Reference Guide

1637
MP3 Export Options dialog
MP3 Export Options dialog
The following is a description of the options in the MP3 Export Options dialog:
Bit Rate
Choose a bit rate from the drop-down list. A higher bit rate creates larger, higher quality files. The Bit
Rate allows you to select the trade-off between the size and the sound quality of the compressed
file. Compressing to higher bit rates will provide better sound quality, but will also create larger files.
Bit rate is specified in bits per second. As a rule of thumb, bit rates of 120,000 bits per second or
higher offer near CD quality sound. Lower bit rates can be used, with a corresponding decrease in
quality. If you are preparing your project for distribution on the web, lower bit rates will create smaller
files, and therefore faster downloading time.
The maximum bit rate that you can select depends on the sampling rate of the project. The encoder
supports bit rates up to 320000 bit per second, providing extremely high quality compression.
Selection of 320000 bits per second or lower requires that your project was created using at least a
32 kHz sampling rate. If your project was created using a lower sampling rate, your selection of bit
rates will also be limited.
Stereo Mode
Select one of the following from the drop-down list:
• Joint Stereo. In Joint Stereo mode, the encoder optimizes the stereo encoding by
comparing the two stereo channels. If similar information is found in the left and right
channels, the encoder uses the similar information to minimize the data it stores in the MP3
file. While this encoding technique may result in better compression, it may result in a loss of
stereo quality. An additional option when using Joint Stereo compression is the selection of
Intensity Stereo. Selection of Intensity Stereo instructs the encoder to further optimize the
encoding by minimizing the data encoded for higher frequency sounds. This can also improve
the compression of the MP3 file, however in some cases the optimization of high frequency
sounds may result in a loss of sound quality.
• Mono. Create a Mono file
• Stereo. By selecting Stereo mode, the encoder will create a Stereo MP3 file from a stereo
project by treating the left and right channels as completely independent signals. Unlike Joint
Stereo encoding, stereo encoding will not try to take advantage of similar information in left
and right channels. As a result, Stereo Mode will completely preserve stereo separation
without trying to reduce the data.
• Mid/Side Stereo. Preserves most of the stereo effect of a file but at lower bandwidth. Not
too useful at bit rates above 128 kbs.
Enable High Pass Filter/Low Pass Filter
These filters decrease your file size by eliminating frequencies that people don't usually hear
anyway