2cf6b6fd   
   XPost: sci.math, sci.electronics.design   
   From: tim@little-possums.net   
      
   On 2011-04-22, RichD  wrote:   
   > Claude Shannon estimated music at 40 bits/sec entropy.  What does   
   > MP3 achieve?   
      
   MP3 bitrate is a tunable parameter, though it doesn't go as low as   
   40 bits/s.  In fact MP3 typically has about 40 frames per second, and a   
   frame header requires a lot more than 1 bit.   
      
   However, the format encodes a *lot* more than a musical score.  Every   
   note from an instrument in a performance is different, and people can   
   hear many of those differences.  A performance compressed to 40 bit/s   
   would be much more regular and "mechanical" than any real performance.   
      
      
   Still, it is true that MP3 is poor at compressing very similar sounds   
   that are temporally separated.  Frames are mostly independent of one   
   another, so that even most short-range temporal structure is   
   completely ignored.   
      
      
   --   
   Tim   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)