WAV to MP3 and MP3 to WAV

[VTboy]

I was wondering which conversion would result in the greatest lost in sound quality. A 128kbps MP3 file being converted WAV, or a WAV file being converted to a 128kbps MP3. Another question is if I riped a music CD to WAV or if a riped a music CD to 128kbps MP3 which one would have the less amount of sound quality lost.

 

[Sid59]

128 kbps = wav = they have the same exact quality .. no loss converting from MP3 to WAV

WAV > 128 kbps mp3 = COMPRESSING lossy [especially to crappy 128] you will lose alot of quality.

 

[Bassyhead]

Originally posted by: Sid59
128 kbps = wav = they have the same exact quality .. no loss converting from MP3 to WAV

WAV > 128 kbps mp3 = COMPRESSING lossy [especially to crappy 128] you will lose alot of quality.

loss of quality will occur in both directions

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: Bassyhead

Originally posted by: Sid59
128 kbps = wav = they have the same exact quality .. no loss converting from MP3 to WAV

WAV > 128 kbps mp3 = COMPRESSING lossy [especially to crappy 128] you will lose alot of quality.

loss of quality will occur in both directions

Wrong.

MP3 Decoding (unlike encoding) is a very well defined process that will result in the same waveform each and every time. The WAV format is capable of storing that waveform without any loss.

Encoding WAV to MP3 will obviously introduce loss, but the other way around is lossless.

As for the second question of the original poster, ripping a CD to a WAV file (Presuming you use the default 16 bit/44.1 KHz/stereo) will result in no quality loss since you are storing the WAV form exactly as it was on the CD.

Viper GTS