Ripping CD'S: Best Format

[StarsFan4Life]

So with the day where mp3's (less than 320kbps) start to lose quality in sound, I have decided to rip all of my CD's to the best format possible, size is not an option. I used to rip them to .wav before MP3 came along, but will .wav play in an ipod?

If you were ripping CD's, and you wanted the best quality available, what would you do? I compared the song "You" with CD vs. MP3 192Kbps, and I was amazed in the difference.

Also, I want to stream these format types to my PS3, so please tell me what format is the best quality that will play on both an IPOD and my PS3. Thanks!

 

[SAmalathion]

I strongly recommend that you either rip in FLAC or with LAME --v2 vbr. HydrogenAudio recognizes these formats as superior for most purposes. FLAC is compressed and lossless, ie you get a perfect representation of the original CD audio. LAME mp3s are compressed and lossy, but if you rip them properly I guarantee you will not be able to hear the difference on practically any sound equipment. (Although some people will claim to be able to hear the difference, nobody has reliably been able to pass double-blind testing with any sample)

You can find a good guide on secure mode ripping here: http://www2.firehose.us:81/~jiggafellz/eac/index.html

Unfortunately I can't say that FLAC will play on an ipod or a ps3 as I use neither, but I would try it. FLAC gives you lossless audio at significantly reduced file sizes, and support is catching on.

 

[PurdueRy]

FLAC will not play on a PS3. I believe it can play on an iPod with installation of third party firmware.

Just rip at the highest quality MP3 if you want to maintain sound quality and still stream to the PS3(320 kbps)

 

[SAmalathion]

It is not a good idea to think that you are getting the best quality by using the highest bitrate. The encoder you are using is the main variable. For example I could design a code that repeated every frame in a redundant fashion. This would double the bitrate without increasing the sound quality. Likewise my codec could cut out every band that is audible to the human ear and leaving in all the static and noise, and achieve a very efficient codec this way; but it would sound terrible.

If you are using XING, iTunes, or another random encoder, you are not getting the audio quality you should have.

The LAME mp3 encoder is the accepted standard, and it is practically guaranteed that you will achieve transparent audio quality using the standard vbr settings --v2 new or --v0 new. Using 320cbr is not an efficient use of your space, and if you are not using LAME, it's possible that the large files will not sound as good as their LAME counter parts which are ripped at a smaller file size.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I rip to FLAC lossless for my music server since it is 100% CD quality, using Exact Audio Copy. I then use dbPowerAmp to transcode to MP3 for my portables.

Having your CDs in lossless format means you have a backup of your collection, and that you can translate to lossy formats as often as needed with the same quality as if you did a fresh rip from CDs.

You can fit 1,000 lossless CD rips into 300 GB of space, which costs ~$50 these days, plus another $50 for space on a second drive (as backup).

 

[0roo0roo]

lame mp3 and flac. flac is for backup..and well if ur anal you might want the flac to see if you can actually tell the difference between high bitrate mp3 and lossless.
high bitrate mp3 encoded with lame is good enough for most, and its universal compatibility make it the one actually worth doing.
in blind listening tests you'll prbably fail to pick out the mp3

 

[izzy92020]

Ripping with GoldWave at max settings produces good results.

GoldWave Site

 

[JoLLyRoGer]

So how good is the Fraunhofer IIS codec for encoding MP3s?

 

[Old Hippie]

I rip to FLAC lossless for my music server since it is 100% CD quality, using Exact Audio Copy. I then use dbPowerAmp to transcode to MP3 for my portables.

Great combo, I second that emotion. :thumbsup:

 

[themisfit610]

Fraunhoffer is terrible. They fail.

EAC is the only way to properly rip audio CDs. Believe me

I usually rip to FLAC, or max quality VBR LAME MP3 - I usually reserve the FLAC stuff for really well produced CDs.

But in all honesty, even with a great pair of cans and a good source, I'm hard pressed to tell the difference between FLAC and a really good MP3.

Don't rip with iTunes, WMP, or any other jukebox software. They will not give you accurate results. Bit perfect can only be accomplished with EAC

~MiSfit

 

[SAmalathion]

Originally posted by: themisfit610
Fraunhoffer is terrible. They fail.

EAC is the only way to properly rip audio CDs. Believe me

I usually rip to FLAC, or max quality VBR LAME MP3 - I usually reserve the FLAC stuff for really well produced CDs.

But in all honesty, even with a great pair of cans and a good source, I'm hard pressed to tell the difference between FLAC and a really good MP3.

Don't rip with iTunes, WMP, or any other jukebox software. They will not give you accurate results. Bit perfect can only be accomplished with EAC

~MiSfit

This is absolutely right. Most of the times this question comes up, I find myself screaming "EAC" in a public cacophany of crap like "I just use WMP to rip to wma, that works for me!" heh.

Another way of looking at this is that if you are sharing your music, the way you rip it will be duplicated maybe thousands of times. So you really ought to get it right the first time. EAC secure mode with LAME vbr --v2 new is the best standard to guarantee audio quality transparency with small file sizes and guaranteed portability on any player.

 

[0roo0roo]

fraunhoffer kicked it off, but they kinda lost the ball on improving the encoder

 

[mc866]

Originally posted by: themisfit610
Fraunhoffer is terrible. They fail.

EAC is the only way to properly rip audio CDs. Believe me

I usually rip to FLAC, or max quality VBR LAME MP3 - I usually reserve the FLAC stuff for really well produced CDs.

But in all honesty, even with a great pair of cans and a good source, I'm hard pressed to tell the difference between FLAC and a really good MP3.

Don't rip with iTunes, WMP, or any other jukebox software. They will not give you accurate results. Bit perfect can only be accomplished with EAC

~MiSfit

:thumbsup:

My entire collection is in mp3 format, yes there are limitations to the quality, but it's the most versatile format out there. Like said above use EAC to get a quality rip to mp3 and you shouldn?t have any issues. If you are completely concerned about sound quality or have nice enough equipment to notice the difference rip to FLAC and then encode to mp3 as needed but this process adds a step when you want to put music on your portable player or stream to your PS3.