[mortonjl]

Need some head-fi help, or advice. Currently all my music is on iTunes with about 90% ripped to lossless. All my sources are iPods but am wanting to try a clip or maybe A829 so I am thinking I need to change to another music format. My daughter also has other than iPod so I would like to be able to give her some music. So, in the import tab I can choose AAC, Aiff, Lossless, MP3 or WAV, which would work out best for me so I can use other players, have great sound quality and not use as much space? Also, can I change the lossless music to the desired format now or do I have to re-rip? Thanks in advance, hope someone can enlighten me.

 

[Sherwood]

Unfortunately, this is always a kind of tradeoff. Quality vs. wide acceptance. Straight mp3 is the universal standard, and itunes will encode at 320 VBR, which is what I do all my lossy encoding on. In numerous tests, I've been unable to discern this from lossless even on my best gear. Some songs I can, but that's a good day for me.

WAV is uncompressed, so don't go that route. Of the above options, after mp3, I suppose AAC is the next best shot at compatibility. Your daughter likely won't care which codec you use (geez Dad) and I suggest you try for yourself to discern a difference. Rip the same song to each format, and get someone patient to test you. I invested in a good wife.