MP3 vs WMA?

[nord1899]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
OGG > *

But given that it's not a choice, EAC + LAME @ 192+ kbps CBR > WMA at any rate

And shouldn't there be a poll here?

- M4H

The problem with OGG is the complete lack of support on portables. Although, as linked in my earlier post to /., its starting to appear.

And I prefer VBR over CBR at anytime. --r3mix or --alt-preset-standard please.

 

[Walleye]

what is DRM?

 

[numark]

Originally posted by: Walleye
what is DRM?

Digital Rights Management - a way of tying media files to one specific computer. In other words, if a file has DRM attached to it, you can't copy it over to your portable device or another computer, because only your computer has the specific "code" needed to play the file.

 

[Ameesh]

you should give yourself the pepsi challenge with this, encode some of your favorite songs as 256 CBR mp3s and 192 WMA9. Use some nice headphones or a nice speaker system and have a friend randomly play a couple of pairs of songs and you choose whether you like number 1 or 2.


We can talk about what we like in this thread till will all die but until you actually listen to it yourself there is no telling. I doubt your going to be able to tell any notcible difference between the two. When your done make sure you look at the size of the albums you ripped if you need a tie breaker.




On a side note if you use WMP9 to rip your cds you automatically get the album art ripped with it which is pretty cool if you are using windows.

-Ameesh

 

[TranceNation]

wma is crap and I delete them as I see them

 

[Cycad]

Ameesh has some very wise words to say, they were well thought out and educated, that being said, go MP3.

 

[bjc112]

Mp3

192+ VB...

 

[Walleye]

i use wma files. i really dont care who makes it. i just want the best quality possible.

 

[scottrico]

Hard drive space is cheap, so file size is not an issue.

I like mp3 because look how bad microsoft f**k up wma (video compression).

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Cycad
Ameesh has some very wise words to say, they were well thought out and educated, that being said, go MP3.

LOL

 

[PCMarine]

MP3 just because I swap MP3s with my friends and WMA is hardly popular

 

[AnyMal]

Frugal - don't listen to immature crybabies and go with WMA, 64k encoded files are of the same quality as 128k encoded mp3 but will take half the space. It is beyond me why would anyone encode mp3 over 160k which is CD quality. Can you do better then CD, I think not.

 

[JellyBaby]

You will always be able to decide how to use and manage your MP3s with all kinds of third-party software. The same can't be said of M$'s format.

 

[AnyMal]

Originally posted by: JellyBaby
You will always be able to decide how to use and manage your MP3s with all kinds of third-party software. The same can't be said of M$'s format.

I disagree. WMA's can be managed just fine by WMP (which is a great media managing tool) as well as 3rd party apps like MMJB.

 

[silent tone]

The albums I've ripped so far have been in MP3 (LAME -alt preset standard, VBR 192). I'll probably test out WMA before I rip some more. Although, IIRC WMA only really shines at lower bitrates.

Originally posted by: scottrico
Hard drive space is cheap, so file size is not an issue.

I like mp3 because look how bad microsoft f**k up wma (video compression).

I'm no video guru, but in my tests WMV 9 was obviously clearer than xvid and divx 5.02 with equal file sizes.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: AnyMal

Originally posted by: JellyBaby
You will always be able to decide how to use and manage your MP3s with all kinds of third-party software. The same can't be said of M$'s format.

I disagree. WMA's can be managed just fine by WMP (which is a great media managing tool) as well as 3rd party apps like MMJB.

the version of WMP that i have is completely horrible at managing things, and i refuse to agree in the license to let them do anything they want to my computer. not to mention that my version (7) uses its naming convention and theres no way to change that (just the name of the song, not a track order or artist name or anything) so i would have to go through and change the name of every song on there.

so anyway i'll do the blind listen by randomizing the mp3 and the wma in winamp and making the window not show the bitrate

 

[DeRusto]

Originally posted by: SSP

Originally posted by: DeRusto
I'm with Ameesh on this one, I like the idea of Microsoft NOT taking over every market

And with that, I say mp3

How can you be with Ameesh and not like the idea of MS taking over the market? You do know that he works for MS right?

I mean to say I am with Ameesh's statement "they have an irrational hate of anything microsoft."

 

[Nemesis77]

Originally posted by: Ameesh

Originally posted by: WarSong
interesting. how come you guys say mp3? I haven't actually listened to a wma so I don't have an opinion of my own, but from what I heard, they have similar sound quality and take up half the space. What is the reason you guys vote mp3? Something I haven't heard?

they have an irrational hate of anything microsoft.

Maybe they just want to use a format that is not tied to one OS and is controlled by a company that has repeatedly been found guilty of abusing it's monopoly ? For those reasons alone, WMA loses automatically.

I would use Ogg, but my collection is already mp3 and changing them over would be too much of a hassle.

 

[Byte]

WMA7 is not bad at 64kb WMA8 however is utter crap.

 

[brtspears2]

WMA for my pocketpc, since storage on that isn't cheap, but MP3s at the best bitrate I can get for my desktop.

 

[MeanMeosh]

i use both... and ogg to boot

 

[GreenGhost]

Hell, this forum has become useless...