MP-3 users, don't you regret going into "audiphile" relams ?

[HeadLover]

The more I use quality stuff like good headphones, amp, dac, and so on, the more I can't bear (my ears) the sound of the computer using mp3, even when it come to 192+ MP3 with VBR and so on

So
Does the same goes for you?
Don't you think sometimes to yourself - "damn, were was the days when I could just download (legal of curse) a 4mb file with the new song you just heard on the radio and listen to it ?

It seem that the more you go into the more high end systems, the more the source become important and using just a plaing simple mp3, just don't do it

Just my 0.5 cent, hope to hear yours about the topic

 

[bobglaub]

Not at all..once i turned FLAC I've never looked back.

 

[Steggy]

simple.

download flac and 320kbps.

I plan on purchasing a 160 gig ipod for the sole purposes of 320kbps+ music. 30 gigs is too small man.

 

[krmathis]

Been there done that!
Moved on to lossless (first FLAC, then Apple Lossless) some 5-6 years ago though...

 

[HeadLover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Been there done that! Moved on to lossless (first FLAC, then Apple Lossless) some 5-6 years ago though...

Why Apple? is it better ?!


As for the others, yeah you are right that flac is better, but let's not forget that most things today still are in the MP-3 format, it is much harder to find FLAC.

 

[Uncle Erik]

No regrets! I listened to CDs and AAC files for a good while. I've since largely moved to SACD and vinyl. I'm happier and enjoy the music more. There were some upfront costs, but now I just add more music and enjoy the setup.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadLover /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why Apple? is it better ?! As for the others, yeah you are right that flac is better, but let's not forget that most things today still are in the MP-3 format, it is much harder to find FLAC.

1. ALAC is not "better" than FLAC in terms of lossless, but it is optimized for iPods, file size, and their battery life.
2. FLAC is easy to find, if you know where to look.
   

 

[tk3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadLover /img/forum/go_quote.gif The more I use quality stuff like good headphones, amp, dac, and so on, the more I can't bear (my ears) the sound of the computer using mp3, even when it come to 192+ MP3 with VBR and so on

Did you try blind testing high quality MP3 vs lossless and see if you can notice the difference?
For most people Lame V0 or 320 CBR kbps MP3 is as good as transparent compared to lossless, I would be surprised if you could notice a major difference between the two.
It's more likely that the music recording itself is not up to par than the container is to blame.

 

[channum]

Gotta say, I've never had this problem. I can't ABX between lossless and V4 or Q 0.5 (LAME & Nero AAC respectively) no matter what the gear I've tried. If I can't ABX it, I can't hear it.

Better gear has made the difference between some things much clearer, but every single time I've found myself thinking that something sounds bad from lossy encoding, it has turned out it's the original mastering, because when I checked the lossless originals sound just as bad.

 

[moogoob]

Low encoding rates grate on me, but 320 Kbps encoding or better sounds just fine. I've got some old Enya encoded at around 116 Kbps VBR, and it's awful.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadLover /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why Apple? is it better ?!

Because its supported by iTunes, iPod's, AirPort Express, ...

With lossless there are no really "better" codec. They are all lossless (as the names say) and have about the same features. Different amount of hardware/software support though, which should be the main reason picking one over another.

Quote:

As for the others, yeah you are right that flac is better, but let's not forget that most things today still are in the MP-3 format, it is much harder to find FLAC.

CD's...

 

[tjumper78]

although my music collection is mostly flac, i still love properly ripped mp3s (v0). i honestly cant tell the difference bettwen lossless and v0 mp3, no matter what kind of setup i tried.
lossless is good backup and it brings me peace of mind.

 

[RedLeader]

Not at all. Everything I have digitally is in V0 and I can't tell the difference. I couldn't on gear that cost a combined $15K and I can't on mine. Neither could anyone else I asked. So... I don't regret the format or the gear.

 

[Scott549]

I compared some CD's with high bitrate VBR files on my best stereo system and I was finding it extremely difficult to tell the difference, if there was any, so I've settled on Lame-encoded VBR files at the V0 setting.

 

[ls206]

I rip my music from CDs as .wav files, does lossless and flac not undergo some compression??
With 1TB hard-drives getting cheaper there is no excuse for mp3s!!

thumbs up to apple for allowing .wav/lossless files on their iPods