[Mat Bon 0013]

Hi, I'm fast becoming unsure with mp3 now that I have an amp in between my iPod and Headphones. I have at best ripped my CD's at 192k and still the amp is revealling it's short comings (mp3).
Would appreciate any format recommendations other than mp3. And where do you change ripping preferences?
Cheers
Mat

 

[blessingx]

You only have three options concerning the iPod- mp3, aac, or wav/aiff. If you want absolute CD quality go wav/aiff, but your iPod is going to fill up quickly. Properly encoded mp3's have their limitations, but your amp only (what headphones are you using) is unlikely to expose them. Mp3's at their highest will sound better than aac's at their highest. You should go over to Hydrogen Audio and learn about mp3's and aac's. Try lame extreme and insane settings and see what you think.

 

[Mat Bon 0013]

Thanks blessingx......
Does this mean that I thrash my existing iTues Library and start ripping a new one to replace it, or is there a reverse way of doing it?

 

[kcits]

if what you're asking is whether or not you can convert your existing .mp3s into higher quality ones, then unfortunately, you can't. you have to re-rip them from CD. and i'd definitely second blessingx's recommendation of the lame --alt-presets.

 

[Mat Bon 0013]

Thanks guys! Will be spending the weekend re-ripping to higher formats on iTunes now .....sheesh!!
Thanks

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by blessingx Mp3's at their highest will sound better than aac's at their highest.

True, at the highest levels, but at lower levels AAC is better.

I personally have started ripping all my music at 160k AAC and have been extremely happy with the quality.

 

[Mat Bon 0013]

Quote:

Originally posted by MacDEF True, at the highest levels, but at lower levels AAC is better. I personally have started ripping all my music at 160k AAC and have been extremely happy with the quality.

Thanks! Note taken.......

 

[JaZZ]

Mat Bon 0013
Quote:

Will be spending the weekend re-ripping to higher formats on iTunes now .....sheesh!!

You will see: it will be more fun than you'd have expected...

 

[Xecter]

I have no experience with iTunes, but on the windows platform i use EAC + Lame.


Here are my extra LAME parameters:

-b 320 -m j -h -k --noath



=P

 

[Gergor]

Quote:

Originally posted by Xecter Here are my extra LAME parameters: -b 320 -m j -h -k --noath

What do the parameters mean?

 

[Xecter]

the parameters mean.....

-b 320 = bitrate at 320

-m j = mode, joint stereo

-h = high quality, slower encoding

-k = full bandwidth. not 100% clear on this settings. I hear that it keeps more of the bits contained on the mp3. Dont use with lower bitrates, it might create artifacts by compressing too much stuff into too little space.

--noath = disable ATH. Disable any use of the ATH (absolute threshold of hearing) for masking. Normally, humans are unable to hear any sound below this threshold. Otherwords, turns off the high/low pass filters.

 

[Mat Bon 0013]

Gregor, Xecter,
Now that is very useful info, thanks!
working on some now.......I just realized I need a bigger HD

This T&A thing is eating on HD space.......
Regards
Mat

 

[Knocturnal]

My humble opinion would be AAC ripped at 192. I have good sound quality and it doesnt take up all my harddrive.

 

[Knocturnal]

BTW whats this lame preset thing all you guys are talking about. I have a mac with 10.2 running but I dont have any of this lame thing. Please explain someone.

 

[FrostyMMB]

You can use iTunes as a frontend for LAME if you grab the OS X package and the iTunes script

Get your preferred version of LAME here
http://www.culater.net/osd/packages.html

and the iTunes script here
http://www.blacktree.com/apps/

Install them, and you'll have an option under the scripts menu of iTunes to rip and encode a playlist or CD using LAME. Then you specify your command line settings ('--alt-preset extreme' for example) and where you'd like the files saved. The terminal will launch and you'll see the encoding progress and statistics. The files will be automatically added to a playlist in iTunes.