What audio file format

[Exadrid]

What audio file format do you use.

I started using ogg just now cause i was tired of having some "unfree" mp3 format.

Choice: Flac, MP3, wav, ogg, other

[HappinessNow]

ogg vorbis (http://www.vorbis.com/)

[ctrlmd]

between mp3 and flac flac about 5 albums and the rest 320 mp3 bit rate

[bashveank]

What audio file format do you use.

I started using ogg just now cause i was tired of having some "unfree" mp3 format.

Choice: Flac, MP3, wav, ogg, other

Did you have some hardware that couldn't play back an mp3? Or was this an ideological thing?

[RPG Master]

I am mainly an ogg man, but I have recently been making FLAC rips of all my CDs :)

[dearingj]

Ogg Vorbis or FLAC for me, depending on the music. I voted FLAC.

[Exadrid]

Ideological mostly, but i keep the MP3 for my Ipod on Win partition.

[murderslastcrow]

As soon as I got my N810, I converted all my mp3s to ogg format using Audacity to optimize space. Took me about a day, since I didn't figure how to batch import/export them, just did it manually. It was totally worth it for the space I saved, and now I use Jamendo and Magnatune so I can get things in ogg without having to go out of my way, and I try to buy CDs when I can to get optimum quality.

Ogg should be standard. It's the best out there, and Theora and Vorbis are actually improving formats, day by day, that can offer a lot more than the alternatives.

Which is saying a lot, seeing as how mp3 is so firmly established as the de facto, yet pretty much everyone either offers mp3 or ogg online, not many in between. I really do hope it supplants mp3 entirely. Luckily, mp3s don't have DRM, and are farily good with size compared to chunkier formats, so it's not horrible, just not the best.

Also, since Banshee can detect if you're using an mp3-only device, it can do the translating for you, so it's not really too much trouble even in that respect.

[dragos240]

A mix of mp3s and oggs.

[ratcheer]

I am between deciding on Vorbis or FLAC, right now. However, most of my music is still in the iTunes m4a or m4p formats on my XP machine.

Tim

[pwnst*r]

Most of my library is FLAC since it's over 500 cd's worth that I've ripped over the course of two years. Of course there are compressed formats, most of which are .mp3, but also .aac, vorbis, .wma (lossy), musepack, and atrac (the last three formats for testing purposes at low bitrates <128kbps.

I also have some stuff I've ripped to Monkey's Audio, wma (lossless).

All of my CD's were ripped using EAC with settings and setup drawn from here (http://blowfish.be/eac/index.html) and here (http://www2.firehose.us:81/~jiggafellz/eac/index.html)

[pwnst*r]

I am between deciding on Vorbis or FLAC, right now. However, most of my music is still in the iTunes m4a or m4p formats on my XP machine.

Tim

Go lossless for archiving your own CD's. If you can use EAC, use the guides in my links above.

[Exodist]

My entire collection of over 300 Albums is in MP3 format because 1) Most compatible, 2) I started backing up my collection in MP3 format over 10 years ago and 3) My car CDPlayer (Pioneer SuperTuner III) only plays MP3s.

[gnomeuser]

Primarily FLAC though some free downloads are only available as mp3, on my phone I transcode FLACs to Ogg Vorbis to save space.

[Gizenshya]

320 mp3, wav, and CDA but I want to start ripping in FLAC.

I don't care about making a perfect backup of the CD's, as I rarely listen to audio directly from CD's (they skip at loud volumes). I just want to rip album folders in a lossless format, and I heard they were the way to go. I havne't done my research yet, though.

I still don't know why companies charge people around the same amount for lossy-formatted songs as they do for CD-quality audio. And not only lossy, usually 128 kbps. How could we go back in quality? ugh. If they offered comparable quality files, I'd be all over it. Ohh, that and if they finally start honoring all my licenses for my tapes.

I have some DVD-audio's (DTS-ES and the like) as well. They're great, but cumbersome... and my receiver is fried, so they're useless as well atm.

[pwnst*r]

320 mp3, wav, and CDA but I want to start ripping in FLAC.

I don't care about making a perfect backup of the CD's, as I rarely listen to audio directly from CD's (they skip at loud volumes). I just want to rip album folders in a lossless format, and I heard they were the way to go. I havne't done my research yet, though.



