Which audio format is best?

[jofre]

Hi lads, I have some CDs that i wanted to put into the computer, and I was wondering which audio format is best, mp3, oog, aac ..... :-k

Any suggestions?

By the way, it would be lossless format, I like full quality;)

Thanks a million, Jofre

[DaMasta]

If you want lossless format, you don't want mp3, ogg or aac. Those are lossy. You want lossless, you want flac or shorten. There are a couple of others too.

[Lovechild]

Lossless: FLAC
Lossy: Ogg Vorbis (AoTuV patched)

[newuser111]

Lame MP3

[jofre]

I thought that was different levels of encoding. what I said lossless, I meant that my ear is not going to notice it at all. I have seen in the past options like CD-quality. I thought that was lossing really few, but cutting down the size a lot.

I would have a look to FLAC and Shorten anyway.

Thanks, Jofre.

[newuser111]

it depends on how much size you want the music to take up, flac and lossless formats will take up more

imho if you want absolute cd quality, lame mp3 @ 320bitrate is cd quality, if you are going to be making copies from the mp3s to cd again, then lossless format is the way to go, because there is a quality degradation with lossy formats when converting back, but if they are going to stay in mp3 format then just use mp3/ogg

[Virogenesis]

Flac files can be anythng like be 26+ mb but that does offer cd quality.
Ogg allows you the freedom no dealing with patient crap and is better quality than mp3.
mp3 offers you the most compatiable format for hardware players right now.
wma is just utter crap its sucky quality.

personaly i would go with ogg/flac

[xequence]

If you want absolute quality you want FLAC. But it takes up alot of space. For example, Pink Floyd's The Wall takes up 426MB in FLAC.

Id probably stay away from ogg vorbis. It is basically locking you in just as much as WMA or AAC is. What MP3 players support OGG? Not many. Yea, you might get one and it supports ogg vorbis. But then what if it breaks and you want to get another mp3 player, you find out how great it is, but no ogg vorbis support? Youre screwed, to say the least :)

So just use MP3. Use --alt-preset standard or --alt-preset extreme for VBR. Or for CBR use NOTHING lower then 192.

I have seen in the past options like CD-quality.

Those are normally stupid encoders that say 128Kbps is cd quality.

[Malphas]

Lossless: FLAC
Lossy: Ogg Vorbis (AoTuV patched)
+2

[gord]

vorbis = good,
flac = special circumstances,
mp3 = bad.

just get one of the many fine ogg supporting portable media players and help support a good cause :) (the more people buy them, the more companys realise that people want ogg!)

[DigitalDuality]

FLAC and OGG all the way.

[Bandit]

These two are open source and most recomended.
-FLAC for best quality, but files are almost to large to be really pratical.
-Ogg Vorbis, better quality then MP3, very good compression, but not currently used on 95% of MP3/Audio players.

This one is proprietory.
-MP3, Lower quality unless encoded at high bitrates, commerical standard for portable audio.

I personaly recommend Ogg Vorbis. I have a 3000 Ogg music collection and they sound much better then MP3s and you never have to worry with patent laws. Of course I still listen to CDs in my car and house and dont want to fork out the cash for a MP3 player. So this format fits me well. But its up to you for what format fits you.

Cheers,
Joey

[Minyaliel]

Personally, I prefer mp3 because I can play it on my mp3/ DVD/ CD- player, and I don't really hear much of a difference (which does say _something_ then, considering that I'm a musician with very good ears ;) )

[raublekick]

If you want absolute quality you want FLAC. But it takes up alot of space. For example, Pink Floyd's The Wall takes up 426MB in FLAC.

Id probably stay away from ogg vorbis. It is basically locking you in just as much as WMA or AAC is. What MP3 players support OGG? Not many. Yea, you might get one and it supports ogg vorbis. But then what if it breaks and you want to get another mp3 player, you find out how great it is, but no ogg vorbis support? Youre screwed, to say the least :)

So just use MP3. Use --alt-preset standard or --alt-preset extreme for VBR. Or for CBR use NOTHING lower then 192.



Those are normally stupid encoders that say 128Kbps is cd quality.


