(pseudo) Real-time mp3 encoding/decoding plugin

[BertKoor]

The discussion is back again: Mixing for the Internet - MySpace / Soundclick etc
Some quotes:

So, I often put tracks on the above and someone of distiction mentioned recently about high cutting above a certain frequency to avoid instruments and vox sounding too trebly / airy. [...] What do you do? Any tips? This is specifically aimed at Internet music, taking into account the heavy compression used on places like MySpace.

It's not a brick wall at 11KHz, more like a 12dB/oct LPF but essentially you're losing high-end detail.

The best advice I can give is to spend some time with a spectrum analyzer. Look that how these different types of compression affect you high end and do you best to counter act these effects without sacrificing fidelity. The tricky part is that you are anticipating how your track will respond to the compression so you'll have to experiment some.

I don't think it's rocket science, but it does take uploading a file, listening, tweaking, re-uploading and so on to get it right for that site. That's where the extra effort pays off.

So although not mentionned explicitly, I gather there definitely is a demand for a plugin that can emulate how audio will sound after mp3 encoding & decoding. It would make life so much easier for a lot of people if such a plugin existed. Even with a latency of a full second it would be very useful.

It's been discussed before, and as I recall the main obstacle is the encoding. But I see countless other software using Lame in some form. Lame doesn't need to be distributed with the plugin, since it probably already is installed somewhere.

So... Any takers?

As a prove of the demand, here's an older thread on the same subject: http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 45&start=0 (which includes a link to an even older thread)

NB: I'm only starting this up, it's not me who would buy such a plugin.

[plastique]

I remember the thread here some years ago (someone apparently also made some plugin, but I never got 'round to email him).

[BertKoor]

Yeah, I put a link to that thread in my post while you were replying...

[leroik]

Now it's 2011. Does anyone know if an MP3 emulator plugin was ever made? How awesome it'd be to have your master out encoded in real time so you can re-mix your tracks.

I've often wondered how the pro's do it. I did notice, as someone else had hinted, that they roll off the bass and tops - apart from smoothing the top end, it probably lends more bits to the body of the track, thus improving the sound overall (I'm speculating here though).

[No_Use]

Now it's 2011. Does anyone know if an MP3 emulator plugin was ever made?

Yes.
http://www.sonnoxplugins.com/pub/plugin ... -codec.htm

It's quite expensive though.

[leroik]

Wow, thanks for your reply! And you call yourself No Use.

And wow, their plugins are expensive. That looks to be their cheapest plugin, too. Maybe if their stuff is really good, commercial studios would buy it though. I don't want to bash them, but I would sure like to knock their prices down.