Are you sure you listen to .cda files? ;D

Ripping to lossless IS making a bit perfect copy of your CD's. And what kind of rubbish setup do you have that your CD skips (at home I'm presuming)

[click4851]

95% MP3 (mostly 192 kbps >) with the remainder as FLAC

[Gizenshya]

Are you sure you listen to .cda files? ;D

Ripping to lossless IS making a bit perfect copy of your CD's. And what kind of rubbish setup do you have that your CD skips (at home I'm presuming)

sure? well, no. The last time I remember "exploring" a CD in my drive in win, all it listed was CDA files. This was before I knew what ripping was, and they didn't work by copy/paste as I had hoped :p But I'm presuming they are basically wav files on the disc, with a little different format info on them. Could absolutely be wrong, though. What I meant by that was CD's, and whatever audio format they use.

What I meant by perfect copy was ISO-type formats, which include disk structure and the like. I prefer perfect copies of each individual track that I can move about independantly.

I don't know what the current offerings are now, but at the time I designed my system I couldn't find any CD players available for home theaters that had any sort of vibration compensation. My current setup has (well, had before my receiver fried), over 3kw RMS of power, which is about 6 times more power than home theaters usually have. About 2.5kw of that was devoted to bass. It's hard on anything that can't handle vibrations well. I've tried everything from foam pads to completely suspending the player to stop skips to no avail. Short of moving the player to another room and running long RCA cables (at the cost of control), I've been unable to stop skips at high volumes while playing CD's. Portable CD players with skip protection worked well, but that's just tacky. But I never worried about it too much since I learned how to rip (CDEX). I usually just run audio from the optical out on my computer and that's that.

[PurposeOfReason]

99% FLAC currently. There are a few internet release only albums that still aren't around (or probably won't ever be) in FLAC.

[RiceMonster]

FLAC wherever I can. I rip all my albums in it.

[aviedw]

I use to using mostly mp3 or acc. I wanted to try other formats but none of the major portable players support the formats. So until i find a decent player that supports flac or ogg im going to stick with mp3 at a high bit rate.

[cascade9]

I rip all my CDs to .flac. I've still got a ton of MP3s, mainly rare/promos/unreleased albums/bootlegs that I cant find in .flac format.


320 mp3, wav, and CDA but I want to start ripping in FLAC.

I don't care about making a perfect backup of the CD's, as I rarely listen to audio directly from CD's (they skip at loud volumes). I just want to rip album folders in a lossless format, and I heard they were the way to go. I havne't done my research yet, though.

I have some DVD-audio's (DTS-ES and the like) as well. They're great, but cumbersome... and my receiver is fried, so they're useless as well atm.

*blinks* why rip to .wav? Flac (or wavpac) blows wav away in every area. They will fix your 'skipping from vibrations' problem as well.

For Windows, use EAC (check pwnst*rs links...its easily the best ripper with windows) and IMO, rubyripper on linux.

BTW, I have a few DVD-As in DTS format ripped to my hard drive. I dont know how you would do that with linux distros, but under windows theres a few ways. I play them with Foobar (DTS plugin) for windows, and VLC with linux.


I use to using mostly mp3 or acc. I wanted to try other formats but none of the major portable players support the formats. So until i find a decent player that supports flac or ogg im going to stick with mp3 at a high bit rate.

By 'mjaor' you mean windows (zune) and apple (ipods etc)? Of course they dont support flac, they wont even support .flac in the computer media players even thought that would be really easy (WMP and iTunes). Windows and apple have their own lossless formats they want to push (.wma 'lossless' and ALAC). Check here for a few media players that support ogg and flac-

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1366496

[Eisenwinter]

I have some flac files, some mp3, a few wavs, and some ogg.

I'd say more than 90% of the music I have is in mp3 format, though, because that's the most widespread.

[cariboo]

sure? well, no. The last time I remember "exploring" a CD in my drive in win, all it listed was CDA files. This was before I knew what ripping was, and they didn't work by copy/paste as I had hoped :p But I'm presuming they are basically wav files on the disc, with a little different format info on them. Could absolutely be wrong, though. What I meant by that was CD's, and whatever audio format they use.

What I meant by perfect copy was ISO-type formats, which include disk structure and the like. I prefer perfect copies of each individual track that I can move about independantly.