Please don't make claims that aren't true. (http://wiki.xiph.org/index.php/PortablePlayers) Lot's of players support OGG.

I refused to believe that OGG was any better than MP3. I have tons of CDs lame-ripped at 192kbps. But on my laptop I realized that space is a concern, so I decided to try out OGG. The comparison samples on the vorbis site aren't the best way of deciding, so I chose to first rip something that I was very familiar with, and had a very distinct tone. I grabbed the MP3 off of my desktop and played the OGG and MP3 on my laptop for comparison. Even on the crappy little speakers it sounded different, but since I was so familiar with the song, I didn't know if it was a good difference. Then I popped on my Koss headphones. Wow, did the OGG ever impress me! The bass was so much more distinct, and the song overall just had a much more natural tone.

I am now a firm believe in OGG.

[Bandit]

Personally, I prefer mp3 because I can play it on my mp3/ DVD/ CD- player, and I don't really hear much of a difference (which does say _something_ then, considering that I'm a musician with very good ears ;) )
192bit or higher is almost prefect in MP3. I have seen some encoders that encode 160w/ oversampling and sound very good. But I honestly have never seen one at 128bit that didnt at least screw up one song per CD. (glitching noise in the song)
Cheers,
Joey

BTW, I like Ogg's more,, they sound better to me as well..

[dosed150]

by the way ogg is fairly well supported in terms of hardware music players samsung and iaudio players all play ogg

[Bragador]

Ogg Vorbis all the way.

The latest version is 1.1.2 so make sure you encode using that.

By the way, I heard rumors of a 2.0.0 version coming out. Anybody heard of that ?

[xequence]

Please don't make claims that aren't true. Lot's of players support OGG.

Lots, but not all. I doubt even half.

Ive had 4 MP3 players and as far as I know none have supported ogg vorbis.

So, unless you plan to only buy from a few companies, use MP3. If you only want to buy from a few companies, by all means, go for OGG.

And if you only listen to music on your computer you should go with MPC or Ogg Vorbis.

[nalmeth]

So, unless you plan to only buy from a few companies, use MP3. If you only want to buy from a few companies, by all means, go for OGG.

The more people keep buying mp3, the less you'll be seeing of ogg. So it's up to you. There is choice and you're not forced to use mp3.

[mostwanted]

The more people keep buying mp3, the less you'll be seeing of ogg. So it's up to you. There is choice and you're not forced to use mp3.

Exactly. I now keep both an Ogg Vorbis collection as well as my old AAC/Mp3 collection (for use on my fourth-gen iPod). Hopefully, in a not too distant future the iPodLinux distribution (http://ipodlinux.org/Main_Page) will allow me to play Ogg and FLAC seamlessly on my iPod, so that I can stop updating my old collection; I'm really crazy about this project and would like to see it take off.

But the next player I buy won't be an iPod that's for sure...

[Bragador]

People are lazy though. My friend's Windows crashed and he reinstalled it (instead of trying Ubuntu) and I offered him to use Ogg to encode his 87 cds. He said:
him: Itunes does that ?
Me: Uhm, not sure but it can play them.
Him: uh oh, no it doesn't encode oggs but it as m4a
Me: right, but you can enco...
Him: bah anyway...

[Malphas]

If you're friend has an iPod (I'm assuming he does if he's using iTunes) then it wouldn't really make sense to use Vorbis anyway.

[Bragador]

You magically found out !

Anyway...

For those who want Ipod to support Ogg Vorbis, go sign that petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/appl1435/petition.html

[Master Shake]

You magically found out !

Anyway...

For those who want Ipod to support Ogg Vorbis, go sign that petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/appl1435/petition.html

Has anything ever been changed because of those online petitions?

I'm not being sacastic.. I'm curious.

[xequence]

The more people keep buying mp3, the less you'll be seeing of ogg. So it's up to you. There is choice and you're not forced to use mp3.

There is no choice. I cant switch. All my music is MP3 and the new music I get comes in MP3 also.

[Brunellus]

You magically found out !

Anyway...

For those who want Ipod to support Ogg Vorbis, go sign that petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/appl1435/petition.html
forget it. If you want to make apple support ogg vorbis, DON'T BUY PRODUCTS THAT DON'T SUPPORT OGG VORBIS.

