Preferred bitrates and formats for mp3 or audio files?

K

klezmer41

CAGiversary!
I'm curious about what people prefer when it comes to bitrates and formats.

Bitrates:

64
128
192
256
320
VBR of some type (Variable Bit Rate, please include choice of bitrate if choosing this)
other?

Formats:

mp3
AAC (Apple uses this)
ogg (free and open-source)
WMA (Microsoft's Codec)
FLAC (lossless: 1/2 file size of a WAV)
other?
 
192 more than anything. 20 gb MP3 player, not like I dont have the room. I'll take as low as 128 but only if it's something I didnt rip myself, seems most stuff I find on the net is at most 128.
 
I used to rip everything as mp3s @ 320 kbs. However, I just bought a new 20 gig iriver and had to limit my file sizes so I went with ogg vorbis @ 192 kbs.
 
wav and just about any LOSSLESS(!) audio format is the only choice.

When you have a decent set of headphones and/or speakers/receiver any MP3 sounds really bad when compared to the real cd or a good wav rip.
 
I usually stick with 160kbps when ripping a cd...but 192's okay but you won't really tell the difference.

I use CDEX or Quintisential (QCD) with the Lame MP3 encoder.

VBR is okay for spoken tracks but I don't really see a point for music.
 
VBR is adaptive, so obviously better than CBR (unless you're an audio freak who must have everything at 320 kbps).

Let's check the LAME documentation, shall we?

VBR modes

--preset medium
This preset should provide near transparency to most people on most music.
The resulting bitrate should be in the 150-180kbps range, according to music complexity.

--preset standard
This preset should generally be transparent to most people on most music and is already quite high in quality.
The resulting bitrate should be in the 170-210kbps range, according to music complexity.

--preset extreme
If you have extremely good hearing and similar equipment, this preset will provide slightly higher quality than the "standard" mode.
The resulting bitrate should be in the 200-240kbps range, according to music complexity.

CBR 320kbps
--preset insane
This preset will usually be overkill for most people and most situations, but if you must have the absolute highest quality with no regard to filesize, this is the way to go. This preset is the highest preset quality available.

P.S. of course, speech needs 64 kbps at most.
 
I think some people can get too picky when it comes to DLing music, it's for free, I mean enjoy that you're getting the songs, they're free. But anyways I guess I prefer 128 or over, though don't really mind if it's under as long as I can still hear it okay, or the audio quality is decent enough.
 
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