What format do you use for music?

02-13-04, 04:22 PM

Tell me the format and the quality...

Right now all my music is wma with 64 kbs. I thought it would sound like an mpg with 128 kbs??

02-13-04, 04:24 PM

same as you.....so nice to have 240 minutes of good quality music in only 120MB.

pitbullmanus · 02-13-04, 04:28 PM

WMA @ 64kbps is okay for crappy headphones or feeding into your car's cassette player IMO. And you can store 2x the music.

I am not sure if 128kbps wma is as good as 128 mp3, I prefer mp3 at that bit rate (or file size) so you can use the full range of media players (free) like Winamp or pocket music basic.

02-13-04, 04:41 PM

I rather loose some memory then quality... I have a 512MB SD card I use so perhaps I should switch to mp3??

Mike1138 · 02-13-04, 04:56 PM

From the tests that I have seen 128kbps WMA files sound slightly better than 128kbps mp3 files. I use 192kbps mp3's myself. I think it is a good tradoff between 128 and 320. There is more support from players for mp3's than there is for WMA's. Plus WMA is Microsoft, and I think giving them some competition is better in the long run.

02-13-04, 05:05 PM

mp3 recorded at something like 96kbps - good enough for my untrained/non-audiophile ear (1 to 4 meg per song).
a frien told me he doesn't go under 128kbps, and prefers even higher. -but the files get too large at this rate.

lancie10 · 02-13-04, 05:14 PM

I also use 96kbps and find it to be just fine. I also agree about there being more support for MP3 versus WMA. For example, I have just installed PocketMusic and like it so far but it won't recognize any of my WMA files! It seems that it only makes sense to use MP3 since the Windows Media Player plays them as well as WMA but its not that way with some other music players.
On a side note, is there a fast way to convert WMA's to Mp3? That would sure save me a headache!

hanna975 · 02-13-04, 05:22 PM

MP3 for me at 196. I have 160 gigs on my pc so space isn't an issue. Just still trying to fiqure out this whole wifi thing. Someday, life will allow me enough time to play.

02-13-04, 05:25 PM

All of my music that I carry with me is in OGG format at a bitrate of 96kbps. To me this sounds just as good as MP3's at 128kbps but smaller in size because the compression is better.

Buicksx2 · 02-13-04, 05:56 PM

Hi All,

Where do you go to change the rate from 96 to 128 and vice versa?

Like to try a couple at each level and go from there.

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

Rich

NightKrawler · 02-13-04, 06:53 PM

I use OGG like whitelyt but i encode them with Variable bitrate 64-96KBits. I hear less compression artefacts than 128 wma's and the music is pretty small. I play them with "GS Player" (it has a very cool surround/3D-Effect/BassBosst option)

Mike1138 · 02-13-04, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Buicksx2
Hi All,

Where do you go to change the rate from 96 to 128 and vice versa?

Like to try a couple at each level and go from there.

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

Rich

The only time you can change the bit rate is during the encoding. When you rip from your CD you choose 96, 128, etc...

You are taking the best route, by comparing them yourself. Everyone has different tastes and equipment. One person may like 128 another may hate it.

Mike1138 · 02-13-04, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lancie10
I have just installed PocketMusic and like it so far but it won't recognize any of my WMA files!

Did you install the free version or the paid version? You have to pay for it to get WMA support.

lancie10 · 02-13-04, 11:48 PM

I only downloaded the free version. I'm a college student with a wife who already thinks (and rightly so!) that I spend too much money on this little hobby of mine. I guess that makes sense that WMA is only supported in the pay version. In fact, I didn't even know there was a pay version. I had just read that a few people around here use it so I downloaded it off Freeware PPC. Since I am not going to be paying for it, do you know of any way to convert WMA to Mp3? Or is it only possible during the recording process? I'm also curious about the OGG format everyone mentions...never heard of it.

02-14-04, 12:39 AM

Ogg Vorbis is a completely open, patent-free, professional audio encoding and streaming technology with all the benefits of Open Source. The compression is much better than MP3 resulting in smaller file sizes.

dbPowerAmp is one of the best tools out there to convert from one format to almost anything. You can also get codecs for just about any format out there to convert to. Just about all formats is covered. It is also freeware.

dbPowerAmp Music Converter