Thanks alot guys
any other affordable way to upsample than x-fi?
hello,
I know of only one sub $200 product that will upsample and help decompress mp3 and cd files to add resolution to them- that is soundblaster x-fi card and software for about $100. i don't need a hi end solution, just something to get me out of mp3 ipod hell. some of my media will always be in mp3 format, so i wanted to see if anyone knows of anything else that will add some resolution to files at a comparable price range. i am an audiophile with a most unfortunate handicap: a budget.
I know of only one sub $200 product that will upsample and help decompress mp3 and cd files to add resolution to them- that is soundblaster x-fi card and software for about $100. i don't need a hi end solution, just something to get me out of mp3 ipod hell. some of my media will always be in mp3 format, so i wanted to see if anyone knows of anything else that will add some resolution to files at a comparable price range. i am an audiophile with a most unfortunate handicap: a budget.
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You can't add true resolution to any lossy format. Whatever resolution added is a "guess" on the part of the software. This is an absolute; whatever resolution you start with is the best you can ever do with that file. You can only accurately downsample, any upsample will not be accurate. That is why you should always rip files to a lossless format (.flac, .wav, apple lossless). If you convert from .mp3 to a lossless format like .flac or .wav you will hear the exact same thing as is in the .mp3. The only thing the conversion has done is insert the bits that it _assumes_ should be there (same thing that an .mp3 player software does when it plays the file). If you convert it to another lossy format (like .wma) then it will sound _worse_ because you are re-compressing compressed data. If all you want to do is convert formats, Poikosoft has a batch conversion utility as part of it's ripping software that lets you convert just about any audio format out there - $32 US. I use it to downsample my .flac files to .mp3 for my portable. Hope this helps. |