Any Plugin to auto play files at specific bitrates?

[mikehende]

Hey guys, just wondering if there might be any VST Plugin which will auto play files at a specified bitrate? Closest thing I am finding relating to this is:

In order to specify the target bitrate for video and audio, use the -b:v and -b:a options, respectively. You can use abbreviations like K for kBit/s and M for MBit/s

taken from this link:

https://superuser.com/questions/319542/ ... eo-bitrate

[whyterabbyt]

Why? The 'point' of a file having a bitrate would be that the player plays it at that bitrate.

And btw, the tool, ffmpeg, in that link is used for file conversion, not playback.

[BertKoor]

the point is to assess how it sounds when being compressed to that bitrate (and back) as a preview of streaming.
you should know many people have asked for this.

[whyterabbyt]

the point is to assess how it sounds when being compressed to that bitrate (and back) as a preview of streaming.

Granted, that might be the point for some people. However, given the OPs question history, I'd prefer confirmation from them, to be honest. My recollection is that what they're trying to do is sometimes outwith the usual.

you should know many people have asked for this.

I didnt, given that streaming wasnt mentioned. But now that it is I'd suggest that a common answer would probably be this...

https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/prod ... liner.html

[morelia]

https://www.hornetplugins.com/plugins/hornet-adda/

[mikehende]

Granted, that might be the point for some people. However, given the OPs question history, I'd prefer confirmation from them, to be honest. My recollection is that what they're trying to do is sometimes outwith the usual.

You are accurate, know me well by now

So thanks for your help and links you guys. Let me fully explain my ultimate goal for looking into this. A live Sound Tech bud of mine led me to this mp3 which is one of the tunes he uses to help fine tune equipment:

https://soundcloud.com/wojwqnsrvpn2/rea ... al_sharing

That tune on my DJ Rig is by far THE BEST mp3 I have ever heard on my system and I set out to try to first figure out what is it exactly about this track which makes it so different or have it's superior sound quality when compared to all other mp3's I have?

I had started a discussion on Reddit about this yesterday and very first opinion was it was 320kbps but after doing some experimentation with it we had confirmed that no, it was not at all 320 but rather it's 128 so that throws out that theory.

The general consensus left as I am now being told is "It might just be a very well mixed tune compared to the others, and the quality of the mix/master is what you’re hearing rather than the quality of the mp3". Also " it’s nothing to do with the file type. It’s just a great production and mix ". "How do you know it's the quality of the mp3, and not just good mixing/mastering?"

Alright, if that's the case then my next step is to reach out to a couple of Producers who do mixing and mastering hoping they will solve this mystery for me, will report back here when I should get an answer.

Regarding my looking into a 'Plugin' to set a fixed bitrate for my mp3's playback, maybe I jumped the gun here so I apologize for that fellas. I was thinking if I can find out the specifics of that track then maybe I can preset a plugin to play all of my mp3's at whatever info that track should contain.

[mcbpete]

This one for proper mastering reasons:

But now that it is I'd suggest that a common answer would probably be this...

https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/prod ... liner.html

This one for more of an effect (but can be used to preview streaming quality too) - https://www.kvraudio.com/product/lamevst-by-r-tur

[BertKoor]

MP3 compression tends to fail and give audible artefacts on material with very broad spectrum content. Think of cymbals, white noise, that kind of stuff. So if this is a sparse arrangement (haven't listened yet) then yeah it will sound good even when compressed.

Also beware that AAC @ 128kbps sounds way better than MP3 @ 128kbps.

[mikehende]

Thanks. I just spoke with a 20-year Producer who too made me realize that 'sound quality is subjective' and maybe why I like this tracks quality is because that is how I play my music with powerful lows and piercing highs which is what this track has.

So I think what I can try as an experiment is to run this track in an Analyzer, take a snapshot of it if possible and adjust another track with the same settings to see if the 2nd track will sound similar to the one then I will know for sure?

I have written to Plugin Alliance to hear what they say about this, will report back when I hear from them.

[mikehende]

Or maybe this for analyzing:

https://www.waves.com/plugins/paz-analy ... N0QAvD_BwE

and this for automatic eq-ing?

https://www.waves.com/plugins/f6-floati ... jgQAvD_BwE

[mikehende]

Actually guys, I just got this from a Plugin developer:

You could actually do all of that with iZotope Ozone - it has a feature where it analysing a reference track's frequency spectrum and then automatically EQs your own to match it. Can also match the dynamics and loudness of the reference track. I strongly recommend it!

[mystran]

That tune on my DJ Rig is by far THE BEST mp3 I have ever heard on my system and I set out to try to first figure out what is it exactly about this track which makes it so different or have it's superior sound quality when compared to all other mp3's I have?

You need a better system. This track has such obvious MP3 compression artifacts all over the place that it's not even funny [ps: I was judging it on the built in speakers of a Macbook Air, so we're not exactly talking about subtle here]. Granted, Soundcloud tends to do this in general if your track has any sort of high frequency content, no idea what it is about their encoder, usually you can get better results at the same bitrate using something like LAME ... but that leads to the real problem with what you are asking for.

The decoding of lossy audio formats like MP3 is specified to the point where a given an MP3 file all players should always decode it into the same audio, but the process of actually encoding something into MP3 is not specified explicitly (except "should work with this decoding process"). The reason encoding is not specified is because it involves using psychoacoustics to figure out what information to drop and it makes sense to allow improved encoders when someone invents a better model as long as the resulting file is still compatible with players and sometimes using one strategy works better with one type of source audio and another strategy works better with another source of audio. Since better encoders tend to have worse performance (the better ones might even try several strategies and pick the best), it also makes sense to allow for cheaper, less ideal encoders for resource constrained situations like perhaps a hand-held recorder or whatever.

The end result is that there is no such thing as "sound of MP3 at a given bitrate" unless you already have an encoded file, or at least specify the codec and the settings used. The only way to figure out how it is going to sound when uploaded into Soundcloud is to upload it into Soundcloud.

[mikehende]

For clarification my experiment doesn't have anything at all do with 'uploading anything to soundcloud'.

My experiment is to see if copying one track's spectrum settings to another track, if that other track will sound the same or close to it 'on my pc'.

[BertKoor]

That mainly (imho) depends on the arrangement (what plays when), choice of sounds, etc etc.

You cannot just copy the spectrum of eg Norah Jones with 3 musicians onto a very busy full orchestra-on-steroids track and expect that miracle to happen. There better be similarities from the get-go.

[mikehende]

Of course even I know that. I don't have unrealistic expectations. There are only a few folders of pop and dance music in my collection which I would like to apply this experiment to. I have a good idea of exactly which tracks in each folder I will applying this to.