Low-Bitrate MP3 Encoding
Doug Kaye of IT Conversations wrote a superb essay on the subject of the various stereo modes available when encoding MP3 files. I knew of the "Joint Stereo" setting and how it is different than "dual-channel" stereo, but knew nothing of the tunings one can do to JS encoding. I've been encoding the Cygweb podcasts as 48kbps CBR 22kHz mono MP3's mainly because I didn't want to sound quality to suck too bad. I'm going to go back and try reencoding some of the podcasts with the settings Doug recommends, then compare them to originals.
This was my first trip to the IT Coversations wiki, and I'm finding it has a lot of good technical info in it.
Thanks, Doug!