Petitions are futile. Corporations are not accountable to YOU unless you are a shareholder. If you want change, then you have to show the bean counters that they are losing money by not offering ogg vorbis and flac.

Never, EVER expect a corporation to do anything because "it's the right thing." The only "right thing" for a corporation is the thing that maximizes profit--they have a fiduciary obligation to their shareholders to do this.

Put your money where your OS is!

[xequence]

Ok. We have established a couple reasons why I dont have a choice, why I should just use MP3:

- My music collection is already MP3
- The new additions to my music collection are MP3
- My MP3 Player doesent support Ogg Vorbis


So, unless I dont want to use my mp3 player, and I want to find some strange way to get new music in ogg (sort of possible, get it in flac and convert it to ogg, but its too hard), and I dont like good quality music so I transcode, then I should stick with MP3.

Would I prefer if all mp3 players worked with ogg? Sure, cant hurt. But it isnt on the top of my "I care about" list.

[gord]

ugh, don't ever sign petitions, they don't work and just give people false hope. if you could sign a petition to ban all petitions, i wouldn't sign it because petitions are useless.

if you really want to make a diffirence, vote with your feet, ie: don't use the bad stuff, only the good, even if that meens making sacrifices.

[Bragador]

We could also stop troubleshooting our friends and family on how mp3s work. I already done that for windows on my family computer. I told them I don't support msn messenger, windows media, Itunes, etc but I always have something else to offer that works and is open software. Of course they just stare blankly at me as if I'm just weird. So they keep using msn messenger, Itunes and the like with all the problems and publicity.

[MetalMusicAddict]

There is no choice. I cant switch. All my music is MP3 and the new music I get comes in MP3 also.
This is only peoples argument when they dont own the CD. I have no sympathy for these people.

I have a iRiver H340. It will do Vorbis and MP3. The only reason I dont switch is that Vorbis is more CPU intensive therfore draining the battery faster. By almost twice with some of the tests Ive seen for my player.

So for portiables Ide reccommend Mp3 @128 if you ONLY gonna use them on your portiable. Most people dont know the difference. If your gonna use it on your PC also the standard 192 is fine.

[Malphas]

xequence, the real situation is that you just don't care, not that you don't have a choice.

[xequence]

This is only peoples argument when they dont own the CD. I have no sympathy for these people.

Fine.

xequence, the real situation is that you just don't care, not that you don't have a choice.

Give me a (good) solution to the three things stopping me from using vorbis and I will.

[raublekick]

- My music collection is already MP3
So is mine. I'm re-ripping most of my CDs in OGG. I do a few every day and it works out nicely.

- The new additions to my music collection are MP3
I take this to mean that you either use iTunes or pirate music. And based on some of your other posts, I think it is safe to assume that you don't use iTunes. I don't consider illegal methods as valid arguments. I download a ton of free mp3s online, and it doesn't bother me even though they aren't my choice format. If a device can play OGG, it can probably play MP3, so this isn't even an issue.

- My MP3 Player doesent support Ogg Vorbis
Neither does mine. My options are to buy a new player or deal with it. I'd like a new player, but right now I can't afford it.

The original post seems to be coming from a fresh start perspective, not someone who is already locked into MP3. Also, you stated that probably less than half of the players support OGG. So? The wiki lists so many choices that it doesn't matter if only 10% of the players support it.

[gord]

most of my collection is my cd's but quite a few are free online music also, stuff like OCRemix. with free stuff i just use a little script python i created which automagically converts all the mp3s to .ogg and puts them in <artist>/<album(if there is one mentioned)>/track.ogg.

hassle free! :cool:

[MetalMusicAddict]

Give me a (good) solution to the three things stopping me from using vorbis and I will.
Buy CDs and a player that supports Vorbis. Is there a "good" reason why this isnt a "good" (and I stress good) solution?

[xequence]

Buy CDs and a player that supports Vorbis. Is there a "good" reason why this isnt a "good" (and I stress good) solution?

Im not gonna comment on the buying CDs part, as I am not allowed to mention my views on piracy.

