CD ripping: What compression do you use?

[dogbone]

I've ripped all my CD's at AAC 128 and I was going to rerip everything now I have a bigger drive. But what to use? mp3 192? or AAC 160 or even AAC 192 or higher. So I thought I'd see what others do, because I don't want to think different.

If you use a lower setting to send to others don't count that.

 

[vniow]

192 AAC VBR.

 

[WildCowboy]

You'll find a wide variety. Personally, I rip at 160 MP3...I'm not picky.

I'll probably buy a big external drive and re-rip in Lossless at some point, but I've been saying that for quite some time now.

 

[eji]

Apple Lossless all the way. I got tired of going back and ripping at higher bitrates when I discovered that the low bitrates weren't cutting it for me anymore. Also serves as a backup in the case the CDs get scratched. In fact, I've been able to rip a few CDs that were badly scratched to Apple Lossless error-free and then burn a new, working CD from it.

 

[livingfortoday]

MP3 at 192kbps vbr

 

[Lollypop]

192kbps ACC for me, use to be 192 mp3, im not a audiophile, can hear a big difference between the two, but if ACC is better like most people are saying I wont complain!

 

[iTwitch]

mp3 192, but I don't know why?

 

[yg17]

Lame with alt-preset-extreme, which I believe is around 256 VBR. AAC is nice and all, but I want something compatible with, well, everything.

 

[dogbone]

What's VBR?

 

[janey]

Lame with alt-preset-extreme, which I believe is around 256 VBR. AAC is nice and all, but I want something compatible with, well, everything.

another hurrah for lame aps/ape

vbr is the opposite of cbr, where vbr is variable bit rate and cbr is constant. with vbr the bit rate fluctuates a bit depending on the complexity of the sound, instead of staying constant through the whole thing. it may seem funny to mention something like 256kbps vbr when it's supposed to be variable, but the bitrate mentioned is usually the average.

 

[rade]

FLAC lossless & mp3 (lame -V3 --vbr-new) ~192

 

[yg17]

another hurrah for lame aps/ape

vbr is the opposite of cbr, where vbr is variable bit rate and cbr is constant. with vbr the bit rate fluctuates a bit depending on the complexity of the sound, instead of staying constant through the whole thing. it may seem funny to mention something like 256kbps vbr when it's supposed to be variable, but the bitrate mentioned is usually the average.

yep, APX sounds like CD quality to my ears.

I still have a ton of music that's below it, since I recently started using APX, and some music is at whatever bitrate I *cough*downloaded*cough* it at. But if you know where to look, you can get *cough*legallydownloadedmusic*cough* at bitrates at APX or higher

 

[mad jew]

Everything's at 160kbps MP3 for me. I use MP3 because it's a more universal format and 160kbps because I can't tell the difference between that and anything higher. Plus, my library's over 100GB, so I'd have to buy a bigger hard drive if I wanted it less compressed.

 

[TheEdisonEffect]

Anything I rip is in lossless. It's not that I'm extremely picky for everyday listening, but most of what I rip I intend to burn as well, and I like to have the burned cd be as good quality as the original.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I'm an Apple Lossless guy - I use it because I have a big hard drive and I like my rips to sound authentic.

 

[miniConvert]

MP3 192, I need the cross compatibility.

 

[Boggle]

B4 I really knew what I was doing I used 128 MP3, now I use 256 & sometimes 320 depending on how much I like the music. But that's only b/c I have barely 25 Gigs of music total.

But since my first Mac will be arriving next week(ish) I'll be searching this thread to learn which format will be best on my new Macbook.

 

[killuminati]

192 AAC VBR. Doesn't take up too much space but still sounds ok.

 

[nw43]

MP3 160 for me.

Pretty much the same reasons as mad jew (I didn't copy, honest ) - ie I wanted mp3 for compatibility reasons and chose 160 as a trade off between quality and space.

 

[Glenn Wolsey]

Aac 320

 

[clayj]

192, although I primarily rip in WMA format (using RealPlayer) and then let iTunes convert the WMAs to MP4s for iPod use.

192 is a good compromise value, since for most people the sound quality is indistinguishable between 192 and higher values. I did some testing and found I couldn't tell the difference between 192, 320, lossless, and the original CDs. At 192, I'm able to store my entire music collection on my 60 GB iPod, with plenty of space to spare... and I'm able to back up my entire music collection to just 5 DVDs (4 DL + one standard 4.7 disc).

 

[OutThere]

192, although I primarily rip in WMA format (using RealPlayer) and then let iTunes convert the WMAs to MP4s for iPod use.

May I ask why? Re-compressing is grodie...


I rip 160 AAC. Don't really need more than that...There are to many limiting factors (sound card, sound system, analog cabling) to justify using a higher bitrate for me...if I ever happen to get a hifi sound system, then I'd probably rip FLAC or Apple Lossless.

 

[clayj]

May I ask why? Re-compressing is grodie...

Because my Windows Media Center setup, including my two Xbox 360s, prefers WMAs.

 

[rjgonzales]

AAC 192 VBR here.

 

[OutThere]

Because my Windows Media Center setup, including my two Xbox 360s, prefers WMAs.

Right-o. Makes sense. I wish I had 2 Xbox 360s.

I thought you were doing it 'just because' (I know some people who never bothered learning how to rip in iTunes and just kept importing their ripped WMAs).