[zentg]

what do you like to best? been doing a lot of reading and seems like they say vinyl is the best quality then CDs, then FLAC/Apple lossless/ and then itunes/google/amazon, etc... i've been rebuilding my music collection and i'm trying to get what i can in flac, but some hindi songs that i want are only available on itunes for 256kbs (unless i pirate which would be even lower quality!) - so is 256kbs good enough? or should i go on a quest to find someone in india who can find that cd and send it to me? lol 
 
also i was wondering, if you are ripping lossless from a cd, if the cd is scratched up but still readable enough to rip the song, would it lose quality?

 

[cel4145]

When properly tested, many people find high bit rate mp3 and aac files often indistinguishable from lossless. You should try for yourself: http://lifehacker.com/5903625/mp3-or-lossless-see-if-you-can-hear-the-difference-with-this-test.

Some CD ripping software, like Exact Audio Copy (EAC), has some error correction capability. It can also issue you a report to let you know how much error there was during the rip. If the scratches are very minor, you might search the web for methods for filling in the scratches to reduce reading errors.

 

[zentg]

When properly tested, many people find high bit rate mp3 and aac files often indistinguishable from lossless. You should try for yourself: http://lifehacker.com/5903625/mp3-or-lossless-see-if-you-can-hear-the-difference-with-this-test.

Some CD ripping software, like Exact Audio Copy (EAC), has some error correction capability. It can also issue you a report to let you know how much error there was during the rip. If the scratches are very minor, you might search the web for methods for filling in the scratches to reduce reading errors.

Yeah I know the difference between mp3 and AAC isn't really noticeabl - i meant to ask if there is a noticeable quality difference between a song bought on itunes and a song ripped losslessly off a cd.

 

[Slaphead]

Yeah I know the difference between mp3 and AAC isn't really noticeabl - i meant to ask if there is a noticeable quality difference between a song bought on itunes and a song ripped losslessly off a cd.

If there is a significant difference then it's not the result of compression, it'll be as a result of different mastering and/or mixing on one or the other - that'll change the perceived quality way way more than compressing lossless to 256 VBR AAC. In fact to my ears 256 AAC compared to lossless is completely transparent, meaning I can't hear a difference.

CDs, especially of older and popular bands, have often been through the "re-mastering" process several times and then reissued again. It's likely that if you have an older CD bought back in the eighties or early nineties and then buy the same track or album from iTunes then there'll be differences, in some cases quite a lot of difference, but probably not with most newer releases.

 

[cel4145]

And also from older to newer masterings with some music, sometimes the older, original versions are better because of the loudness wars: http://dynamicrangeday.co.uk/about/.

So it can be difficult to predict which will be better or worse.