Best quality mp3 bitrate is 128 kb/s

[J-Kappes]

Maybe this doesn't make a difference due to the source quality but I think I hear a difference between what I get with Parabolic and what I get with yt-dlp --extract-audio --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 2. The former yields a bitrate of 128 kb/s while the latter yields a variable bitrate with an average of 201 kb/s. That still isn't technically the best quality but it's good enough for me.

[fsobolev]

I think we could set --audio-quality to 0 (best).
But out of curiosity... Why not downloading audio without conversion to avoid quality loss?

EDIT: I just realized not all services provide audio-only tracks, so the requested feature makes total sense.

[J-Kappes]

But out of curiosity... Why not downloading audio without conversion to avoid quality loss?

To save disk space at no perceivable loss of quality. I haven't found any credible source suggesting that people can hear the difference between uncompressed and >192 kb/s mp3, that's why I stick to ~192 kb/s mp3s for the bulk of my library, especially on my phone which I use with budget ear phones. Even my desk speakers probably aren't nearly as good as the equipment used in this study concluding that one can still hear the difference at 192 kb/s.

[nlogozzo]

Please test this release and let us know how it goes:

https://github.com/NickvisionApps/Parabolic/releases/tag/2023.8.1-beta1

[J-Kappes]

It works. I got a variable bit rate with an average of 272 kb/s.

[nlogozzo]

It works. I got a variable bit rate with an average of 272 kb/s.

Great! Stable release should be out Monday :)