lowpost

Just wondering what most people prefer optimally...

Most everything I've downloaded is at 128. Anything I've ripped is either 160 or 192. Since I upgraded my hard drive recently, I've been ripping at 320 and trying to re-download all my 128 bitrate files.

I can tell a difference up to 160, but it's difficult to hear a difference between 160 and 192. Above 192, it's almost all the same to me.

I listen mostly in my car becasue I don't have a good home system yet, but if it makes a difference someday for a home system, I might as well rip everyhting at minimum 192.

Any thoughts or comments?

DerrickM

I do everything at 192. I agree exactly with your observations--it's easy to hear a difference from 128 to 160 or 128 to 192, but nearly impossible to hear a difference above 192 unless you have extremely high-end home equipment.

Joe5.0

I rip at 320, but I try to download at nothing less than 192. I have some older dl's that are 128 & 160, and I can tell a slight difference, but nothing that is enough to make me not listen to them.

daniel1113

All of my songs (all 20,000+) are ripped using EAC and the alt-preset-standard setting. This creates VBR mp3s virtually indistinguishable from the original CD in most cases under normal listening conditions. I wouldn't use anything else.

DerrickM

Yes, LAME rocks. (EAC is just a frontend, LAME actually does the work). I use EAC/LAME myself.

daniel1113

Yep. I was trying to avoid the details, but you are 100% correct. Perhaps I will edit my original post

Tsx536

Hmm...I've heard a lot of people talking about this "LAME" encoder. Where can I download it?

DerrickM

Oh, it's all over the place--just search for "eac lame" on google. They're both freeware.

daniel1113

Follow this guide and you will be set. Enjoy!

Karl O.

I prefer 320K, the difference between bitrates is audible with both the Alpine CD deck and the Pioneer CD decks I use. Takes up more space on the CD-Rs I use but they are cheap anyway, who cares.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Variable Bitrate > *

Doc Holliday

Bitrates piss me off... even when limewire or KCeashy says it's 192 it's not or sounds like l<rap.. and many songs only come in 128 for some reason.

I've just been using winamp to make my cd's... .wav files of course, but now I got this new mp3 player i'm installing soon. It's a clarion 7' flip out screen.

I'm going to download eac/lame and check it out.... See what all the talk is aboat...

Yeehaw..

Jeremy

Joe5.0

I have been usinf Musuc Match 9.0 to rip cd's, and i do all my store bought cd's at 320k. Will using the EAC/LAME software be THAT much better? I already have like 20 hours of mp3's burned from my cd collection, and it would be a pita to do it all over again.