[brozozo]

I'm going crazy ripping all my CDs to my computer, and I noticed that I have many formats available. Previously, I've used mp3, but I've discovered I can rip songs as several different forms of mp4 (LC-AAC Encoder v1.24, aac-Plus (HE-AAC) High Bitrate Encoder v1.24, and aac-Plus (HE-AAC) Encoder v1.24). I am far from an audiophile. Can someone explain to me the pros and cons of these formats compared to mp3?

[brozozo]

 

Little help here? Anybody?

[MP-Ryan]

I'm not really into it myself, but most of these formats are quality-oriented.  Many new sound systems reveal the flaws of MP3 compression, so these new formats are an attempt to resolve that (without the size of a WAV file).

As for what's better than what, I've no idea.  My sound system won't show a dramatic difference.  When I get around to spending a few grand on an entertainment center, then maybe I'll think about it.

[Nuke]

i use winamp and lame out. i like mp3s cause ive amassed a huge collection of them and want to keep it in a uniform format. to convert from one lossy format to another is usually bad and will rape your audio, giving it that kvlt sound. thats one reason why i dont mass convert it to ogg. another is the lack of ogg support in portable mp3 players. sence you have the originals you could convert to a lossless format, but sence youre not an audiophile using a lossy format wont hurt. i dont really know a damn thing about those formats.

[brozozo]

i use winamp and lame out. i like mp3s cause ive amassed a huge collection of them and want to keep it in a uniform format. to convert from one lossy format to another is usually bad and will rape your audio, giving it that kvlt sound. thats one reason why i dont mass convert it to ogg. another is the lack of ogg support in portable mp3 players. sence you have the originals you could convert to a lossless format, but sence youre not an audiophile using a lossy format wont hurt. i dont really know a damn thing about those formats.

I finally started using Winamp (I'm a stubborn bastard), and those were the mp4 formats available.

[WMCoolmon]

Little help here? Anybody?

Take a song that has lots of different sounds going on, at various frequencies if possible, and rip it to each of the formats you want to use with the settings that you plan to use. Listen carefully to each of the copies and figure out which one sounds the best. Base your decision on that.

If you can't tell any difference from the source and the formats, lower the bitrate/quality settings of the files and do the listen test again.

It can take a bit of time, but it's more of a one-time thing. Remember that the person you're ripping the songs for is you, so the final judge is you. The effectiveness of codecs can also vary with the actual content being compressed. If you do it with your own music, you're more likely to find the best one that works.

Finally, you can always compress the files using FLAC. (Or some other lossless codec) This will halve the size of the music files, but they should retain the full quality that they had on the CD.

For ripping under Windows, I use dbPowerAmp's dMC audio CD input app. It supports (or will support through the download of a codec pack from the website) practically any codec that you'd ever want to use.

[diceman111]

Ok well I aint no audio master but I just use Windows Media player, wma and variable bit rate sounds excellent and atleast I think its the easiest way

[brozozo]

Little help here? Anybody?

Finally, you can always compress the files using FLAC. (Or some other lossless codec) This will halve the size of the music files, but they should retain the full quality that they had on the CD.

Ah, this is exactly the kind of solution I'm looking for! Thanks!