iPod shuffle vs. 3G iPod: sound quality

[werdwerdus]

Hi. I have a 3G ipod and I just ordered an ipod shuffle from the Apple refurb store. It was a great deal for $49 including an external battery backup. Anyways, I was hoping someone might be able to tell me some differences in the sound quality of the shuffle versus the 3G ipod. I have all my mp3 files stored at 320kbps on my iPod and decided to make a separate library with smaller files just for the shuffle. I read through some of the lame htmls and decided that the VBR standard preset (170-210 kbps) would probably be the best for getting the best sq and most number of files onto the 512MB shuffle. Does anybody know which VBR setting this equates to (the 0 through 9 switch)? Thanks for any input you have.

PS: I have all my music in FLAC on my computer, so I won't be transcoding from mp3 to mp3, fwiw.

edit: since I'm going to be making a new library just for the shuffle, would it make more sense to use AAC vbr and use a slightly lower bitrate to get more songs onto the player? If so, would Foobar be able to make AAC and which settings/bitrate should I use?
Thanks again.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Okay, simply from the thread title, I'll say this:

The Shuffle SQ beats the Thanksgiving turkey stuffing out of the 3G, as well as the later iPod models, although not so much on the 5G.