Hi there! Long time listener of the playlist there. I sometimes download your files so I can listen offline. I'm trying to convert the rest of my playlist to m4a. I was wondering how you get your m4a files to be so low in size and yet have good enough quality. Taking an example where the original file is available : Black Mesa. No matter how many options in the mp3->aac converter I try, I can't get a m4a as small as yours while without destroying the quality. What program do you use, and what options/bitrate do you choose? Thanks a lot
Hi, I use foobar2000 with the Nero AAC Encoder 1.5.4.0 plugin. All the M4As are encoded in VBR(variable bit rate) Q0.30(~82kbps) LC-AAC. The quality is a tad higher when converting to HC-AAC, but the player doesn't like that type for some reason. I don't know why your converter makes bloated files. It probably uses an old encoder. Some of the old tracks on the playlist were converted with an old version of the Nero encoder; and converting them with a new version would output a smaller file.
Thanks for the info, helped a lot. Indeed, using the newest Nero encoder, I managed to get a file size for the Black Mesa song even lower than yours. After several blind tests I couldn't tell the difference between 0.30 and higher so I think I'll follow your example and start the conversion of my playlist in 0.30. Cya
