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Topic: Zune software ripping/encoding (Read 6500 times) previous topic - next topic
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Zune software ripping/encoding

hOW WELL does the Zune software rip CDs and encode.

I see that it has options for VBR WMAs and CBR MP3s.
I've used lame before to compress my music into vbr mp3s, but was wondering if these other options would be better specifically because the Zune software can encode WMA vbr at a higher rate (240-355) than lame can encode mp3 (220-260).

THanks.

Zune software ripping/encoding

Reply #1 –
1 - The Zune software is not a secure ripper.

2 - You are incorrect about LAME

3 - Even had you been correct about LAME your concern over such bitrate differences is unfounded.

4 - Regardless of the technical merits of WMA, it is a dead end.  Other lossy codecs are (at least) equal in quality and are more likely to be supported by whatever hardware you buy when your Zune dies.  Lossless really is the proper way to future-proof, but little is worse than locking yourself into WM*.
Creature of habit.

Zune software ripping/encoding

Reply #2 –
Quote from: Soap on
1 - The Zune software is not a secure ripper.

2 - You are incorrect about LAME

3 - Even had you been correct about LAME your concern over such bitrate differences is unfounded.

4 - Regardless of the technical merits of WMA, it is a dead end.  Other lossy codecs are (at least) equal in quality and are more likely to be supported by whatever hardware you buy when your Zune dies.  Lossless really is the proper way to future-proof, but little is worse than locking yourself into WM*.



Thank you, oh mighty one of infinite greatness and genius.

I am humbled to be within a light year of your presence.

2.  So...how am I incorrect about lame?  It states 220-260 kb as highest VBR setting.

3.  It is quite founded....quite founded indeed....not unfounded.  Oh great one...

4.  Don't care and actually its supported by what I need and plenty of others.  Anyway that does not answer my question. Actually nothing you wrote answers any of my questions.

But of course...My humblest and most sincere apologies for even thinking in your wonderful and so not egotistical presence.

Zune software ripping/encoding

Reply #3 –
Quote
Actually nothing you wrote answers any of my questions.

Really?

Q: hOW WELL does the Zune software rip CDs...
A: The Zune software is not a secure ripper.

Q: ...and encode.
A: Other lossy codecs are (at least) equal in quality.

Zune software ripping/encoding

Reply #4 –
I didn't see anything in their reply that hasn't already been said a countless number of other times and Soap definitely wasn't being egotistical.  It sounds like they gave you an answer that you didn't like so you decided to fire back with stupid insults.

You decided to look at something so trivial as a 20kbps bitrate (Lame can encode VBR bitrates higher than 260kbps oh knowledgable one) instead of asking if you really needed a bitrate that high and answered your own question by conducting a series of blind ABX tests.  You can continue to try to insult Soap or you can actually follow their advice as it was sound.  Then again, I think you were too busy up there on your high horse to realize when someone was actually trying to help you.

Zune software ripping/encoding

Reply #5 –
Quote
So...how am I incorrect about lame? It states 220-260 kb as highest VBR setting.

Bitrate has no inherent bearing on audio quality - it depends entirely on how efficiently/intelligently a given encoder utilizes it.

Just because WMA has the number "355" in the listed bitrate range means absolutely nothing WRT its performance vs. LAME at "220-260", which, BTW, is the *average* bitrate that LAME will hit at its -V0 VBR setting - it will jump up to the MP3 maximum of 320 kb/s if needed (which, again, means absolutely nothing vs. WMA's "355").

Hope that's not too "egotistical" an answer for you...you are here to learn, aren't you?
"Not sure what the question is, but the answer is probably no."

Zune software ripping/encoding

Reply #6 –
I love nerd rage so much.

Zune software ripping/encoding

Reply #7 –
Quote from: kornchild2002 on
I didn't see anything in their reply that hasn't already been said a countless number of other times and Soap definitely wasn't being egotistical.  It sounds like they gave you an answer that you didn't like so you decided to fire back with stupid insults.

You decided to look at something so trivial as a 20kbps bitrate (Lame can encode VBR bitrates higher than 260kbps oh knowledgable one) instead of asking if you really needed a bitrate that high and answered your own question by conducting a series of blind ABX tests.  You can continue to try to insult Soap or you can actually follow their advice as it was sound.  Then again, I think you were too busy up there on your high horse to realize when someone was actually trying to help you.



Wow.  Thank you so much for your honesty.  I must be a fool...after all, you are an Apple lover...and only true intellectuals can use apple.

And it would be great if you or someone said, at first,  "LAME can encode VBR bitrates higher than 260kbps"...THAT WAS AN ANSWER!

And really giving someone a link to a definition (secure ripping) doesn't help anything.  source is what is needed. Here you go [a href='index.php?act=findpost&pid=0']random link[/a]

I wanted an answer nonetheless of what you thought.  And its 95kbps.

And I don't have a high horse...he overdosed.  I now fly around on a gryphon.

Zune software ripping/encoding

Reply #8 –
Your time is not more valuable than anybody else who frequents the forum.  If being told your ripper isn't secure along with a direct link to why one would want a secure ripper isn't an answer to "hOW WELL does the Zune software rip CDs and encode." I don't know what is. 

If you had read the article on LAME instead of glancing at the table you not only would have prevented yourself from making the same mistake twice, you would have understood that math like "355 is 95 better than 260" is overly simplistic to the point of false.  You also would have learned not only that LAME can encode VBR higher than 260, but what the significance of all that means.

But now you'll be leaving here having gained neither the information you sought nor the information you needed.


Hey, but you got some shit off your chest.  That's gotta count for something, right?



Creature of habit.

Zune software ripping/encoding

Reply #9 –
It is not 95kbps, I guess you need to go back and look again.  Lame can go up to 320kbps when encoding VBR files and that is 35kbps off from your 355kbps number.  I was off on my math but not by that much.  I also laughed at your generalization of Apple users and by calling me an Apple lover.  Wow, what insight!  That was a truly original thought that I have never come across and it has made me ponder my very existence.  Thank you for opening my eyes to a world I never knew existed.  What was I thinking when I bought all of my iPods.  I should have gone the Zune route as it has more than proven itself over the 10+ years it has been on the market, it has solid backing from Microsoft, and the hardware is so advanced despite it not being updated in over a year now.  I am going to donate all of my iPods, my iPad, my AppleTV 2, and my 13" MacBook Pro down at Good Will so that I can buy a classic brown Zune, a slate tablet from the future running Microsoft's tablet OS solution, forget about watching purchased video content on my TV, and go with a nice thick plastic HP notebook with a great Pentium M processor running Windows 7 Starter.

Zune software ripping/encoding

Reply #11 –
Except on Zunescene they made a bunch of claims that violate the TOS here.  I guess that is what happens when a set of forums actually have rules for how audio quality is commented on.  How dare Hydrogenaudio try to lock people out of speaking the truth!  We need to let those people in so that they can tell us how bad our FLAC files sound compared to PCM WAV, how a $1000 HDMI cable makes all the difference in the world, and how anything below a bitrate of 2500kbps is just awful.

Zune software ripping/encoding

Reply #12 –
I loved my Zune and I loved WMA Pro, but they are both on their last legs at this point.  If it weren't for Microsoft continuing to package WMA with Windows, it would've gone the way of RealAudio years ago.  The idea that someone would show up on this forum and show any sort of passion over either item is actually rather charming.

Zune software ripping/encoding

Reply #13 –
Oh man...you guys are so cool.

This kicks ass.

Un-frickin-believable

So hard...to stop....have to....I have a life....have to...