MP3 or WAV's

[Ty baby]

Just had a discussion earlier about 2 tracks or wavs is it possible to get

a good quality mix from a mp3 or is just the producer hype I understand

having the wavs give you more control of the song if the claps to loud turn it down if the but if you cant get access to the wavs is 2 track good quality

 

[kahliljn]

Just had a discussion earlier about 2 tracks or wavs is it possible to get

a good quality mix from a mp3 or is just the producer hype I understand

having the wavs give you more control of the song if the claps to loud turn it down if the but if you cant get access to the wavs is 2 track good quality

You can edit mp3s, but the catch is more than likely theyll be converted to wav, while your recording over it or mixing it, by your daw.

Its easier to use wavs though, I sometimes use Aiff

 

[deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup]

Plenty of professional recordings have been made using nothing but an "mp3 version' of a beat. A stereo wav gives a small advantage, but if it's not completely tracked out, anything over 160kbps is gonna be good enough.

It'll end up being processed in a 24bit environment using EQs and Dynamics to bring out the best you can, and once vocals are put over the top, it's "good enough". People will always prefer tracked out beats or 24bit stereo wav files to the least, but you gotta work with whatcha got sometimes.

 

[C419]

Something I've experienced before I started doing things the right way, is taking a single file beat into a studio will get you not taken seriously by the engineers.

I'm sure they don't care as long as they're getting paid but it's a good feeling to know they take you seriously so they will take their job just as serious.

 

[Ty baby]

Plenty of professional recordings have been made using nothing but an "mp3 version' of a beat. A stereo wav gives a small advantage, but if it's not completely tracked out, anything over 160kbps is gonna be good enough.

It'll end up being processed in a 24bit environment using EQs and Dynamics to bring out the best you can, and once vocals are put over the top, it's "good enough". People will always prefer tracked out beats or 24bit stereo wav files to the least, but you gotta work with whatcha got sometimes.

This the type of post we need thanks

im so curious because im bout to mix a mixtape but I dont have no wavs just decent mp3's people talk way down on recording mp3s like it's automatic shitty quality but I geuss it's that producer hype

 

[deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup]

@C419, The guys you went too weren't "professional" if the didn't take you seriously. Beat CDs and Cassettes have been sources for recordings as long as I been doing this in any studio I ever worked out of.

"Engineers" that can't work around a minor bump like the original source of an instrumental are equivalent to the ones who tell you "you gotta use Pro Tools or an MPC", lol.

 

[Xabiton]

mp3s can work but we all know tracked wavs will give the best results however how consumers give a damn about sound quality anymore

---------- Post added at 06:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:08 PM ----------

"Engineers" that can't work around a minor bump like the original source of an instrumental are equivalent to the ones who tell you "you gotta use Pro Tools or an MPC", lol.

quoted for truth

 

[C419]

@C419, The guys you went too weren't "professional" if the didn't take you seriously.

I record in one of the premier studios in Columbus who record major artists like Lil Wayne, Korn, and some other major artists so I mean I just felt like a loser I guess lol because the general vibe I got from professionals kind of look down on that, which I know they did because 2 of the engineers were telling me for future reference that a tracked out beat would be a lot better. They weren't saying I had to have it, they were just telling me what I already knew. But Idk, just overall it seems like a lot of people who really have professional careers doing this stuff look down on that a bit and don't take you as serious.

---------- Post added at 05:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:14 PM ----------

mp3s can work but we all know tracked wavs will give the best results

Exactly, that's what they were telling me.

I really think it depends on the beat and the person that mixed it. I've recorded on single files in a studio and got it mixed and sometimes it sounds good and sometimes you wish it sounded better.

 

[Ty baby]

Something I've experienced before I started doing things the right way, is taking a single file beat into a studio will get you not taken seriously by the engineers.

I'm sure they don't care as long as they're getting paid but it's a good feeling to know they take you seriously so they will take their job just as serious.

alright thanks

---------- Post added at 05:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:17 PM ----------

@C419, The guys you went too weren't "professional" if the didn't take you seriously. Beat CDs and Cassettes have been sources for recordings as long as I been doing this in any studio I ever worked out of.

"Engineers" that can't work around a minor bump like the original source of an instrumental are equivalent to the ones who tell you "you gotta use Pro Tools or an MPC", lol.

lmao perfectly said

---------- Post added at 05:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:18 PM ----------

mp3s can work but we all know tracked wavs will give the best results however how consumers give a damn about sound quality anymore
h

truth..

 

[deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup]

This the type of post we need thanks

im so curious because im bout to mix a mixtape but I dont have no wavs just decent mp3's people talk way down on recording mp3s like it's automatic shitty quality but I geuss it's that producer hype

That's a "net thing". Folk will talk about "quality" on these boards all day because they read another method was "better". Most of them have horrible mixes with the highest bit depths, sample rates, preamps, room treatment and monitoring.

All this stuff does help, but if you can't make a 160kbps mp3 instrumental into a song after smothering it in vocals that's equivalent to the quality of stuff currently on the radio...you don't need to quit your dayjob.

Main rules to remember is turn the mp3 beat down about 7-18db to restore a little headroom(it's more than likely been ran thru compressors and squashed, you'll know you don't need to do this if the beat is already well out of the red when it's loaded up). Play with EQ to bring out sounds(learn freq ranges, and you can actually pinpoint instruments and bring them out in a mix by boosting certain freqs). And make your vocals as clear as possible to direct attention away from the "beat's mix".