I don't know what the current offerings are now, but at the time I designed my system I couldn't find any CD players available for home theaters that had any sort of vibration compensation. My current setup has (well, had before my receiver fried), over 3kw RMS of power, which is about 6 times more power than home theaters usually have. About 2.5kw of that was devoted to bass. It's hard on anything that can't handle vibrations well. I've tried everything from foam pads to completely suspending the player to stop skips to no avail. Short of moving the player to another room and running long RCA cables (at the cost of control), I've been unable to stop skips at high volumes while playing CD's. Portable CD players with skip protection worked well, but that's just tacky. But I never worried about it too much since I learned how to rip (CDEX). I usually just run audio from the optical out on my computer and that's that.

Back in the late 70's I had a buddy that had a Home built system based around a McIntosh (http:///www.mcintoshlabs.com/) commercial power amp and pre-amp, the system put out about 500W RMS, and he had a speaker system that he had designed and built himself. This was well before the the invention of the CD player, his solution to keep his turntable (http://www.oracle-audio.com/) from vibrating to much, consisted of a 12" thick concrete table top, with a well that was 6" deep and just slightly larger than the size of his turn table. in the well he had a 4" thick concrete pad mounted on five tennis balls. After putting an LP on the turntable and cuing it up he put a flywheel from a Toyota Landcruiser with a piece of blue shag carpeting on top of the plastic cover of the turntable.
I don't recall the LP skipping until the sound pressure got so high that we had to go outside to listen to the music.

Sometimes you have to think outside the box to solve a problem, this guy is one of the best at doing that.

That last time I talked to him, about 2 years ago, He told me the McIntosh is still running, although it has been rebuilt twice, and the turntable is still running, although he has added a CD player from the same manufacturer.

[insane_alien]

FLAC for archive, transcoded to ogg for portable device.

[t0p]

Nearly all of my music files are in .mp3 format, simply because that's how they came (I use openpirate.com (http://openpirate.com/) a lot). I've got a few files in other formats, like .m4a,wma... and I've got a bunch of podcasts in .ogg format. If a download comes with .mp3 and .ogg options, I'll generally go with .ogg just to placate the freedom-loving voice in my head. But .mp3 is the standard for audio files, which means it's what I end up with most of the time.

[pwnst*r]

sure? well, no. The last time I remember "exploring" a CD in my drive in win, all it listed was CDA files. This was before I knew what ripping was, and they didn't work by copy/paste as I had hoped :p But I'm presuming they are basically wav files on the disc, with a little different format info on them. Could absolutely be wrong, though. What I meant by that was CD's, and whatever audio format they use.

What I meant by perfect copy was ISO-type formats, which include disk structure and the like. I prefer perfect copies of each individual track that I can move about independantly.

I don't know what the current offerings are now, but at the time I designed my system I couldn't find any CD players available for home theaters that had any sort of vibration compensation. My current setup has (well, had before my receiver fried), over 3kw RMS of power, which is about 6 times more power than home theaters usually have. About 2.5kw of that was devoted to bass. It's hard on anything that can't handle vibrations well. I've tried everything from foam pads to completely suspending the player to stop skips to no avail. Short of moving the player to another room and running long RCA cables (at the cost of control), I've been unable to stop skips at high volumes while playing CD's. Portable CD players with skip protection worked well, but that's just tacky. But I never worried about it too much since I learned how to rip (CDEX). I usually just run audio from the optical out on my computer and that's that.

Equipment list please (PM if you don't want to post here). Also, do you live in an apartment?

[koleoptero]

I wonder if anyone else but me has ever tried musepack...

[pwnst*r]

already stated.

[koleoptero]

already stated.

Didn't see it among the plethora of formats you posted there. :lolflag:

Don't you find it far superior to the other lossy formats?

[cascade9]

I wonder if anyone else but me has ever tried musepack...

I have. Its pointless IMO. Might as well use MP3, or Ogg.

I will say its better than .tak......not that anyone uses that. LOL

[RATM_Owns]

Mp3 v0

[markp1989]

I use mp3 because i can play it pretty much everyware phone,ipod,pc etc.

[ratcheer]

Go lossless for archiving your own CD's. If you can use EAC, use the guides in my links above.

