can you really buy all that in ALAC? Do iTunes typically sell files in ALAC? 

iTunes doesn't sell anything in ALAC. Unless they changed that in the past few months.

[Guest]

It wont change the sound much, but you can use LameXP to convert.

 

I convert EVERYTHING to 512 Kb/s m4a, as that's the best my phone does. (Yep, gotta convert them flacs)

It won't change the sound at all. If anything, it will sound worse because you risk losing data in the transcode. You can not improve the quality of an audio file, its not possible to create data like that. Try generating a spectrogram of the MP3 and the FLAC file after you converted it from MP3. They will look the same.

[BoredErica]

iTunes doesn't sell anything in ALAC. Unless they changed that in the past few months.

That was what I thought. There was a track I was willing to legitly buy if in lossless form but nooope, Apple won't sell me it. Lame as hell.

 

It wont change the sound much, but you can use LameXP to convert.

 

I convert EVERYTHING to 512 Kb/s m4a, as that's the best my phone does. (Yep, gotta convert them flacs)

....No.

 

It won't change the sound at all. If anything, it will sound worse because you risk losing data in the transcode. You can not improve the quality of an audio file, its not possible to create data like that.

Yes.

[Jack.EXE]

 

That was what I thought. There was a track I was willing to legitly buy if in lossless form but nooope, Apple won't sell me it. Lame as hell.

 

....No.

 

Yes.

 

I'm down-converting so my flac files work on my phone.

[BoredErica]

I'm down-converting so my flac files work on my phone.

But why are you suggesting he convert his mp3 files? He didn't say he was listening on a phone. OP asks how to convert the song to a higher quality and you suggest a utility that converts songs into different levels of compression, which means you're suggesting that he use it.

[Jack.EXE]

But why are you suggesting he convert his mp3 files? He didn't say he was listening on a phone. OP asks how to convert the song to a higher quality and you suggest a utility that converts songs into different levels of compression, which means you're suggesting that he use it.

Cut me some slack, it's 1AM, I'm sleepy.

[BoredErica]

Cut me some slack, it's 1AM, I'm sleepy.

I am willing to cut you some slack. It's 11pm here.  :unsure:

[Redhawkcrazed]

OK thanks for the replies.

[creatip123]

You can only convert a song (i.e. an MP3) to a higher container quality. For example, you can convert a 128kbps MP3 to a FLAC, but you won't get the full 44.1 kHz range. 

 

Think of it this way: higher container quality = bigger bottle volume. Converting a FLAC to 128kbps MP3 is like pouring the content of a 1 liter bottle to a 750ml bottle. You'd lose 250ml of the content, right? Converting a 128kbps MP3 to a FLAC is like pouring the content of a 750ml bottle to a 1 liter bottle, you'd still get 750ml content, although the new bottle can hold up to 1 liter.

 

Having said that, you can do the conversion on Foobar2k. Just google the steps. When you're doing the conversion from lower quality format to higher quality format (usually lossy to lossless), the foobar is kind enough to give a warning that you won't get a higher result

[Whit3Rav3n]

You can only convert a song (i.e. an MP3) to a higher container quality. For example, you can convert a 128kbps MP3 to a FLAC, but you won't get the full 44.1 kHz range. 

 

Think of it this way: higher container quality = bigger bottle volume. Converting a FLAC to 128kbps MP3 is like pouring the content of a 1 liter bottle to a 750ml bottle. You'd lose 250ml of the content, right? Converting a 128kbps MP3 to a FLAC is like pouring the content of a 750ml bottle to a 1 liter bottle, you'd still get 750ml content, although the new bottle can hold up to 1 liter.

 

Having said that, you can do the conversion on Foobar2k. Just google the steps. When you're doing the conversion from lower quality format to higher quality format (usually lossy to lossless), the foobar is kind enough to give a warning that you won't get a higher result

Also converting from lossy to another lossy format (even if the new lossy format is the same or higher bitrate than the old one) will degrade the quality further. The reason is that the already filtered lossy source is ran through a filter once more causing further data loss.

[BoredErica]

Also converting from lossy to another lossy format (even if the new lossy format is the same or higher bitrate than the old one) will degrade the quality further. The reason is that the already filtered lossy source is ran through a filter once more causing further data loss.

Although even then, the decrease in sound quality of converting a lossy file to another lossy file is very small in terms of audibility... There was a thread on this on Headfi Sound Science section where people took a lossy track and converted it back and forth many times.