Now I is high tech

[Markus S]

256 is the "just about acceptable for background listening" setting. 128 is terrible.

 

[Ohmsford]

Personally I would rip at a higher setting. 128 is what I reserve for my phone or car. This low a bit rate is quite lossy and obvious to me. If space is available why not try the best quality setting apple lossless. Like another said here about 1 gb per 3 albums would be an average.

 

[Mick P]

sorry I got it wrong, I thought low numbers were high quality I will reset

 

[Bob McC]

ohmsford / Tony

I did it and am now on 128 which I presume is good ?

Mick

It is utterly appalling Mick.

 

[Mick P]

I am now set to Apple lossless encoder in one box

and

Automatic in the other box


Is this good ?

 

[Robert]

Lossless is very good but the files are still about two thirds the size of wav.
Use it if space isn't an issue, otherwise 256 is fine for everyday use.

 

[Mick P]

Hi

I have now reset it to WAV encoder and automatic.

Is this optimum performance

Mick

 

[Bob McC]

suck and see and report back Mick.

 

[Mick P]

Bob

Ok I will suck and see but have I got it set for optimum performance ?

Mick

 

[Tony L]

I am now set to Apple lossless encoder in one box

and

Automatic in the other box


Is this good ?

As I say there is no right answer, you need to do a bit of research and figure out what fits your own needs. It all depends on how many CDs you want to rip, whether you can be bothered farting about with external drives, what kind of audio equipment you are using etc etc. If you just want background music via little speakers in a bare echoey Spanish flat then 196kbs or even 128kbs would be fine, if you want to listen seriously via high quality headphones or a decent high-end system then go lossless, if your needs are mid way between these points then go midway between in quality (which is what I've done myself, though I'm thinking of my iPod too). FWIW I find listening to 320 or 256kbs VBR files perfectly enjoyable even via a pair of £300 monitor grade headphones. I'll still play the CD in my main system in preference to my compressed iTunes library, but I can't see you taking a pair of huge Tannoy monitors or equivalent to your Spanish flat so that's not really relevant here.

Tony.

 

[Mick P]

Tony

I am not after audio excellence but neither do I want total rubbish.

I am more than happy to store say 100 CDs in the Mac.

I have now got the input using set to WAV encoder.

The other setting is set at automatic.

Is the automatic setting OK or should I go for a custom setting and if so what is a good starter for 10

Regards

Mick

 

[Tony L]

Don't use wav - it's uncompressed. Apple Lossless is *exactly* the same quality and half the file size (lossless compression does exactly what it says: it's lossless). If you only want to rip about 100 CDs and don't keep mountains of photos or whatever on your HD then that would be my recommendation. If you think you'll be doing far more than that then I'd go 256Kbs VBR or 320Kbs AAC. But as I say listen for yourself - it's your ears you have to please, many folk don't seem able to tell higher quality MP3 or AAC files from lossless in blind tests.

Tony.

PS Interesting thread / poll here.

 

[muzzer]

Mick
If you want to make an exact like for like copy set it to WAV or AIFF
If you want 99% and want to use less disc space then use Alac.
These are the best setting for maximum SQ anything else will not sound as good.

 

[ErikL]

Little Speakers

Harbeth P3ESR

 

[avole]

Sonus Faber Toys sound good at the price. Totem Arros also.

 

[Mick P]

Chaps

Sorry for the delayed response, I have been cleaning out the fish pond since 7.00am.

I think the answer ref the WAV v Lossless etc is to experiment once I am back in Spain.

As regards to the speakers, the hifi unit is some cheap little tatty Sony thing I bought when I first went out there 4 years ago. I was only out there for 3 weeks a year, so it seemed pointless buying something decent.

I suppose the question now is --- will the little Harbeth speakers (or similar), match up with the el cheapo Sony unit.

Regards

Mick

 

[Robert]

As I say there is no right answer, you need to do a bit of research and figure out what fits your own needs. It all depends on how many CDs you want to rip, whether you can be bothered farting about with external drives, what kind of audio equipment you are using etc etc. If you just want background music via little speakers in a bare echoey Spanish flat then 196kbs or even 128kbs would be fine, if you want to listen seriously via high quality headphones or a decent high-end system then go lossless, if your needs are mid way between these points then go midway between in quality (which is what I've done myself, though I'm thinking of my iPod too). FWIW I find listening to 320 or 256kbs VBR files perfectly enjoyable even via a pair of £300 monitor grade headphones. I'll still play the CD in my main system in preference to my compressed iTunes library, but I can't see you taking a pair of huge Tannoy monitors or equivalent to your Spanish flat so that's not really relevant here.

Tony.

Mick, that is the definitive answer IMO.

I don't know if you purchase any music via download form iTunes but if you do, 256 is the standard and is fine for non critical listening on most systems.

 

[Patrick Dixon]

The winning argument for storing your files in uncompressed format, is not whether you can hear the difference in your Spanish shack (or anywhere else in particular), but whether you want to re-rip all the music again, should you want to play it at full quality, somewhere, and some point in the future. Hard disks are cheap, time is precious.

Especially if you are an old-codger with not that long to live ...

 

[Tony L]

I suppose the question now is --- will the little Harbeth speakers (or similar), match up with the el cheapo Sony unit.

I'd not waste a speaker as nice / expensive as the Harbeths on anything other than a decent system. Why not consider the Naim UniQute or whatever it's called, I'd have thought it was just the thing given your brand loyalties. Alternatively consider a pair of active speakers.

The winning argument for storing your files in uncompressed format, is not whether you can hear the difference in your Spanish shack (or anywhere else in particular), but whether you want to re-rip all the music again, should you want to play it at full quality, somewhere, and some point in the future. Hard disks are cheap, time is precious.

A good point, but I'm wary of recommending extra complexity when it is not needed, and fiddling about with external drives / libraries in iTunes is not as intuitive as one might think, especially if, like Mick, one hasn't mastered the basics. I also think it's unnecessary as Mick has a high-end Naim CD player at home so is unlikely to migrate to streaming in anything other than his Spanish holiday flat. 256Kbs VBR or 320Kbs will be more than fine in that context and he'll be able to get a shed-load onto his MacBook HD.

I'd also strongly recommend Mick considers a backup strategy - it is better to think about buying an Apple Time Capsule or whatever before wasting days ripping a stack of CDs, not just after the hard drive has failed!

Tony.

(currently listening to some 196kbs MP3s via a V-DAC, passive pre, Quad 303 and Klipsch Heresys and enjoying it very much)

 

[Bob McC]

The winning argument for storing your files in uncompressed format, is not whether you can hear the difference in your Spanish shack (or anywhere else in particular), but whether you want to re-rip all the music again, should you want to play it at full quality, somewhere, and some point in the future. Hard disks are cheap, time is precious.

Especially if you are an old-codger with not that long to live ...

This
I would advise Mick to have all his music backed up to another drive somewhere, unless he's prepared to lose it all when his lappy goes tits up, in which case the "complexity" of an external drive becomes a necessity. He may as well get a 2TB drive for peanuts and rip into WAV.