That is what makes me lean to FLAC. However, my Linux machine has a small disk (80 GB), which makes me lean to Vorbis. I ripped a CD to FLAC, yesterday, and it used in the neighborhood of 300 MB. I guess I need another 1.5 TB external to add to my Ubuntu machine, but I am unemployed, right now.

I intend to look at your EAD guide. I have heard of EAD, but don't remember much about it.

Thanks.

[pwnst*r]

That is what makes me lean to FLAC. However, my Linux machine has a small disk (80 GB), which makes me lean to Vorbis. I ripped a CD to FLAC, yesterday, and it used in the neighborhood of 300 MB. I guess I need another 1.5 TB external to add to my Ubuntu machine, but I am unemployed, right now.

I intend to look at your EAD guide. I have heard of EAD, but don't remember much about it.

Thanks.

storage is super cheap. i bought a 500GB WD express for $60 shipped, so space shouldn't be an excuse ;D

[pwnst*r]

Didn't see it among the plethora of formats you posted there. :lolflag:

Don't you find it far superior to the other lossy formats?

Far superior? no. Pretty tough to call at certain VBR's so I stuck with the popular format.

[cascade9]

Didn't see it among the plethora of formats you posted there. :lolflag:

Don't you find it far superior to the other lossy formats?

Its not like that is the full list of codecs, not even close.

At --standard preset (roughly 180k/sec) its probably a tiny bit up on MP3, but its not 'far superior' to the other lossys. If there is anywhere that musepack falls down, its support. MP3 is far better supported. Heck, .ogg vorbis is better supported than musepack.

I wont even go into the 'patent' issues with musepack.

[Uncle Spellbinder]

All my music files are mp3. Either 320 (cbr) or 256 (vbr).

[ratcheer]

All of my CD's were ripped using EAC with settings and setup drawn from here (http://blowfish.be/eac/index.html) and here (http://www2.firehose.us:81/~jiggafellz/eac/index.html)

A couple of questions about EAC. Well, a question and a comment.

I see that it is only available for Windows with no plans at all for Linux. Do you do all your ripping on Windows and copy your files to Linux, or just what?

I am using vlc to rip and I understand that it is considered "top notch". Does EAC have advantages over vlc? They talk about their advantages over several other ripping programs, but vlc is not mentioned.

Thanks,
Tim

[pwnst*r]

A couple of questions about EAC. Well, a question and a comment.

I see that it is only available for Windows with no plans at all for Linux. Do you do all your ripping on Windows and copy your files to Linux, or just what?

I am using vlc to rip and I understand that it is considered "top notch". Does EAC have advantages over vlc? They talk about their advantages over several other ripping programs, but vlc is not mentioned.

Thanks,
Tim

Yep, I do all of my ripping/cataloging in Windows. My library is accessible from Linux via my server.

VLC isn't mentioned only because it's not at the top of the list in the audiophile/audio enthusiast community as far as being a good ripper, much like Winamp.

I don't think VLC has a secure rip option for one, and I also think VLC rips one track at a time, which is NOT an option for me. Also, with EAC you can create CUE sheets (http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Cue_sheet) among other things.

[Gizenshya]

Back in the late 70's I had a buddy that had a Home built system based around a McIntosh (http:///www.mcintoshlabs.com/) commercial power amp and pre-amp, the system put out about 500W RMS, and he had a speaker system that he had designed and built himself. This was well before the the invention of the CD player, his solution to keep his turntable (http://www.oracle-audio.com/) from vibrating to much, consisted of a 12" thick concrete table top, with a well that was 6" deep and just slightly larger than the size of his turn table. in the well he had a 4" thick concrete pad mounted on five tennis balls. After putting an LP on the turntable and cuing it up he put a flywheel from a Toyota Landcruiser with a piece of blue shag carpeting on top of the plastic cover of the turntable.
I don't recall the LP skipping until the sound pressure got so high that we had to go outside to listen to the music.

Sometimes you have to think outside the box to solve a problem, this guy is one of the best at doing that.

