When I listen to my newly recorded masterpiece in Garage Band is sound aurally stunning but when I export it to MP3 it sounds like crap. All the brightness is gone.
What am I doing wrong?
I am using highest quality (192k).
You’re not doing anything wrong. MP3 is a lossy compression format. If you want lossless encoding, try exporting to FLAC or Apple Lossless.
I get that MP3 is not as good as a lossless format … but I have plenty of MP3s that don’t sound crappy. If I rip a CD it sounds OK for example.
But not all music is created the same way. When you make an mp3 it cuts off the ranges that most humans aren’t gonna hear and it uses an algorithm that eliminates what IT thinks won’t be missed.
Classical music uses a greater range than pop songs, so when you listen to an mp3 of a classical piece it is apt to sound worse. So perhaps this particular song is using ranges that go above and below the normal cut offs for mp3.
You say
But that isn’t the highest quality. An mp3 with a variable bit rate of 320 is the highest quality. Technically you can go higher but then you might as well go to a lossless format after this.
You are making an mp3 right? Not a wma?
So I can ask you these question
What format is the recording in when it sounds great? Is it a wave file (.wav)? What program are you using to convert it?
It’s garage band. I am recording a guitar with some software tracks (drums, bass). GB’s native format is AIFF.