Encoding using the MP3 format

MP3 files are encoded using what's known as Lossy Data Compression.…First of all, Data Compression is not at all like the Audio Compression that we've been…talking about so far in this course.…Data Compression means decreasing the number of bits in a digital word to make the file smaller.…MP3 encoding does this in a lossy manner which means that it literally throws away certain…audio information that the encoder thinks isn't important and won't be missed.…It's almost like letting the air out of a bicycle tire.…Still the same tire, but it's a lot smaller.…

Of course, if we compare an MP3 file to its original non-data compressed source file,…we can usually hear a difference.…That's why the following information and parameter settings are so important, so you can get…the best-sounding MP3 file that's sounds as close to the uncompressed source files can be.…Regardless of the encoder, there's one parameter that matters the most in determining the quality…of the encode, and that's Bit Rate, which is the number of bits of the encoded data…