That last time I talked to him, about 2 years ago, He told me the McIntosh is still running, although it has been rebuilt twice, and the turntable is still running, although he has added a CD player from the same manufacturer.

wow. I thought what I did was out of the box to the extent that I concluded there wasn't a viable solution... apparently I was wrong! I thought about enclosing it so the sound couldn't get to it, but I couldn't solve for the vibrations from the ground if I did that. Although concrete would certainly provide sufficient inertia to dampen them. If I knew that way back when, I probably could have adapted it to suit my needs, especially since all I really needed was a clear window for the IR.

pwnst*r, sorry, but I'm not comfortable posting an equipment list or brands. I've had equipment stolen before, and I just can't see any benefit from posting that info.

[Hyper Tails]

mp3

[hellion0]

All mp3, mostly V2.

[NCLI]

Mostly FLAC, and all new music I get is stored in that format.

[starcannon]

OGG, I haven't had an "MP3 Player" yet that could not also play back OGG.

[murderslastcrow]

As soon as Apple supports native playback of ogg on their media players like practically EVERYONE ELSE, I'm sure it will become standard.

[cascade9]

A couple of questions about EAC. Well, a question and a comment.

I see that it is only available for Windows with no plans at all for Linux. Do you do all your ripping on Windows and copy your files to Linux, or just what?

I am using vlc to rip and I understand that it is considered "top notch". Does EAC have advantages over vlc? They talk about their advantages over several other ripping programs, but vlc is not mentioned.

Thanks,
Tim

To be honest, I dont even know what backend VLC is using for its ripping. If its not using CD paranoia, then there are much better rippers for linux.

From what I've seen on a few of the registered torrent sites requirements, the closest thing you will find to EAC that is linux native is Rubyripper.

You can run EAC in WINE, dont know if I would bother. Rubyripper is missing a few options, but it does a more than passable job.


I don't think VLC has a secure rip option for one, and I also think VLC rips one track at a time, which is NOT an option for me. Also, with EAC you can create CUE sheets (http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Cue_sheet) among other things.

Another one of those 'single track' rippers. Not my thing, I prefer to have everything split into tracks.

Its not the only one to do cuesheet creation, I know Rubyripper does it for linux. I'm pretty sure that there are other windows rippers that do cue sheets, but I would just stick with EAC. Its very, very good, the best ripper I've used.

As for advantages that EAC has over VLC.....just check the EAC config pages. Its got options for _everything_. Also, from my trying to rip old/corrupted CDs, IMO the error detection/correction is better than anything else.

[pwnst*r]

Its not the only one to do cuesheet creation, I know Rubyripper does it for linux. I'm pretty sure that there are other windows rippers that do cue sheets, but I would just stick with EAC. Its very, very good, the best ripper I've used.

As for advantages that EAC has over VLC.....just check the EAC config pages. Its got options for _everything_. Also, from my trying to rip old/corrupted CDs, IMO the error detection/correction is better than anything else.

i was strictly comparing EAC to VLC as was the question directed at me.

[ratcheer]

Yep, I do all of my ripping/cataloging in Windows. My library is accessible from Linux via my server.

VLC isn't mentioned only because it's not at the top of the list in the audiophile/audio enthusiast community as far as being a good ripper, much like Winamp.

I don't think VLC has a secure rip option for one, and I also think VLC rips one track at a time, which is NOT an option for me. Also, with EAC you can create CUE sheets (http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Cue_sheet) among other things.

I have installed EAC to my Windows machine and copied two CD's to FLAC. I can tell that the results are superior to vlc >> FLAC. Especially fewer (no) incidences of the little hiccup, where the sound seems to stop for a fraction of a second with the vlc copies. The EAC rips overall sound cleaner, too.

Even though I am comparing them on separate machines, the CPU's, sound cards and speaker systems are identical on the two machines.

Now I have to decide whether to try dbpoweramp, which many feel is superior to EAC. This is a disease, I tell you.

Tim

[pwnst*r]

I'd say it's on par with, but not superior. DBPoweramp is very good though and certainly worth it, but EAC is also free. Comes down to personal pref at that point. And yes, it is VERY addicting :)

[SuperSonic4]

Largely ogg but with an increasing amount of flac (existing music is ogg but new music is flac)

[hessiess]

Lossless FLAC ripped from CD's, encode into other formats as needed.

[doorknob60]

OGG for ripped from CD, but mostly MP3 from AmazonMP3.

[Groucho Marxist]

I use a combination of FLAC, MP3 from older files and WAV for uncompressed CDs. Of the three, I prefer WAV due to it being the standard for uncompressed portable audio and because it sounds perfect over HD-radio.

