iPod importing songs from cds....

128 AAC will probably give you the best sound/space ratio, but then again its up to you and what sounds good to your ears, 128 just isnt cutting it anymore so im in the process of converting my stuff to at least 192AAC, not sure if i will go higher yet though

AAC@128 is good enough for iTMS, and I don't disagree...

My three - 3 - iTMS bought songs are (protected) AAC@128...

And I rip all my CDs (own and from the public library) in AAC@128 because, as PlaceofDis said, this gives more than good enough quality for playing on my hifi using Airtunes or on my iPod mini, and at the same time there's room enough for my nearly 10.000 songs (barely) on my iBook with a 60 GB HD.

I try to stay away from anything less than 160kbps, prefer 192. More than that, and I don't notice much improvement anyway (except on a few songs, maybe). But I don't really fret about bitrate much, since iTMS forces you to purchase at the pathetic 128kbps, and so many of my albums were ripped as different bitrate MP3s or something... it's all a mess.

For use with an iPod I'd say AAC 128kbps is about the sweet spot. You're just not going to hear that much of a difference by going any higher under iPod using conditions, even with good headphones.

I've tried to stay standard at 128 AAC. Remember, by using mp3 at the same rate you WILL lose quality.

Also remember that if you want to subsequently up the data rate, you will have to re-import, as converting a 128 up to 192 will do absolutely nothing for the quality (it may even make it worse).

I find 128 AAC completely adequate for my tastes, I am somewhat of an audiophile, and have a pair of £120 in-ear phones for travel and £90 GRADO cans for home use. The ONLY time I have heard artifacts in music is when they have been ripped by someone else. I have an eclectic taste, with hip-hop, rock, metal, jazz and many others in my collection, but not classical (which may demand a higher rate).

Finally - Remember to check the "Use error correction when reading Audio CDs" box under importing preferences, else you may get skipping in the AAC from some older CDs (I personally didn't listen to every track while importing my library).

I rip at 192 MP3. Gives good enough quality for me.

yg17 said:

I rip at 192 MP3. Gives good enough quality for me.

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MP3, why?

yeah, why MP3? do you use a different player or something?

i don't get artifacts at 128, but the high treble (electronica, dance, etc) and the low bass (R&B and rock) get really muted, and on songs that are treble or bass heavy, the sound quality winds up muddy... Listen to an Atreyu song at 128, then at 192, and you'll hear a difference... In the former, it sounds like an unintelligible mess of cymbals and noise with a guy screaming over it, in the latter, it sounds like a guy screaming over well-defined instruments (trust me, this is an improvement). To me, the difference is like watching a low-res movie at fullscreen vs. a full-res movie at fullscreen, sure either way you can watch the movie, but it's clearer and sharper at a higher resolution.

And i don't even consider myself an audiophile... perhaps just a little more anal than most

I also rip at 192 MP3.
and 256 VBR MP3 for my favorite stuff.

Why MP3 you ask?
I have yet to find a CD or DVD player that can play an ACC disc.
Staying with MP3 ensures compatibility. I can burn a CD with 130 MP3's on it and take it to a party or in the car.

Admittedly, I could also take my iPod (which I sometimes do), but I don't like everyone playing DJ with my iPod. Also, I know a couple people who had their iPods dropped or stolen at parties.

Sure ACC is better at the same bitrates, but I want to keep my collection in one simple format. I have a 40gig iPod, so I am not worried about space.

Just personal taste, I guess.

I do 192/AAC and often reflect on how storage prices keep falling and falling and falling and falling ...

I must be tone death or something, but I rip mine at 128kps AAC. Before I switched I had all my tunes in 320kps mp3. To be quite honest, I dont hear much of a difference. Some tunes sounds much better at 128kps AAC than 320kps mp3... But again, I might be tone death.

How do you mess with the settings on burning to a cd, I know how to change the importing rate but can't figure out the burning rate. do you need toast or a similar program?

Burning rate? Are you burning an mp3 CD or an audio CD?

rainman::|:| said:

yeah, why MP3? do you use a different player or something?

i don't get artifacts at 128, but the high treble (electronica, dance, etc) and the low bass (R&B and rock) get really muted, and on songs that are treble or bass heavy, the sound quality winds up muddy... Listen to an Atreyu song at 128, then at 192, and you'll hear a difference... In the former, it sounds like an unintelligible mess of cymbals and noise with a guy screaming over it, in the latter, it sounds like a guy screaming over well-defined instruments (trust me, this is an improvement). To me, the difference is like watching a low-res movie at fullscreen vs. a full-res movie at fullscreen, sure either way you can watch the movie, but it's clearer and sharper at a higher resolution.

And i don't even consider myself an audiophile... perhaps just a little more anal than most

Click to expand...

Try Listen to Ateyu live. One of the best performances I have ever seen, twice.

Yebot said:

Burning rate? Are you burning an mp3 CD or an audio CD?

Click to expand...

I'm burning an audio cd, that was probably a stupid question it's prob. only burned in one format.

128 aac, nuff said... its a good balance between file size and quality... couple that with ROCK eq on the ipod and your good to go, at least for me...