[LTUCCI1924]

I just got a zen 8gb and need to know about the bit rate.
Can I use wave looseless or should I use mp3 320 bit rate?

 

[dir_d]

mp3 320 should be smaller... I personally do v0 Vbr but some people might say its not as good as 320 straight. I personally think its fine and cant hear a diff. Files are lil smaller with the same quality when ripped to v0 Vbr.

Edit: Supposedly you can Rip down to V2 Vbr and not really tell the difference...Not to sure about that one.

 

[LTUCCI1924]

DIR What about looseless at 1400 bit rate or is that a waste.

 

[ILikeMusic]

There is no reason to use lossless in an 8gb flash player. Use LAME -V2... you will never be able to hear any difference.

 

[dir_d]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILikeMusic /img/forum/go_quote.gif There is no reason to use lossless in an 8gb flash player. Use LAME -V2... you will never be able to hear any difference.

Ahh so its true....Yea what he said. I rip to v0 VBR for portable and home use.

 

[krmathis]

Why not give AAC a try? If you go lossy that is...
Since its considered to be transparent at a lower bitrate than MP3 (LAME).

 

[majkel]

LAME is transparent in no bitrate. I'm not sure the Zen supports AAC. If it's capable of playing back FLAC - give it a try, otherwise you should consider mp3 320kb/s FhG preferably, or wma 320kb/s 2-pass CBR. VBR 98 is less transparent, not worth trying.

 

[LTUCCI1924]

Thanks guys. I redownloaded all my music to mp3 320 b/r instead of wav looseless 1411. the 320 seems to be about 5 times smaller take up.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by majkel /img/forum/go_quote.gif LAME is transparent in no bitrate.

Well, that certainly depends on a lot of factors. Like:
* LAME version.
* Music complexity.
* Playback gear.
* Your capability to hear artifacts, etc.
* ...

For most people (lets say 90%) LAME 3.97 V2 is transparent on most music (lets say 90%), using high quality playback gear.

 

[Oya?]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, that certainly depends on a lot of factors. Like: * LAME version. * Music complexity. * Playback gear. * Your capability to hear artifacts, etc. * ... For most people (lets say 90%) LAME 3.97 V2 is transparent on most music (lets say 90%), using high quality playback gear.

X2.

Personally for me V0 is transparent on my gear for all my music; although admittedly it's not be worth the extra file sizes compared to V2, especially on an 8GB player like the OP's.

 

[mrarroyo]

Whichever format you choose to load your music in your zen make sure you load up your files in lossless in your computer. Later you can choose to convert to a loosy format when you upload the files in your zen.

I say this because at first I uploaded my files in 128 mp3, then I went to 192 VBR mp3, finally into Apple Lossless. So do not go through the pain of going through various iterations, and load them into your computer as a lossless files the first time. In the long run it will save you time and aggravation.

 

[CodeToad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif load them into your computer as a lossless files the first time. In the long run it will save you time and aggravation.

Is it safe to say then, with 1 TB drives common now, that keeping the originals in .WAV format from EAC is the most failsafe way to go?

 

[ILikeMusic]

Unless you truly don't care about storage space at all a better option would be to use a lossless compressed format like FLAC. This will give you a completely exact copy of the WAV file in approx. 50% less space.

 

[NiceCans]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CodeToad /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it safe to say then, with 1 TB drives common now, that keeping the originals in .WAV format from EAC is the most failsafe way to go?

FLAC and other lossless formats are the same as wav, but about 1/2 the size. When converted back to wav they will match the original wav file exactly.

*edit: I use the 'verify' option in the flac encoder to insure the conversion was fault free, takes a little longer, but worthwhile to me.

 

[CodeToad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILikeMusic /img/forum/go_quote.gif This will give you a completely exact copy of the WAV file in approx. 50% less space.

OK cool. What is the whole CUE thing? I don't understand what that does.