Loopy Pro: Create music, your way.

What is Loopy Pro?Loopy Pro is a powerful, flexible, and intuitive live looper, sampler, clip launcher and DAW for iPhone and iPad. At its core, it allows you to record and layer sounds in real-time to create complex musical arrangements. But it doesn’t stop there—Loopy Pro offers advanced tools to customize your workflow, build dynamic performance setups, and create a seamless connection between instruments, effects, and external gear.

Use it for live looping, sequencing, arranging, mixing, and much more. Whether you're a live performer, a producer, or just experimenting with sound, Loopy Pro helps you take control of your creative process.

Download on the App Store

Loopy Pro is your all-in-one musical toolkit. Try it for free today.

Conversion to mp3

Any recommendations on what's the best quality app for audio codec and format conversion? I've been using MConverter - medias converter but it's weird about m4a/wav ---> mp3 conversion. Sometimes it sounds glitchey. Anyone have any experience with an iPhone app that converts to quality mp3s?

«1

Comments

  • AudioShare??

  • edited October 2016

    Audioshare is amazing I use it all the time but it only converts to wav aiff caf and m4a NOT mp3

  • Voice Record Pro by Dayana Networks Ltd
    https://appsto.re/us/d1KMG.i ...... Is a beast, great import /export options, and converts to many different formats

  • I think the best choice could be TwistedWave.

  • I agree with Mister White. TW is really very good.

  • Yes, Twisted Wave. Lots of export options. It sounds to me as if they are using a decent codec for the mp3 conversion.

  • Cool. Thanks everyone

  • @Panthemusicalgoat : If I remember correctly, TwistedWave encodes mp3 with LAME, which I think may be one of the best mp3 encoders out there. At any rate TW has always done it reliably for me, and huge bonus, now includes hard-to-find-on-iOS support for adding metadata, like image, artist, title, album, year, etc.

    But I'm only biased because TW is my go-to fav recording/editing app, so add salt pinch here. :)

  • @decibelle thanks so much for the detail. I think im gonna go with TW audio recorder and buy the export iap

  • @Panthemusicalgoat : If you can afford it I highly recommend the editor version which comes complete with no iap's:

    TwistedWave Audio Editor by TwistedWave
    https://appsto.re/gb/GCx7x.i

  • Just curious but why would you want to convert m4a to MP3

  • I tend to convert using Audio Mastering to produce a wav and an MP3 version of my track -or Audacity on my PC if I want to convert later.

  • whatever you use: watch your peaks (or high RMS levels), a 0dB fs 'mastered' track will distort the nasty way when encoded. Keeping it at -0.5 to -1dB usually works

  • Audacity works great on desktop. You need install a (free) plugin to work properly with mp3 files.

  • @Telefunky thanks for reminding me. I forgot about that. @BiancaNeve it's for a job I'm doing. M4a is better than mp3 in terms of quality but quite as universal across platforms

  • @Panthemusicalgoat said:
    I've been using MConverter - medias converter but it's weird about m4a/wav ---> mp3 conversion. Sometimes it sounds glitchey.

    @Panthemusicalgoat : I hope I misunderstood your OP, are you encoding lossy(m4a) to lossless(wav) to lossy(mp3)? Because encoding one file this way:

    lossy→lossless→lossy

    is called transcoding, and results in very poor audio quality. If this was your procedure, it could easily explain your consistently glitchy results.

    I hope I misunderstood you though.

  • @Panthemusicalgoat : Also, lossy direct to lossy is slightly better but still not ideal. Unless absolutely necessary, lossless to lossy is best. And audio quality-wise, lossless to lossless is also perfectly fine.

  • All the files are already in m4a and I don't have originals

  • 192 bitrate on the m4a's tho so not too compressed

  • @decibelle said:
    Because encoding one file this way:

    lossy→lossless→lossy

    is called transcoding, and results in very poor audio >quality.

    Just to check, why would lossy>lossless>lossy be worse than lossy>lossy?

  • edited October 2016

    @ksound said:

    @decibelle said:
    Because encoding one file this way:

    lossy→lossless→lossy

    is called transcoding, and results in very poor audio >quality.

    Just to check, why would lossy>lossless>lossy be worse than lossy>lossy?

    That's exactly the same?
    Lossy to lossless does nothing, it just blows up the filesize for no reason ...
    Lossy to lossy is no good idea ...
    I haven't tried aac to MP3 but it will give you the artifacts of both lossy compression algorithms ...
    If you converted once to lossy just stick with that format, everything else will only make it worse one way or the other.
    (If you're not looking for creative sound design)

  • @lala said:
    Lossy to lossless does nothing, it just blows up the filesize for no reason ...