But about the other one, you are saying I should just say "oh well, its only 220$ on that MP3 player gone and more to get another one that supports ogg, its all in the name of promoting ogg vorbis".

Seriously?

So? The wiki lists so many choices that it doesn't matter if only 10% of the players support it.

Eliminating half of your choices to get an MP3 player isnt the best thing to do.

Dont get me wrong, id like if Ogg Vorbis was the standard instead of MP3. But really, that just isnt that possible right now.

[Malphas]

Well this is exactly what I said, it's not that you don't have a choice, it's because you don't want to pay for your music, you don't want to purchase a new DAP (which would pose the question as to why you recently bought a player that didn't support Vorbis in the first place, if it meant anything to you), and you don't want to limit your choice of DAP to the only ones which support Ogg Vorbis. The fact is you have a choice, albeit one which requires a few sacrifices in your situation, but you don't care enough to make them. There's no shame in that I suppose, but don't go whining and pretending that you have no choice in the matter not to support open formats. "I'll support open formats once they become the standard and require no effort for me to start using" doesn't mean ****.

[xequence]

which would pose the question as to why you recently bought a player that didn't support Vorbis in the first place, if it meant anything to yo

I didnt recently buy a player.

The stupid things never work right. I bought one a year and a half ago and it broke, took it back, got another one, broke, took it back, got another one, broke, fixed it...

"I'll support open formats once they become the standard and require no effort for me to start using"

You got it.

The fact is you have a choice, albeit one which requires a few sacrifices in your situation,

A few sacrifices? No, one that will cost me over 1000$ -.- (CDs + New Ogg MP3 Player)

Oh, and I am playing around with codecs now, and I am liking the coolness of Musepack... Its open source. Does ubuntu support it by default? I like it. Though its a shame I cant use it for normal use.

Wow. I have an ogg vorbis encoder and it is really cool. I can customize it so much... I can choose my bitrate with a slider down to the tenth, such as 345.5 or 410.8, and it goes all the way up to 499 Kbps, unlike MP3 that is only up to 320. Its like lossy, going on lossless.

I wish this was the standard... Ive really come to like vorbis in the last 10 seconds.

[dtfinch]

I usually rip to 256k oggs. On the low end, 96k oggs sound about as good as 128k mp3s.

[Arktis]

ogg > aac > mp3

[MetalMusicAddict]

ogg > aac > mp3
Basically, for lossy formats I would agree. but there are other things to consider.

When it comes down to it its really a personal choice. On alot of audio sites this kind of topic is banned because its so based on opinion.


Really xequence it comes down to effort. You dont want to make it.

Im not sure how old you are but If I remember right your old enough to have a part-time job. Working (effort) will get you that "$1000" you need for the CDs and DAP.

Or... you could sell your current one on Ebay to recoupe some of the money (again, effort) to put against a new one.

I dont really mean to sound like a d!ck but your position is a little immature but it is understandable considering your age.

We should just drop it. Just think about it a little. ;)

[mstlyevil]

I think I will rip all my CD's into Ogg istead of MP3. I am planning on buying a MP3 player soon so I will make sure it supports Ogg.

[xequence]

your position is a little immature

And damn proud :)

Im not sure how old you are but If I remember right your old enough to have a part-time job. Working (effort) will get you that "$1000" you need for the CDs and DAP.

Yes. But all that in the name of ogg vorbis? Sure, id consider it if me doing that would make vorbis the standard, but, well, I doubt that will matter to the people who decide what codecs their companies mp3 player has.

Or... you could sell your current one on Ebay to recoupe some of the money (again, effort) to put against a new one.

Ive considered doing that, but after signing up for ebay and realising they need a credit card for you to accually do anything, I decided to give up on an ebay account.

[MetalMusicAddict]

And damn proud :)
Youll grow out of that. :)

Yes. But all that in the name of ogg vorbis? Sure, id consider it if me doing that would make vorbis the standard, but, well, I doubt that will matter to the people who decide what codecs their companies mp3 player has.
Thats where your missing what people have been saying. If you really care and want it to become the standard (which it never will) then you must "vote with your wallet".

I dont think it will ever be the standard but we must support players that give us choices.

