Which Audio Format do you consider the best?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
While I have quite a bit of knowledge of music, I've never been to sure on what format to go. For my windows, I use MP3 (highest bitrate possible) for giving to others, and WAV when I want the highest quality (although right now, this is not smart to do with my memory constraints).



What format should you try to go, especially with Apple? Just curious, thanks.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    buddhabuddha Posts: 386member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by -Nova- View Post


    While I have quite a bit of knowledge of music, I've never been to sure on what format to go. For my windows, I use MP3 (highest bitrate possible) for giving to others, and WAV when I want the highest quality (although right now, this is not smart to do with my memory constraints).



    What format should you try to go, especially with Apple? Just curious, thanks.



    I like AAC @ 192kb/s. It's said that unless you're an audiophile - or you compare them closely together, people cannot tell the difference between 128 and anything higher than 128.
  • Reply 2 of 10
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    LAME encoded MP3

    192k AAC

    FLAC or Apple Lossless depending on what they plan to play the files back on.
  • Reply 3 of 10
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by buddha View Post


    I like AAC @ 192kb/s. It's said that unless you're an audiophile - or you compare them closely together, people cannot tell the difference between 128 and anything higher than 128.



    If I play audio with low spectral power density, I can notice it fairly easily. I'm have you know that I'm by no means an audiophile, just a giant geek: what this means is that music that has a large amount of simultaneous instruments and/or harmonics will choke on fixed-bit-rate compressions below a certain point.



    So, I like to use variable bit rate encoding. If I use LAME I use the built-in "medium-high" or "high" setting. If I use AAC, I use 192k, which seems to do the job. Mostly I just use AAC although MP3 is sometimes required for non-Apple devices.
  • Reply 4 of 10
    Analog.
  • Reply 5 of 10
    galleygalley Posts: 971member
    Other than Apple Lossless, you won't find better results than 192Kbps VBR AAC using iTunes. Higher bitrates are overkill from my testing.
  • Reply 6 of 10
    I can usually tell the difference, but only when compared. I can sometimes pick up when it's 128 kbps, and I can definitely tell when it's 96 kbps.



    I always save my music at 320 kbps myself. Do you think I should just stick to 192? Or stick the best possible? (320 in MP3's case).



    Also, what's this about AAC? I've heard about it a lot, I'm guessing it's the next thing. Is it pretty much the same as MP3, but better compressed?
  • Reply 7 of 10
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by -Nova- View Post


    Also, what's this about AAC? I've heard about it a lot, I'm guessing it's the next thing. Is it pretty much the same as MP3, but better compressed?



    Haha, AAC is .m4p (often called .mp4) and is Apple's standard for music. All files on the iTunes store are AAC encoded, it's not much of a new thing either.
  • Reply 8 of 10
    Looked at the page earliar, and it confused me. X_X



    I remember something about an AAC file on my sister's computer - Which completely confused me, as I'd use the format myself, except none of my programs export it. And She uses iTunes. No offense, but I hate it.



    But yes, if there's any programs that allow me to change MP3 to MP4, or aka AAC, I would go ahead. That's if there's any benefits though. Is there? I know some things can't run MP4, so I'll be careful there. I assume it's always possible to rexport an MP4 as MP3 again?
  • Reply 9 of 10
    Well converting any music file to another file is generally not going to give any better results because the audio cannot be enhanced. It is already being bottlenecked by it's current compressor. It's just like converting a 128 to a 192, there will be no difference because the audio's potential will always be at 128. And for conversion I use iTunes for everything involving music.
  • Reply 10 of 10
    galleygalley Posts: 971member
    AAC is an open standard, it's not an Apple format. It's quickly becoming the standard, but it hasn't quite replaced MP3 (yet).

    Yes, you can transcode from MP3 to AAC and vice-versa, but that results in a worse-sounding file.
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