User guide

632 Chapter 27 Bouncing Your Project
Bit Rate (Mono/Stereo)
MP3 bit rates are selectable between 32 kbps and 320 kbps, but default to 80 kbps
mono, and 160 kbps stereo. These rates offer acceptable quality and good file
compression.
To enhance audio quality, provided you can afford the extra file size, choose:
 96 kbps for mono streams
 192 kbps for stereo streams
You can, of course, choose even higher rates, but the quality improvement afforded by
bit rates above 96/192 kbps is nominal.
Use Variable Bit Rate Encoding (VBR)
Variable Bit Rate encoding compresses simpler passages more heavily than passages
that are (more) harmonically rich, generally resulting in better quality MP3 files.
Unfortunately, not all MP3 players can accurately decode VBR-encoded MP3s, which is
why this option is turned off by default. If you know that your target listeners can
decode VBR-encoded MP3s, you can switch this option on.
Quality
Keep this set to Highest (the default) whenever possible. Reducing the quality
accelerates the conversion process, but at the expense of audio quality.
Use Best Encoding
Again, like the Quality parameter, if you uncheck this option, you will gain encoding
speed at the price of audio quality. This should always be kept on, unless conversion
time is an issue.
Filter Frequencies Below 10 Hz
When this option is checked (the default), frequencies below 10 Hz (which are usually
not reproduced by speakers, and are not audible to human ears at any rate) will be
removed. This leaves slightly more data bandwidth for the frequencies that we can
hear, resulting in an improvement of the perceived quality. Only uncheck this option if
you’re experimenting with subsonic test tones, or exporting MP3s for whales!
Stereo Mode
You can select Joint Stereo or Normal stereo mode. Depending on the original file,
these settings may (or may not) offer any audible difference. Experiment with both
settings to determine your preference.