I Need Audio Advice Folks... To MP3 Or Not To MP3
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- FortNinety
Alright, so I want to win back some shelf space and am going to convert all my music CDs to mp3 format (I listen to all my tunes on the computer, plus I'm getting an iPod soon). I have a Mac and will therefore be using iTunes. Now here's the deal...
I know you can convert music into mp3 or AAC. From what I understand, AAC has better sound quality and produces smaller files sizes than mp3s. Is this the truth? And to how much of a degree? Is it all that noticeable? I mean, if going AAC is going to cause a loss in quality, I may as well just go for mp3, right? Or should I just go for better quality, period?
My main concern is what happens if I try to give my AAC tunes to someone who doesn't have iTunes. It's just an Apple thing right? Or is it a format that's going to get wider acceptance?
I guess I shouldn't have to worry about it if I burn the tunes to CD, but again, how much better is AAC than mp3 when making a regular music CD?
Also, what setting should I use? If I were to go with mp3, I guess I'd go with 192 kbps. But I have mp3s from various sources that are sampled at a higher rate. I guess you need some higher end program to do this right? As for AAC, what is the equivalent to a mp3 at 192 kbps? And if I go with AAC, what bit rate should I go for? Should I max out at 320 (the highest on iTunes)?
Hey, I'm an audio noob, so please excuse the questions that may seem really dumb, but I could really use some advice here. Thanks!
- warheros0
mp3 is the same idea as aac, except aac is better.
youre still downgrading your music with an mp3, and aac does it more effectively. id go with m4a's over mp3's. newer. smaller. higher quality.
- JazX0
any time you convert, you generally lose quality
- warheros0
yeah that too
- JazX0
heheh
- puter0
If you have the space keep the files AIFF so they care the most of the original sound. Hard drives are super cheap nowadays (just got two 160Gb for 30.00 a piece).
I am an Apple fan 100% but would not use AAC for some of the reason you described above. Using it for purchasing tunes is one thing, and can even make sense there, but converting your whole collection in a format only one company uses iis asking for trouble down the road.
We are not in the early 90's when hard drive space cost as much as gold...
Currently I have 12,890 songs in my collection- ranging from 320bit, 192, and AIFF... even if I converted all those files to AAC I might save 4GB of space... why bother.
Mp3 and RAW AIFF is the format of choice... I can play mp3's in the car, on the TV, in my DVD player, at my friends, at my mom's, on my ipod...
AAC... ipod and the 10 people I know who also use macs..