[cascade9]

I have installed EAC to my Windows machine and copied two CD's to FLAC. I can tell that the results are superior to vlc >> FLAC. Especially fewer (no) incidences of the little hiccup, where the sound seems to stop for a fraction of a second with the vlc copies. The EAC rips overall sound cleaner, too.

Even though I am comparing them on separate machines, the CPU's, sound cards and speaker systems are identical on the two machines.

Now I have to decide whether to try dbpoweramp, which many feel is superior to EAC. This is a disease, I tell you.

If you were getting 'hiccups' then thats a bad rip.

As for dbpower amp being superior to EAC, I actually think its not. I've read spoons propaganda and out and out disagree with him. Its a very good ripper, the 2nd best you will find for windows, but EAC still has the edge IMO.


I use a combination of FLAC, MP3 from older files and WAV for uncompressed CDs. Of the three, I prefer WAV due to it being the standard for uncompressed portable audio and because it sounds perfect over HD-radio.

Flac should be exactly the same as playing a CD (and sound the same). True, wav is sort of the standard for uncompressed audio, but its a right mess in some ways (in that is not just a file format, but also a container format and there are lots of .wav files that are not 'full CD audio quality').

I avoid .wav because despite what people think, audio CDs _dont_ use .wav. It hasnt got any internal checksum either, which the better lossless codecs like flac and wavpack do. I like being able to just run a small program and find out if my data is still 100%.

[scouser73]

Mp3

[Groucho Marxist]

Flac should be exactly the same as playing a CD (and sound the same). True, wav is sort of the standard for uncompressed audio, but its a right mess in some ways (in that is not just a file format, but also a container format and there are lots of .wav files that are not 'full CD audio quality'). An unfortunate mess that I and others have to deal with until things get sorted out :(


I avoid .wav because despite what people think, audio CDs _dont_ use .wav. It hasnt got any internal checksum either, which the better lossless codecs like flac and wavpack do. I like being able to just run a small program and find out if my data is still 100%.

At any rate, I cannot use any digital formats for music on the radio due to legal reasons. I need legally purchased physical discs as a form of "proof of purchase."

[Simian Man]

MP3's currently because they are small and just work everywhere. When 10 terabyte portable music players become cheap, I'll switch to FLAC :).

[squilookle]

mp3. I'd like to support and spread ogg vorbis, but when i come to sharing them, it just doesn't work and I have to rip them again. :(

[hessiess]

mp3. I'd like to support and spread ogg vorbis, but when i come to sharing them, it just doesn't work and I have to rip them again. :(

Thats why its good to rip to a lossless format, from which you can re-encode to any format, i.e. with ffmpeg and a shell script.

[automaton26]

I use OGG out of principle.

My Windows/Linux music players support it, and my portable player supports it.

[Xbehave]

ogg where i can, but most of my music came as MP3 and i cba to rencode it.

[rotwang888]

I use flac for my master collection/home listening and transcode to ogg vorbis as needed for my portable.

[aeon.flux]

i would say ogg, but since my (walkman) mobile phone from Sony Ericsson didn't want to play ogg, i'm not sure now.. :confused:

[kk0sse54]

99% mp3 but when I get the rare opportunity to choose I prefer ogg Vorbis

[PurposeOfReason]

ogg where i can, but most of my music came as MP3 and i cba to rencode it.
*twitch*
lossy-lossy transcoding
*twitch*

[pwnst*r]

ogg where i can, but most of my music came as MP3 and i cba to rencode it.

yikes.

[squilookle]

Thats why its good to rip to a lossless format, from which you can re-encode to any format, i.e. with ffmpeg and a shell script.

I know I didn't mention it in my original post but I have to be careful with disk space. Its not insanely cramped or anything, but its definately limited on my computer.

[Robin_216]

Most of my audio is still in mp3 format, but when i get my new phone/mp3 player i will start converting it to ogg.

[NightwishFan]

Flac is good for my needs. I have enough space for it and it keeps everything I might want to edit or re-encode lossless and backed up. I use Vorbis otherwise (from jamendo) but some of it is mp3 (way back from Windows days). I use the legal fluendo decoder for those.

I noticed Vorbis is pretty great even at 64kb/s. I plan on buying a portable player with vorbis compatibility.