 

[Ty baby]

That's a "net thing". Folk will talk about "quality" on these boards all day because they read another method was "better". Most of them have horrible mixes with the highest bit depths, sample rates, preamps, room treatment and monitoring.

All this stuff does help, but if you can't make a 160kbps mp3 instrumental into a song after smothering it in vocals that's equivalent to the quality of stuff currently on the radio...you don't need to quit your dayjob.

Main rules to remember is turn the mp3 beat down about 7-18db to restore a little headroom(it's more than likely been ran thru compressors and squashed, you'll know you don't need to do this if the beat is already well out of the red when it's loaded up). Play with EQ to bring out sounds(learn freq ranges, and you can actually pinpoint instruments and bring them out in a mix by boosting certain freqs). And make your vocals as clear as possible to direct attention away from the "beat's mix".

Best advice I got for real im really starting to understand this whole producer hype too lol thanks

 

[Dj Nyce]

You can get a listenable quality mix form just an mp3 of a song .... Seen it done on several occasions.. Its always better to have individual tracks but the quality of the recordings and the level of the engineer make a much more significant difference. Id take mike dean mixing my vocals over a two track before id let the guy down the street mix my shit with the multitracks anyday.

 

[[F_or_DEAF]]

I geuss it's that producer hype

it's TOTALLY POSSIBLE to make a solid sounding song based on a .mp3.

the better the .mp3 mix is, the higher the likelihood of the completed song being better.

 

[Ty baby]

Id take mike dean mixing my vocals over a two track before id let the guy down the street mix my shit with the multitracks anyday.

QFT

---------- Post added at 05:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:28 PM ----------

it's TOTALLY POSSIBLE to make a solid sounding song based on a .mp3.

the better the .mp3 mix is, the higher the likelihood of the completed song being better.

True the mp3s I got good mix except a few umma try though I just thought mp3s were a big no-no from other producers but im straight now

---------- Post added at 05:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:30 PM ----------

You can edit mp3s, but the catch is more than likely theyll be converted to wav, while your recording over it or mixing it, by your daw.

Its easier to use wavs though, I sometimes use Aiff

yea i might try aiff's

 

[kahliljn]

Multi track is always better, and deranged when you say make a 160bit mp3 sound like something thats radio quality I hope you mean a mp3 thats mixed exceptionally good.

It doesn't matter if your using wav or mp3 to record on the beat has to be atleast somewhat good as far as quality goes or atleast good enough to mix

 

[deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup]

I record in one of the premier studios in Columbus who record major artists like Lil Wayne, Korn, and some other major artists so I mean I just felt like a loser I guess lol because the general vibe I got from professionals kind of look down on that, which I know they did because 2 of the engineers were telling me for future reference that a tracked out beat would be a lot better. They weren't saying I had to have it, they were just telling me what I already knew. But Idk, just overall it seems like a lot of people who really have professional careers doing this stuff look down on that a bit and don't take you as serious.

If they recorded Lil Wayne, they know all about stereo audio files. That's all Wayne uses majority of the time. And just because someone works with Korn doesn't mean they know shyt about a genre like hip hop where stereo tracks are a regular thing. It's not like Korn "jumps on beats".

I've worked out of premier studios in L.A. that don't mean I know shyt about artists that weren't my clients just because their pics and plaques were on the walls.

---------- Post added at 06:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 PM ----------

Multi track is always better, and deranged when you say make a 160bit mp3 sound like something thats radio quality I hope you mean a mp3 thats mixed exceptionally good.

It doesn't matter if your using wav or mp3 to record on the beat has to be atleast somewhat good as far as quality goes or atleast good enough to mix

No, I mean, I've been given shytty mixed 96kbps or 128kbps MP3s and made good enough mixed songs to only wish they had at least given me 160kbps beats, lol. Dynamic processing is your friend. understand it, and you can get as good results out of a poorly mixed stereo track as most "engineers' who wine about needing something tracked out could get with everything tracked out.

Same time, a better mix and higher quality doesn't hurt. I prefer a well mixed 24bit stereo Wav file or 192kbps+ mp3 over a tracked out beat any day. In the end, I'd do extra work to the tracked out beat for the same results I could get with quick compression or a little EQing to an already done track. As long as I know the BPM, I can even arrange off a stereo track if the producer didn't just make a loop. All I need is intros, breakdowns, ect.

 

[901_Rice_Street]

This is as shitty as it gets.
http://www.divshare.com/download/12369366-7c8

 

[C419]

Bottom line is - Is it possible to have a good quality song recording with an mp3 or wav file, yes. But it will not be the same quality as recording with a full tracked out beat.

If you do both, I bet you will not be satisfied with a single file recording. It will be one of those "this will have to do" things that isn't terrible, but you'll much rather record and mix using a fully tracked out instrumental. At least that's the way it was for me.

 

[-lil wayne -]

somebody should do a test.

get a mixed down mp3 version of a beat, and record over it and get it mixed.

then compare it to a tracked out version of the same beat and vocals thats been mixed.

do that for several different beats for accuracy.

post the results in this thread, and lets see if we can tell major differences between them.............

 

[T Prod.]

A stereo wav gives a small advantage, but if it's not completely tracked out, anything over 160kbps is gonna be good enough.

Definetely disagree. Use WAV files. Or at least a 256/320 kbps.

have you guys ever payed attention to what a 192kbps MP3 does to a hi-hat?