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Topic: Which Format I Should Use To Rip All My Flac... (Read 3858 times) previous topic - next topic
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Which Format I Should Use To Rip All My Flac...

Hi guys, I'm new to this forum.

I've bought some albums from magnatune.com in FLAC format (I think that this is the only one music shop that give you a possibility to download in lossless format like Flac o Wav), but because lossless music takes a lot of space on my hd I want to convert all albums in some other codec trying to mantain the original quality (I have some classic album). I think that MP3 is too old and OGG in my opinion hasn't future on large scale. Am I wrong?
What do you think about AAC at 320kbps? 
I've heard that WMA is good too.

Thanks in advise.

Which Format I Should Use To Rip All My Flac...

Reply #1 –
if you plan to just play the music on pc, Musepack standard profile is probably the best lossy plan.  If you need portable support, id think it best to use MP3 or OGG (to preserve quality by not having to reencode from MPC).

Which Format I Should Use To Rip All My Flac...

Reply #2 –
Hmm, yes, I would like to use my music on portable devices too.
I mean, is there some universal format that will be fine for all type of use?

Which Format I Should Use To Rip All My Flac...

Reply #3 –
"fine" is a relative term, but MP3 has been the universal lossy audio standard for years. 

Which Format I Should Use To Rip All My Flac...

Reply #4 –
Has been. 

Honestly speaking I don't like MP3, it was good 3 years ago but today we have a lot of lossy (and some lossless) format. I don't want to rip my albums in "old" format since we have better alternative. For example, AAC is the successor of MP3, isn't it? It should replace mp3 in next years, but on the other hand there is Microsoft with WMA, that is very good as I know. In your opinion which format will be the standard in next years?

Which Format I Should Use To Rip All My Flac...

Reply #5 –
Hmm. Keep the magnatunes link emailed to you after purchase and you can download it in any format in the future. I lost some of my music and recovered the magnatunes in that way.

Otherwise AAC is probably the answer you want. It's backed by industry, more advanced than MP3. Yet all depends on the encoder-bitrate you use...

I use MPC and nothing could replace it for me. It's not supported on most of the gadgets but I can transcode if I want it... So which format is good has a very personal answer, and no one here could give that to you. People would say use double blind test and see for yourself ...
The object of mankind lies in its highest individuals.
One must have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.

Which Format I Should Use To Rip All My Flac...

Reply #6 –
Thanks.

What do you think about AAC 320kbps? Is it enough "lossless"? 

Anyway, I would like to know who backe ACC? Apple o industry? I mean, iPod is only one player I've seen that support that format (but I'm not sure).

Which Format I Should Use To Rip All My Flac...

Reply #7 –
Forget fashion and just go for convenience. Ideal would be lossless converted to mp3 for portable use, Otherwise stick to high quality mp3 like Lame -aps for playback on your PC / portable.

Which Format I Should Use To Rip All My Flac...

Reply #8 –
Quote
What do you think about AAC 320kbps?


Ok just to help you out. 320kbps is a lot of bits to use, considering FLAC uses about twice as much for classical music and is lossless. Also I would not use a constant bitrate like 320 kbps but rather use a high quality variable bitrate encoder. Given that your options are limited (AFAIK iTunes do not support VBR encoding yet): Nero AAC encoder which is a commerical product or FAAC which albeit in an early phase of development fared quite well in recent tests (correct me if I am wrong here).

Quote
Is it enough "lossless"?

No, a codec is either lossless or not. The bitrates you talk about are quite beyond what is expected as the threshold of transparency (human perception). Transparency is the goal for lossy codecs like MP3, AAC, Vorbis. To use bitrates higher than that (~160kbps) people have their own reasons. Mine are : I use DSP effects which could create audible artifacts if I use a lower quality setting, who knows I'd not have a robotic implant that will give me super hearing in the near future? But lossless is the only real archival standard otherwise which is bit identical to the original and could never be outdated.

Quote
Anyway, I would like to know who backe ACC? Apple o industry? I mean, iPod is only one player I've seen that support that format (but I'm not sure).

Do a search in this forum and you'll see many relevant results. I found one thread that might interest you: link
The object of mankind lies in its highest individuals.
One must have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.

Which Format I Should Use To Rip All My Flac...

Reply #9 –
Personally, I just use LAME MP3 3.90 (Dibrom build) at --alt-preset extreme. I can't tell the difference between the MP3 and the CD, and if ever I get a portable MP3 player I know my files will work.
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Which Format I Should Use To Rip All My Flac...

Reply #10 –
Quote
320kbps is a lot of bits to use, considering FLAC uses about twice as much for classical music and is lossless.
And then still.  Have a look at Guruboolez' lossless tests to classical music, in which he managed to compress several excerpts to an average bitrate of some 400 kbps, some even in the 300s.