Changing wav to mp3 without losing quality?

[MilDlrDime]

I noticed when I exported my last wav file from Audacity to create an MP3, there was a significant difference in quality.
I mainly noticed from the loudness difference and the bass. Is there another way to convert them but without a loss of quality?
I want to convert them so I can make ID3 tags for my tracks.

 

[KonKossKang]

impossible.simply impossible.

320kbps mp3.
320kbps aac
320kbps whatever else is lossy format which is still good.

 

[MilDlrDime]

impossible.simply impossible.

320kbps mp3.
320kbps aac
320kbps whatever else is lossy format which is still good.

Anyway to add ID3 tags to a wav or something?

 

[KonKossKang]

IDTE- ID3 Tag Editor | Free software downloads at SourceForge.net

possible solution, have not tried it yet.

 

[bandcoach]

Anyway to add ID3 tags to a wav or something?

to the best of my experience wavs do not hold id3 tags - in fact the consensus is that trying to add id3 tags will break the wav container

you can use the wave broadcast format to add song information in riff chunks.

 

[baxterdavid]

I always recommend Audacity because it works every time, it's common, open source, and you can do convenient edits like fading and cutting as well when preparing the final mp3.

Use a quality setting of 320kbps (constant) or 220-260kbps (variable) for the best quality. There is always some loss of quality but high quality mp3 files work fine for full songs.

 

[Nytshade]

Yep, that's impossible or else there wouldn't be wav format if mp3 was better quality. You can try adding ID3 tags with your DAW when you export. With cubase I can do that or try it with iTunes but I'm not sure about iTunes.

 

[Cayden Carrell]

Loudness difference and bass

The difference should not be that huge. Always keep in mind that you conversion to MP3 might be wrong in some way.
But yeah; it is hard to have a reference if your own settings are fooling you.

There ain´t no loudness difference when I convert/bounce mine. And there should not be in yours either. Nothing that should bother you hard at least.
If you hear a significant difference in perceived loudness, something is wrong somewhere.

my 2c

 

[bandcoach]

most times you get a loudness shift because the converter is normalising the file before conversion - audacity's default conversion for mp3's has a normalise function in the processing chain - you need to go into the chain and delete it