Converted Music tape to MP3 with noise problem

[words44]

I recently installed Audacity 1.3.9 and want to convert my music tapes of various artists to mp3 files to play on the computer. I've tried setting the recording at 32 bit and 96 KHz sampling rate.

1) I hear a rare imperfection when listening to Audacity playback. This is an acceptable listening experience. Converting to WAV files played on MS Media Player sounded fine. But when I convert the Audacity file to an mp3 file (44KHz) the whole mp3 file listened through iTunes is saturated with hicks, clicks, jerks, and pops. I was successful at eliminating any hiss of the tape using noise removal. How do I record a music tape using Audacity and convert it to MP3 format without these noise problems?

2) If anyone has a link or can explain what the range of parameters should be set at for Noise Removal and Click removal, please respond.

My computer is HP Pavilion a1210n, 3500+ AMD Athlon , 1.5 GB RAM, 200 GB hard drive, XP, SP3. iTunes version 8.

Thanks in advance.

[Electriclight]

How did you decided on 32 bit 96 kHz? That is a bizarre setting (IMO). 96 KHz MP3 is going to sound pretty bad no matter what, suitable only for some crappy earbud listening. On the other hand the 32 bit setting is like ultra demanding high quality. It makes no sense for MP3 recording especially at something mixed down to 96kHz.

Unless youabsoolutely have to compress hte heck out of your files, why don't you try 24 bit 192 kHz and see how that comes out. Experiment with the dithering options.

[words44]

Thanks for the response. I recorded at 192 KHz sample rate and 24 bits. However, the mp3 file still sounds full of background noise which is inaudible when I play the Audacity file.

This doesn't make sense to me. I've ripped CDs using iTunes and they sound o.k. I've also tried different file formats like AAC and WAV. WAV was fine. AAC sounded as crappy as the MP3 format.

[Metaltyme]

Originally Posted by words44

Thanks for the response. I recorded at 192 KHz sample rate and 24 bits. However, the mp3 file still sounds full of background noise which is inaudible when I play the Audacity file.

This doesn't make sense to me. I've ripped CDs using iTunes and they sound o.k. I've also tried different file formats like AAC and WAV. WAV was fine. AAC sounded as crappy as the MP3 format.

Like Electriclight said, experiment with your dithering options. Without utilizing proper dithering, unwanted artifacts can get introduced within the conversion to mp3. I record at 24-bit with a sample rate of 192kHz all the time. When I'm ready to make an mp3 out of the mixed down wav file, I dither down to a 16-bit, 44.1kHz, 320 kbps mp3. They always come out as close to the unmixed-down output of the mix that an mp3 can practically get. You should see some dithering options in audacity upon reaching the dialog box just before converting from 24-bit (wav) down to 16-bit (wav or mp3).

Good luck,