1. When ripping MP3, what kbps is should I rip? 64 kbps, 128 kbps... I am not worry about storage - I got plenty of storage.

2. Is there a better MP3 player for PPC that you recommend. I don't like the one that came with the Axim.

Thanx in advance,
Simon-Ph

Well I usually rip my MP3s at 192, so my average album is approx 100mb, and the quality at that rate is very good, I tried 128 but it dont sound too good in my other mp3 products (stereo and car).

As for players, I really like PocketPlayer from Conduits.com

I use 128 for near CD quality. Try comparing 128 to 160. If you don't notice a difference stay with 128. You have lots of storage NOW, but it fills up real fast!

Currently I'm using PocketMusic by Pocketmind. It's a free download.

http://www.pocketmind.com/pocketmusic.htm

Do you know much about OGG format? I understand it's great quality, but smaller file.

I've heard of that format but I havent used it yet.

I ripped mine at 320 kbps. The files are huge but I think they sound a whole lot better. And if you have plenty of storage, rip them at the highest possible rate. Disk drives are cheap nowadays.

I will probably try to rip at very high quality to see how I like it.

To be honest with y'all, I just got a Shure E3c (w/noise cancelling) earphones and it rocks. I can hear sounds that I didn't even notice when I play the original CD on my home system. It is like being in a sound-tight audiophile room. The highs are crisp and the low bass is tight - a boombox is a small package. Ripping at 320 kbps or above, I might hear ghosts talking in the background

Thanks to all for the discussion.

Ogg is a great format if you can find a player that plays it. There's also .aac which sounds really good at lower bit rates than mp3s. My decision about what encoding format to use was made largely by my choice of using iTunes as my primary music player. So I don't use Ogg. I've got too much music to convert to any other format anyway.

That said, you'll definitely NOT want to encode at 64kbps because that's just too low to sound good. 320 is ridiculously high and likely any difference you here between that and 256 is a placebo because unless you've got really high end equipment, the circuitry will be affecting the sound and you won't be able to tell. For your pocketpc, you could probably get away with 128kbps mp3s. For general listening to music, I'd suggest 160kbps in .aac or 192 in mp3. HTH.

NO MP3 will be "cd quality", especially anything < 256kbits

i rip at 256k vbr (variable) with the LAME codec: any audiophile ive talked to agrees thats best for Mp3s...

i play with PocketMusic (not so much since I got a separate player...and the axim doesn't use the best sound parts)

just my opinions as a really pickey music lover

/edit: you didnt ask, but the best ripper is CDEX ; )

I've got some ripped at 192K but the vast majority are at 128K. I like listening to my music but I would not call myself an audiophile. Whether listening through external speakers or on my headphones they all sound great to me and I can get a lot on my 1GB SD card with room to spare.

i normally rip at 256, if your wanting to save some space vbr and joint stereo will both help you

I use CDEX, using the built-in LAME "standard" preset, which is like 160k VBR.

the average user probably wouldnt notice the difference between a 128kbps mp3 and a cd....

Well the format I prefer to use is OGG ripped at 64-90k but right now I'm using 192-256k MP3's because I don't think Betaplayer's equalization works with OGGs. On the subject of players, for MP3s, Betaplayer's the best due to its fantastic equalization. If I set the bars just right and lower the pre-amp a little it sounds about as good as any portable audio player. I don't know if it was on purpose but Picard really made a hell of an MP3 player!

VBR is the way to go.

I do mine in 192 VBR...