Ive considered doing that, but after signing up for ebay and realising they need a credit card for you to accually do anything, I decided to give up on an ebay account.
Mom or Dad?

[Jucato]

Just a question:

Is there absolutely no possibility of developing some software that would enable MP3 players to play Ogg Vorbis? I mean, it's possible for some Mobile Devices, I think. My Windows (yech...) Smartphone was a little program that "should" enable it to play Ogg (should, coz I haven't tried it out yet). I'm not familiar with MP3 player structures, so I don't really know if something like this could be possible, let alone be legal.

And what about these MP4 players? The ones where you can watch videos, too. They play MP3s and videos. So I'm thinking they might be able to play Ogg, too.

[MetalMusicAddict]

There is a project called RockBox (http://www.rockbox.org/) that is open source and runs on multiple DAPs. Replacement firmware. Give it a look. Works with a good amount of players. Even iPods I think.

[Lovechild]

There is a project called RockBox (http://www.rockbox.org/) that is open source and runs on multiple DAPs. Replacement firmware. Give it a look. Works with a good amount of players. Even iPods I think.

It runs great on my Archos Recorder 10, has for ages.. one of my favorite free software projects.

[MetalMusicAddict]

Im gonna try it on my iRiver H340 this weekend. I like that it now shows on-screen album art now. :)

[xequence]

Mom or Dad?

I sign up for things I need to be over 18 in my moms name (with her permission of course =P) and she just didnt feel safe giving her credit card number to some company like ebay. To be honest I dont know how safe I would feel.

Thats where your missing what people have been saying. If you really care and want it to become the standard (which it never will) then you must "vote with your wallet".

Ok... I guess I want it to be, but not as much as you people, because I just wont do that.

Youll grow out of that.

I am accually mature sometimes, I am just to lazy to be all the time.

[newuser111]

the mp3 vs ogg debate is pointless since lame mp3 is both open source and free and its not based on the original Fraunhofer encoder

[Jucato]

the mp3 vs ogg debate is pointless since lame mp3 is both open source and free and its not based on the original Fraunhofer encoder

Yes, except the fact that it further promotes the use of propriety formats, which, as you must have read, is considered by some to be "bad". I personally see nothing wrong with mp3 through LAME. I believe that the switch to ogg, just as the switch to Linux (from Windows), must be gradual and not abrupt. I just notice that most people have trouble accepting sudden, abrupt, and radical changes. But of course, there will always be exceptions...

[Brunellus]

the mp3 vs ogg debate is pointless since lame mp3 is both open source and free and its not based on the original Fraunhofer encoder
it is not pointless.

ogg vorbis delivers better quality at smaller filesizes. (at a cost of presently being more computationally-intensive).

If you leech most of your music off p2p networks, the debate is not particularly relevant, since the vast majority of p2p-shared files are mp3. But if you're like me, and have a significant CD collection which you're only now ripping, the format debate is of some interest.

I've gone for ogg vorbis because of its totally free pedigree (not even based on the mpeg algorithm!) and its technical attributes. I can't afford FLAC (in terms of storage space), so it's the best compromise of freedom, quality, and efficiency.

[Tharkun]

Lossy: Ogg Vorbis
Lossless: FLAC

[dtfinch]

MP3 is patent protected. A license is $0.75 per player and $2.50 per encoder.

http://www.mp3licensing.com/royalty/

[Bragador]

I'll help the Pro MP3 side because they seems to lack skills at debating.

Mp3 : Energy efficient for portable player at the cost of sound quality
BUT
Ogg Vorbis : Sucks the energy from your battery much more quickly, but the sound quality is better.

There you have it folks. And yep, I support Ogg Vorbis.

As for internet P2P being all mp3, just rip your collection as Vorbis files and share ! If you download, you must give back. The more that give back with the Vorbis format, the more people will consider it. It's already happening a little, more for Ogg videos though (which makes VLC media more popular in the sharing community)

[commodore]

FLAC- I'd like to shout it but it's allready all-caps.

[Bandit]

Ogg - If you want better quality (when ripped from cd), but less compatability with many (not all) mp3/audio players. Yes does drain battery more. Slightly more CPU intensive.

