What bitrate to ripp AAC to=best MP3 320kbps/CD

mac writemac write
Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
I am going to be re-ripping my 90 CD's I use 320kbps with highest quality settings possible.



Next to doing AIFF which AAC will be Nearest to CD quality? I know it can do up to 320kbps will that make a difference like 320kbps MP3's on a stereo (I use my stereo for listening to Music and don't want to re-ripp again until the next major format).



So what bit rate will be good for playing on a good stereo with good speakers?



oh and does ripped AAC have any DRM? I need to ripp on my mom's iMac due to crackly sound when I play and RIPP CD's on my Beige G3.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    This is probably more of a digital hub question...



    The AACs that you rip have absolutely no DRM built into them. I've been ripping mine @ 160kbps. I've only done two CDs so far, but they sound good, even on my monitor speakers. I like to think I have a well trained ear, and I cannot hear the difference.



    There were some CDs I ripped to mp3 that had issues at 192, so I"ll be keeping a watchful eye on them when I re-rip them to AAC...
  • Reply 2 of 11
    burningwheelburningwheel Posts: 1,827member
    i haven't got ITunes4 yet but do you have to encode stuff into AAC format?
  • Reply 3 of 11
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    Nope, AAC was just added to your list of choices. So now you can encode in AIFF, WAVE, MP3 and AAC.
  • Reply 4 of 11
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by M3D Jack

    This is probably more of a digital hub question...



    Yep.



  • Reply 5 of 11
    edinla43edinla43 Posts: 43member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mac Write

    ...(I use my stereo for listening to Music and don't want to re-ripp again until the next major format).



    So what bit rate will be good for playing on a good stereo with good speakers?





    Does the CD player on your stereo support AAC format or do you plug your computer audio output or iPod into your stereo?
  • Reply 6 of 11
    klinuxklinux Posts: 453member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mac Write

    I am going to be re-ripping my 90 CD's I use 320kbps with highest quality settings possible.



    Next to doing AIFF which AAC will be Nearest to CD quality? I know it can do up to 320kbps will that make a difference like 320kbps MP3's on a stereo (I use my stereo for listening to Music and don't want to re-ripp again until the next major format).



    So what bit rate will be good for playing on a good stereo with good speakers?



    oh and does ripped AAC have any DRM? I need to ripp on my mom's iMac due to crackly sound when I play and RIPP CD's on my Beige G3.



    Let your ears should be the best judge for this.



    Even if you do not want to run a test, why not just rerip in 320 AAC? Same size as 320 MP3 and better fidelity (in theory). Although, many audio experts (from hi-fi magazine using reference equip in controlled tests) would say anything beyond 256 kbps MP3 is undistinguishable from the CD oroginal.
  • Reply 7 of 11
    mac writemac write Posts: 289member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by EdinLA43

    Does the CD player on your stereo support AAC format or do you plug your computer audio output or iPod into your stereo?



    I use RCA out from my Beige G3, my CD player barely lasted 3 years before it stripped (is that the term) and died in 2000. the Tape also jammed up and is now dead. Only the radio and Video in work (AIWIA NSX-AV900 Mini Stereo) see it on my setup page.



    http://homepage.mac.com/bigt/



    Once it dies (and hope within 2 years) I iwll replace it with a reciever since I will never use a CD player again, now a compent hard drive player with full LCD read out etc (baicly iTunes in a compenent unit) would be great.



    Oh, Since my Beige G3 when ripping CD's gives crackly sound I am forced to use my mom's iMac for Ripping, so it makes it even harfer to test (since she isn't close).
  • Reply 8 of 11
    keshkesh Posts: 621member
    I ripped my CDs at 192 kb/sec for my MP3s, because anything less had a somewhat 'tinny' quality to the highs.



    With AACs, I can comfortably listen to them at 128 kb/sec, and I've yet to notice a significant difference from the original CD audio.
  • Reply 9 of 11
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Many say you can't hear the difference, many say you can. I think you probably can if you want to, that is, by carefully playing them back to back against the CD original. In that case, I don't even think it's that hard to hear the difference on any sort of decent stereo.



    But can you hear the difference when they'r just playing fo the sake of playing, for enjoyment, and not being immediately compared to something else? In that case, probably not. I've never walked by a stereo and said, "whoa there, that's an xxx bit rate MP3 playing, and not a CD." I have however, noticed that something wasn't quite right with my stereo, when my brother played MP3's through it, kinda int he same way that you can tell when you're listening to FM (and certainly AM) though the character of MP3 is completely different. And I'm not one of those die-hards that extoles the virtues of vinyl over CD and other such nonsense, I don't claim to have a trained ear, I just have a lot of music playng a lot of the time and I can pretty much tell what the source is when I hear something crappy. I would rip to the highest quality available just to avoid that. HDD's are getting cheaper all the time, why go through the hassle of re-ripping?



    However, a good high bit rate MP3 (for me that means 320VBR at least) really won't advertise itself unless you play it back to back against the CD track. So, if you can't tell when it's just playing, that's good enough to enjoy and have fun, which is the point, iThink?
  • Reply 10 of 11
    stupider...likeafoxstupider...likeafox Posts: 1,618member
    Good points by Matsu, don't freak yourself out by comparing it to the original, just listen to it on its own merits.



    btw if you go beyond 256kbps for mp3 or 192kbps for AAC then any difference you hear is the fundamental limitations of the codec rather than a lack of bitrate.



    At that point your just wasting space that could be used to hold a .png of the album cover.
  • Reply 11 of 11
    producerproducer Posts: 283member
    Is there any other software on the mac that encodes or will encode in aac? I am wondering if there will be payed for software that will encode better...



    Also any chance of the new ipods being hacked to support OGG? the p800 phones can play it... and supposedly in tests OGG comes on top as a compression format
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