Is this mp3?

[desert_rat]

I could use some more opinions on this show. I know this was an original cassette master, which at some generation was put to cd. Does anyone think this has mp3 lineage in it?

Thanks in advance.

[dorrcoq]

looks OK to me, maybe MiniDisc, but not MP3

[feralicious]

Doesn't look like mp3 to me either. FM? That black "line" of space in the top area I think indicates something, I think that it's an FM signal, but I could be wrong. Perhaps someone else will know what and if that's true that it even means anything.

On mp3s the freq will drop off at around 16khz. And the spectral view will show a hard line across the top where the sound cuts off, what is called a "haircut". Neither pic indicates these.

[Karst]

What show is that (Dublin?). I agree with Nina looks more like a FM.

[elguiri]

Doesnt FM radio normally show a spike at around 19khz? , might the missing black band 16-18khz be some sort of noise reduction ?

[RainDawg]

This is absolutely NOT mp3 by any means. Might not be FM, cass has similar fading of the upper end. I think that what I'm looking is perfectly normal for a Cass(x) > CDR, with no foul play suspected on my part.

[desert_rat]

Okay thanks everyone, this is a audience recording, not a great one by any means. At any rate, just wanted to get some second and third opinions.

The straight, level blackness above 16kHz sure raises my suspicions.

[wazoo2u]

There's a 20db falloff at around 10k that doesn't look like the gradual freqency deterioration that you get from magnetic tape generations.

FM falloff is at the 15k carrier, so that's not it. If anything, it LOOKS like a normal analog gen that went through a REALLY FUBARED generation somewhere along the line. Doesn't look like great sounding audio, but certainly doesn't look like a "lossy encoded" product.

[Five]

I don't know what this is but is sure isn't mp3. I would love to check 2-second sample of this just for curiosity, either posted here as FLAC in a .zip or pm me for me my email.

[desert_rat]

Here's a 4 second sample of one of the songs.

Well stand by, the attachment pop up window doesn't like the .flac extension

[desert_rat]

Well I can't get the 2 second sample below the 97kb limitation. I'll send you a pm.

[Five]

OK, I got the sample and looked at it in CEP... This looks and sounds like 128kb/s cbr mp3. The classic indications are there: the fa drops off right at 16kHz, the sa shows a perfect straight cutoff at 16kHz with pure black above, and you can see some blocky black bits within the audio.

[dorrcoq]

well, that frequency analysis is a lot different than what he originally posted

[feralicious]

That's for sure. desert_rat are you sure you sent him the clips from the same tracks you got your fa and sa from? I don't see how those can be from the same track.