MP3 - If you dont mind looseing sound quality (when compared to matching file sizes of Ogg's), Very compatable with most all audio players, does not drain battery as fast. Low load on CPU.

THATS IT. Everything thing else is irrelevent to most all users unless your a open source attivist.

Unless you have sunk your money into a iPod or a car stereo that supports MP3s I would go with Ogg. Otherwise dont waste your money, you bought the MP3 players use them. I would. But since I didnt and I have a good system, so I use Ogg.

There is nothing else to debate about. Those are the facts....

[Jucato]

I think it really just boils down to what you need or what you can use. For example, if you have an MP3 player and do not have (yet) something that plays OGG, then why bash your head on the wall? Of course, if you are really into the FLOSS spirit, you would be opting to have open source compatible hardware. If you need/can use a better quality audio format and don't mind the temporary incompatibility, then you would probably choose OGG. (I say temporary because I think more and more players will be supporting OGG very soon :D)

I think one of the beautiful things about open source is that it gives you the freedom to choose. No one is going to stuff a format down your throat. In the end it's your choice. However, if you are, as Bandit says, an open source activist, you have already made that choice. :D

[xequence]

As for internet P2P being all mp3, just rip your collection as Vorbis files and share ! If you download, you must give back. The more that give back with the Vorbis format, the more people will consider it.

Thats a good idea, but I dont know how many people accually want ogg... Ill have to ask around.


It's already happening a little, more for Ogg videos though (which makes VLC media more popular in the sharing community)

Ive never seen any ogg theora anywhere. Everything is Xvid, or MPEG (VCD, KVCD, DVD, etc)

[Bragador]

The more popular files are generally in popular formats. Because my local cd store couldn't order it, I downloaded the first Switchblade Symphony album 5 months ago and it was in .ogg . This is actually when I started to learn about it and on what it was.

I also downloaded Kung fu hustle a couple of months ago and it was a theora file even though the computer thougt it was a avi file. This is when I discovered VLC media player.

[mrtaber]

As I and several of my Apple-using friends plan our exit strategies, this question weighs heavily. Using the LAME MP3 encoder gets you quality files in the most popular file format (more choice in players); however, to my ears, I prefer Ogg. I'd really like to encode in FLAC for my home player (I want a Sonos setup...), and use Ogg for my portable. But I'm torn. For me, it comes down to selection in players versus sound (and now, ease of use in Linux, too).

Of course, if I buy an iAudio X5 or A2, I wouldn't have to worry. Hmmm.

Well, time to start planning to put my 17" PB and my new iPod-with-video on eBay.

Mark :)

[Malphas]

the mp3 vs ogg debate is pointless since lame mp3 is both open source and free and its not based on the original Fraunhofer encoder
It's still subject to licensing fees which is why the LAME developers distribute their codec as source code only under the guise of being purely for research purposes, in order to protect themselves. The developers of XviD do the same despite also being an open source project. It's not as clear cut as you would like to think.

[xequence]

It's still subject to licensing fees which is why the LAME developers distribute their codec as source code only under the guise of being purely for research purposes, in order to protect themselves. The developers of XviD do the same despite also being an open source project. It's not as clear cut as you would like to think.

Oh, thats why I couldet find a LAME binary easily awhile ago...

[Jucato]

How much is the battery drain/reduced CPU performance of OGGs? Is it really that big? I was thinking of compressing my MP3s into OGG for my Smartphone (SPV e100/HTC Tanager). Problem is, it's an old model (way back 2002) and the battery drains easily, even when playing MP3s. So I'm thinking if the drain isn't that really noticeable, I might go ahead. Otherwise, I'm sticking to MP3. Quality isn't an issue for me anyway. I compress the MP3s to 16-32bit anyway.

[Bragador]

Quality isn't an issue for me anyway. I compress the MP3s to 16-32bit anyway.

Might as well use midi files then ! lol

You should convert one to the vorbis format and test it yourself. Sadly, I bet it would make a huge difference (if you listen to it nonstop).

[xequence]

Quality isn't an issue for me anyway. I compress the MP3s to 16-32bit anyway.

16-32Kbps?!?!?!

