Ripping CDs - mp3 quality
 

Hello,

I'm a bit late to this game but hey...better late than never right?

I want to start ripping my CDs to mp3s: I am currently using iTunes and I wanted to know which format/setting is optimal.

Format: AAC, .wav, mp4 etc.? Which one?

Setting: 128kbs, 160kbs, 256 or 320? Is 320 that much better than 192?

What's the difference between "burning" mp3s to CD versus just "dragging and dropping them over (copying) to CD?

Thanks!

Big can or worms, but here's a couple of pointers :)

A lot of people can't hear the difference between 128 and 192 but if you can it's huge, if you're planning on using these files to recreate CD's stick with 320 for the lossless factor as long as you're not worried about hard drive space, if you've got the actual source you may as well preserve it's integrity.

For compatibility I would recommend just sticking with the MP3 format if you can use it for the output filetype.

Lastly for the moment, "burning" and "copying" are synonyms in that sentence, however, you can burn MP3's either as an audio CD or as a data CD, leaving them as data you'll be able to fit a lot more on a disc, but it requires a specially qualified player, burning them as audio extracts the data and returns it to the original format so that the disc is compatible with pretty much any stereo or audio device.

oi ...

first, I need to address a couple things ->

I never used to think i could hear the difference (altho preferred things to be a bit 'higher quality' anyways so mostly went for 192) ... then I listened to a favorite/familiar album @ 128 w/good headphones.
f'ing painful. /cries

I hope you're not referring to a 320 mp3, as mp3's are by definition lossy.

anyways ... i'm no expert, and I really am clueless regarding these other encoders for ipods...

but, www.hydrogenaudio.org will have all the infos you need and more :)

I would go with mp3, since you won't run into as many problems as you would with some of the other formats.

You can listen to them on pretty much any audio player, transfer them to a mp3 player without a hitch.

I would also recommend 320 bit rate, especially if your an audio enthsiast.

However, if you have other other audio files such as wma or ogg, or any other file types, you should not re-encode them to mp3 since you may lose quality. The other way of dealing with this problem is re-encoding them using a high bit rate.

If I had the time to rerip my CDs, I would've used FLAC, which is lossless. I can always convert from FLAC to whatever if i needed to pretty quickly. If you want high quality MP3s without too much space overhead, I would recommend encoding as VBR (Variable Bit Rate)---older players had trouble with this format, but now I doubt it'd be a problem.

Hey thanks you guys for the help. I suppose I should clarify a bit:

I do NOT have an mp3 player at the moment, I may pick up an iPod at a later date.

My primary function would be to burn cool mix cds, hence the need for "lossless" quality. Is 320 kbs on an mp3 the same as 192kbs AAC or mp4?

if you want lossless do NOT go for mp3 format
if you are adament about using iTunes I suggest ussing the Apple lossless format (double so if you get an ipod)

if not I suggest <a href="http://flac.sourceforge.net/">flac</a> (free lossless audio codec) the lossless files are obviously bigger but the quality is bit perfect to the wav files ripped from the cd.
oh and for playing the .flac files may I suggest <a href="http://www.foobar2000.org/">foobar2000</a> it is my favorite audio player of all time.

If using linux I suggest amarok
If using OSX I suggest....iTunes with apple loseless :-P

I used a program called cdex off sourceforge. You set the quality, put the cd in, click a button and it gets all the information, then click rip. It creates all the tags and rips the cd in minutes

I use Exact Audio Copy (for ripping) in conjunction with LAME (for encoding). The presets for LAME are highly optimized and their use of joint-stereo is actually a good thing. I use "--preset extreme", which is one below the best quality settings. It uses VBR rather than the constant (and usually wasteful) 320 Kb/s. There is a good tutorial here. Remember though, MP3 is always lossy and you can not get that quality back by decompressing and burning to an audio CD.

Ogg Vorbis is also a good option for lossy compression. FLAC and APE are nice for lossless compression. It is too bad that with its price tag and popularity, Apple can't be bothered to include the aforementioned codecs in the iPod. For this reason, I will never buy one.

According to your desires, I think the Apple Lossless format would be your best bet. Its a true lossless codec and is typically half the size of others.

I'm just going to throw in my two cents on the encoding bitrate question. I am a very finicky audiophile and I rip everything into 128k AAC's.
Reason 1: I only listen to compressed music on my iPod and computer, neither of which I consider a hifi component.
Reason 2. I can't tell the difference between 128k AAC's and other formats when I'm out in the world.

I took a CD I know by heart (Norah Jones - Come Away With Me), and ripped it into WAV, Apple Lossless, 256k MP3, 192k MP3, 192k AAC, and 128k AAC. I then went out into the world as I would use my iPod. Over the course of a week, I rode on the train, rode the bus around downtown, and rode by bike to work. I listened to my iPod on Grado SR-225's, Sennheiser HD-280 Pro's, and Sennheiser HD-595's. I couldn't tell a bit of difference. My advice, utilize all the space on your iPod you can, cuz higher bitrates aren't worth it. 128k AAC does the trick just fine. I'm sure I could reveal differences between them and lossless in my home stereo, but if I want lossless on my home stereo, I put the damn CD in.