Jim Lesurf wrote:
In article , Rob
wrote:
Jim Lesurf wrote:

FWIW I've now had a chance to record some mp3 streams 'broadcast' by
some of the net stations. This meant I could write the results onto a
CDRW and listen to them on some players. Have examples at
128/192/256kbps. What I've found interesting is that the results
*didn't* show that the 'higher the bitrate the better the sound'. This
was a totally uncontrolled test, so is suspect, but it does strengthen
my bias towards feeling that the way the specific encoder is used (and
the details of the sound patterns to be encoded) can matter more that
the output bitrate chosen.


I don't suppose it makes a great deal of difference if you record using
a lossless format, but isn't it more logical to just capture the
streamed audio?

Erm... that is what I have been doing. Recording the mp3 stream as an mp3
file on my computer. Then writing these files into a CDRW for playing on
various 'audio'/'video' disc players.


No, you're not capturing the *stream* AIUI, you're capturing the audio
once it's been through your sound card, and you've then converted it
again to mp3.

To use a video analogy, you're allowing video to stream through your
media player, assuming your clockwork computer has such a thing, and
capturing the video using screen capture software. Better to capture the
stream before it hits software.

If you are going to do it your way (recalcitrance on software noted!)
you're better as a point of accuracy to use lossless capture, and then
do whatever you need in terms of compression. You're still taking a
(tiny) hit through the D-A-D conversion though. I think you might also
have a problem if different compression codecs are used at source (radio
station) and destination (your end).

Stream capture captures the data before it hits the sound card - I use
Xstreamripper. Quality isn't that much of an issue for me - but what
capturing the stream does is record the song data which also contains
things like artist, album and song, so you can save it as a nice
labelled file. I happen to listen to non-English stations so this works
well for me. This also happens to be the 'purest' and quickest method of
capturing the audio.

As ever, happy to stand corrected ;-)

Rob