    I'll tell you a secret how to turn a Rode NT1a (infamous for it's highs) into a kind of tube condensor mic:
    (according to what people usually consider 'tube sound')
    Send the vocal track through mp3 compression and re-import, then save it as uncompressed again.
    Try to fool people with fake names and A/B ing that stuff, could be fun... >:)

  • edited October 2016

    @Telefunky said:

    @lala said:
    Lossy to lossless does nothing, it just blows up the filesize for no reason ...

    I'll tell you a secret how to turn a Rode NT1a (infamous for it's highs) into a kind of tube condensor mic:
    (according to what people usually consider 'tube sound')
    Send the vocal track through mp3 compression and re-import, then save it as uncompressed again.
    Try to fool people with fake names and A/B ing that stuff, could be fun... >:)

    I used to blow up MP3 to wav on oink
    All the audiophiles thanked me for the much better quality
    LOL idiots
    I guess they have never heard of phasecancelation ;)
    If it's exactly the same it returns nothing.

    I was creating samples for someone,
    And they said we don't want your 24/96 uncompressed pcm files use this caf converter, files are to big ...
    After hours of discussion I did as I was told, but I also send the original plus a max quality aac,
    In the end we took the aac files, because that strange caf converter they wanted me to use made everything sound like an old record/telephone conversation, that's why I complained I don't want to do this but I can if you really want me to ... the 320kbps aac I made are great I can not tell the difference to the original just by listening not even when pitched up or down ... didnt analysis but who cares if it sounds good it sounds good ...

  • edited October 2016

    you slightly missed my point - it's not about a mix, but about one specific signal.
    I once noticed this when I uploaded a .wav file (dry vocals) with rather cutting high mids to Soundcloud.
    Surprise: the playback through the encoder was significantly more pleasing than the original.
    I don't claim it's a perfect way for each and every track, but it may do the job.
    (just as good as some magic vintage software recreation...) ;)

  • edited October 2016

    hm, sometimes I notice a difference in the high end on a hh for example,
    Or very complex drones sound somehow different

    But it's just a difference, if you like it or not is a matter of taste and not "quality of Signal" when you use it for creative purposes
    Quality of signal is actually really bad with tubes because of all the distortion it creates, can't remember what is it 2nd or 3rd harmonics and a little less bright on top
    Doesn't mean it doesn't sound pleasing to the ear ...
    "Quality of signal" is what I put in comes out the same way I put it in ... if it doesn't do that it changes the quality of the signal...

  • edited October 2016

    so a "quality mic signal" would be to sing into a linear measurement mic :lol:

  • edited October 2016

    @Panthemusicalgoat said:
    All the files are already in m4a and I don't have originals

    @Panthemusicalgoat said:
    192 bitrate on the m4a's tho so not too compressed

    Ok, I think we found the source of your mp3 encoding issues.

    Try recording some audio, a few seconds long.
    Export it as .16 bit 44.1 kHz wav.
    Note the file size.

    Then export the same audio as 192 bitrate mp3
    Note the file size.
    Compare size difference between .wav vs .mp3.
    Note how much reduction in proportion to those few seconds of audio.

    The difference in size is the same amount of empty info the encoding algorithm has to add and integrate into the original audio, and then must deduct again (losing even more quality from the original audio), to generate a different lossy format.

    That is what happens during every transcode from lossy to lossy.

    Seriously, 192br is fine if encoded from a flawless lossless original, but 192 is plenty compressed enough to glitch badly after a transcode. Just look at the difference iin the file sizes!

    If you remember VHS videocassette tapes, think of copying from one videotape to a metal master, and then to another VHS. Unwatchable, right?

    @ksound said:

    @decibelle said:
    Because encoding one file this way:

    lossy→lossless→lossy

    is called transcoding, and results in very poor audio >quality.

    Just to check, why would lossy>lossless>lossy be worse than lossy>lossy?

    I mis-spoke, they are both equally problematic.
    My mistake, sorry. Thank you for catching it. :)

  • edited October 2016

    16/44.1 wav/aif to 320 aac was about 1/5 if I remember correctly so 192 are about 1/10

    Pi x thumb :D

    Filesizes vary if you use variable bit rate and yada yada...

  • OK barring the mp3 issue. If I have m4a's (192 bitrate) and I need to edit them and rerender them is there any way to go about it without making it unlistenable?

  • edited October 2016

    m4a is just a container format ;)
    file inside can be aac or MP3 or jpeg or mpeg video or whatever ...
    U can just blow it up to wav/aif and edit anywhere, if you don't mind the much larger file in the end, audio quality won't change (if you don't compress it again).
    Unsure what really happens if you load the compressed file into an random audio editor and export as compressed ...

Sign In or Register to comment.