Ripping a CD - Output Format Question

[cartman]

I'm ripping my CD collection to 96kbps mp3PRO format. There is a "quality" option with three choices: "High Speed", "Medium Quality", and "Highest Quality (Low Speed)".

The default is "High Speed". I ripped a bunch of CD's before noticing the quality option, at which point I changed to "Highest Quality (Low Speed)".

I haven't burned any discs yet to see how much of a difference I will hear. Does anyone have experience in this area? I'm looking for a general answer ("big difference", "slight difference", "never noticed any difference") to help me decide whether I should re-rip.

Thanks.

[CvP]

I think it's "very slight difference"

[icare]

if you care at all about quality or fidelty you won't RAPE audio into MP3 or other lossy formats!!


google for: FLAC

[cartman]

To my ears, there is a noticeable difference between mp3 and mp3PRO. mp3PRO may not be as good as FLAC, but it's a lot closer than mp3.

I just downloaded some FLAC's and converted them to mp3PRO. These were average quality audience recordings, which may explain why I couldn't tell the difference between the FLAC and mp3PRO versions.

[woeger]

FLAC is definately the best lossless codec out there currently in widespread usage. I highly recommend it for all your audio masters. Now if you are converting from MP3 to FLAC, of course that is a problem as you are transcoding from a lossless audio codec (MP3) and have already lost audio data.

But if you go from master audio CDs using a good quality CD Ripper, then saving your master (archive quality) using FLAC format is most recommended. Then you can make MP3 or M4A files to carry around with you to save space.

[Jetsetter]

Jet supports external codecs. I rip to Fraunhofer mp3 professional which supports up to 320kbps. I will use a bit rate of AT LEAST 192 (128 & below is raping) or higher depending on how much I like the music. As far as "raping" music that is best left to juniormember icare & his elite audio ripping task force. (we're talking music here, not asking you to dilute the blood flowing through your body)

If you have a cd to begin with why in hell would you need to rip to flac & then again to mp3 if all you needed was mp3?. The best way to safeguard your music is to rip it to your hd (& copy that to two friends hd's) & don't play cd.

[woeger]

FLAC is for archiving your master audios and then you can burn them to a DVD+R or store on a large hard disk. Takes up 1/3 to 1/2 normally the space of a WAVE file. That is why FLAC is so popular (for archiving or playback for audiophile quality). Hope this helps. You can then any time use the FLAC files to make MP3s, M4As, etc.

[Niagara]

Another popular lossless format is APE (moneky's audio), and for some reason is recommended over FLAC by some.

[woeger]

Well lossless is lossless, so it doesn't matter if you use FLAC, WMA Lossless, APE, Apple Lossless, WavPack, Shorten or some other variant. The things to look for when comparing lossless formats to find which one is best for your application are:

1. Do the programs you use to play/record and edit audio all support that lossless audio format you have chosen?

2. Do the programs your users (or those you distribute your audios to) use a particular lossless audio format? This may not matter for those you don't make audios available for sale/use to others.

3. How big is the overall acceptance of the lossless codec you have chose (i.e. will it be around for many years to come)?

4. Do there exist many audio converter programs that will convert from/to your lossless format of choice, in case you ever want to convert your music to another lossy or lossless codec/format?

5. The general overall compression and speed tradeoff your lossless codec has.

6. Are there source code and binaries for a command line decoder and encoder made available for the lossless format you choose, so that others can easily make audio editors, players and converterrs for your lossless format?

7. How good is the tagging ability for the lossless format you have chosen? Do all the major tag editing programs support editing/inserting tags for audio files of your chosen lossless format?

8. Do most audio converter programs "transfer over" (i.e. easily convert) tags automatically (and correctly) when they convert from your chosen audio format to another audio format? This ability can save hours of re-tagging...

There you have it. Now choose a lossless audio codec for archiving. FLAC is probably currently the most popular on the Internet. WMA Lossless and Apple Lossless (ALAC) are probably the other "major" lossless codecs of choice. But that does not mean you can't use APE or WavPack, just use the above checklist to make sure you are comfortable with whatever lossless format you choose.