Thats unlistenable! Thats less then speach codecs even, I think =O

[Jucato]

Unlistenable? Strange. I can listen to it on my smartphone. I'm talking about the bit rate, not the Hz stuff (I maintain the Hz). This is what I do, open up the MP3 in Audacity, set the MP3 export quality (in preferences) to 16 or 32 bit, and export it. It reduces a 6MB MP3 to around 600KB, more or less. Since I don't have a large MP3 collection anyway, it's not that of a hassle to convert these. but 64bit is also ideal, but size ends up around 1MB (I don't have a big SD/MMC card right now).

Unfortunately, much as I want to actually export it to OGG, the compression is not that good. An OGG export quality of 1 (based on Audacity) is sometimes bigger than a 64bit MP3. I'm more space concious than quality concious. Maybe when I get a bigger storage I wouldn't mind so much. :D

[Malphas]

That really is an incredibly low bitrate.

[Jucato]

That really is an incredibly low bitrate.
I know. It's actually bordering on "bearable". But like I said, I'm not expecting to be able to buy a new Storage Card until the end of the month. So I make do with what I can.

[ToFue]

Hi lads, I have some CDs that i wanted to put into the computer, and I was wondering which audio format is best, mp3, oog, aac ..... :-k

Any suggestions?

By the way, it would be lossless format, I like full quality;)

Thanks a million, Jofre
It's amazing that people are offering MP3 and Ogg... he did say "lossless".

Really, you'ld do good with either .wav, .aif, or FLAC (as others mentioned numerous times). It depends on what you intend to do with them- for instance, if you're running a studio, you'd likely want to use .wav, as it's supported by nearly Everything. you can't say that for FLAC or AIFF.. which limits you if you're taking projects t other locations.

For quality, you really should pay attention to Bit Depth and Sample Rate, as that really determines your actual quality/fidelity.

The Bit Rate is basically the dynamic range, while the Sample Rate determines the frequencies that are captured/ played back. For instance, a CD format is 16bit @ 44.1Khz for a single track. Left channel being 16bit @ 22.05khz, and Right ch @ 16bit/22k. so the frequency response of the material turns out to be 0-22khz. ADAT format is 20bit/48.4khz. DVD is mostly 24bit/96k. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-Audio) Most (yes I count professional interfaces, not just 'gamer' or built-in cards) sound cards support up to 32bit(float)/192k playback w/ 96k capture ability. Obviously the higher the rates the better- You just need to know what your sound card will support.

Also, higher (rate) formats are dependent on the format that the original material is recorded/captured with. If you take a cd track, and want to (yeah right) 'increase the quality' by upsampling to a higher format, then you're spinning your wheels. You'd only end up with (for instance) a big file of 96k with floating point, blank information that carries the sound quality of a 16bit/44k file. It remains unaffected, with the exception of introducing jitter (if it's a raw conversion. Most progs have algorithm to suppress that artifact, but still it alters a little).
However, if you have a 32bit/96k file that you want to downsample (bounced) to an audio CD, then you'll lose the overtone frequencies that were offered by the higher sample rate as well as you'd get dynamic compression, and that conversion would then be 'lossy'. All music professionally recorded nowadays are bounced in this way to make it to Audio CD.

Well, hope this helps to explain things for you a little bit..

[Ozor Mox]

vorbis = good,
flac = special circumstances,
mp3 = bad.

just get one of the many fine ogg supporting portable media players and help support a good cause :) (the more people buy them, the more companys realise that people want ogg!)

Or if, like me, you already have an MP3 player that doesn't support OGG (my mobile phone), then you can still rip CDs to OGG since the tool "Sound Converter" in the repositories makes it trivial to convert music to MP3 to put on your player. That's what I do.

[Spike-X]

It's amazing that people are offering MP3 and Ogg... he did say "lossless".

It's amazing that you've chosen to chime in like this on a thread that's nearly three years old.

[alphatrip]

ogg, superior quality than most and better than flac for disk space, if you have the space then flac

[alphatrip]

It's amazing that you've chosen to chime in like this on a thread that's nearly three years old.

you should realise the thread may be 3 years old but the subject is current

[Rocket2DMn]

http://www.imageviper.com/displayimage/116046/0/necromancing.jpg