paddy3001 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 I finally entered the 21st century and acquired a portable hard drive and ipod and am ready to start digitizing my music collection. What's the best format to use when ripping cds in itunes? Due to space constrictions, FLAC and WAV are probably out of the question, and there doesn't seem to be a consensus on AAC versus Mp3. I'm guessing 256kbps AAC should be just fine? Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
willywoody Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 I finally entered the 21st century and acquired a portable hard drive and ipod and am ready to start digitizing my music collection. What's the best format to use when ripping cds in itunes? Due to space constrictions, FLAC and WAV are probably out of the question, and there doesn't seem to be a consensus on AAC versus Mp3. I'm guessing 256kbps AAC should be just fine? Thanks!256 aac is decent sounding but you can tell it's compressed if you really try. it's what i use. if you can bump it up a little more it would be better, especially if you're gonna use this for a home stereo and not just portable audio. be sure to turn on error correction in your preferences. if you want to get crazy you can download another program to rip the cds then import to itunes, as itunes supposedly isn't as good as other programs. i'm a mac guy so i'm not up to speed on what the best encoders are nowadays. The LAME encoder for mp3 used to be the best and might still be. just remember that aac is proprietary an won't work on much else besided apple equipment so mp3 is more flexible. however, aac is supposed to sound better at the same bitrate. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ZenLunatic Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 I have a sugguestion. Dont use iTunes or AAC. I have an iPod and use anapod for software to load music. Here is the link to explain more - Anapod site The thing with AAC is that is can only be used on iPods. You cant share it. iTunes doesnt want you to share at all or use the music anywhere else. The thing to do is only use MP3s, it is universal and widely supported by every company. Just use high bitrates. I use 256, but you should at least go 192. You have to pay for Anapod, but well worth the money. It lets you easily drag and drop onto iPod like a harddrive. Also, you can easily take MP3s from you iPod to your PC by just dragging and dropping. With iTunes, there is no way to get music from iPod to PC. iTunes is more of a hassle than anything. If you wanna share music and have it be able used in other devices besides iPod, dont use AAC. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
willywoody Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 well, for mac there's senuti to get your tunes from ipod to mac http://www.fadingred.org/senuti/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OOO Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 The thing with AAC is that is can only be used on iPods. You cant share it. iTunes doesnt want you to share at all or use the music anywhere else. The thing to do is only use MP3s, it is universal and widely supported by every company. Just use high bitrates. I use 256, but you should at least go 192. If you wanna share music and have it be able used in other devices besides iPod, dont use AAC. This is inaccurate. AAC is a open format, is higher quality than mp3s of the same bitrate, and works on many/most devices, including: Creative Zen PortableMicrosoft ZuneSony PlayStation Portable (PSP) Sony Walkman Nintendo WiiPS3Windows Mobile DevicesPalm DevicesCar Steroes will play CDs burned with aac filesLots and lots of mobile phones AAC will work just fine if you want something in a lossy format. It's better than mp3, but you get diminishing returns at higher bitrates, and so most people couldn't tell the difference between a 256 mp3 and a 256 aac Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ZenLunatic Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 This is inaccurate. AAC is a open format, is higher quality than mp3s of the same bitrate, and works on many/most devices, including: Creative Zen PortableMicrosoft ZuneSony PlayStation Portable (PSP) Sony Walkman Nintendo WiiPS3Windows Mobile DevicesPalm DevicesCar Steroes will play CDs burned with aac filesLots and lots of mobile phones AAC will work just fine if you want something in a lossy format. It's better than mp3, but you get diminishing returns at higher bitrates, and so most people couldn't tell the difference between a 256 mp3 and a 256 aac Ok so more devices support AAC now, but MP3 is still more widely used. When have you heard of a AAC player? Lot of standard cd players now have MP3 playblack. You gotta watch out for DRM with AAC. I guess AAC is trying to compete with MP3, it will take alot to take over. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest David Puddy Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 i don't know that this is really related to what's being discussed or not, but rather than get me an iPod back in the day, my parents got me this bunk-ass Dell DJ. The program that game with the DJ is not compatable with Windows Vista. Does anyone know of a program that might work with this piece of ass DJ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
welch79 Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 you know in itunes preferences, there is an option for apple lossless which sounds better than aac or mp3 rips using itunes. the files are, of course, dramatically larger. just manage your ipod where you put the songs that you want on it (not your whole collection). when was the last time you listened to that r.e.m. album anyway? not saying that you won't ever again, just take it off and put some lossless stuff on there for now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 I use AAC at 192, and it sounds fine to me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paddy3001 Posted December 11, 2007 Author Share Posted December 11, 2007 Thanks for all of the advice. I'm still indecisive about mp3 versus aac, but that's mostly due to laziness (I already ripped my entire Beatles bootleg collection to aac and don't want to have to redo it all again), and will probably go with a high bit rate mp3. The LAME mp3 encoder needs to be run through a separate program, right? I've heard bad things about itunes' mp3 encoder.... Thanks again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
willywoody Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Thanks for all of the advice. I'm still indecisive about mp3 versus aac, but that's mostly due to laziness (I already ripped my entire Beatles bootleg collection to aac and don't want to have to redo it all again), and will probably go with a high bit rate mp3. The LAME mp3 encoder needs to be run through a separate program, right? I've heard bad things about itunes' mp3 encoder.... Thanks again. http://lame.sourceforge.net/index.php Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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