NetMagi Posted October 8, 2006 Share Posted October 8, 2006 yeh i know. . god awful compressed mp3's Before purchasing my RF-7's, all of my mp3's above 128k sounded "ok". Now, aside from some VBR's and constant-rate encodings above 192k (and some of those sound like crap) I can really hear the compression. Now, the simple answer would be to just not listen to mp3's anymore, but I really don't want to do that. My RF-7's are situated in my office with the audio source being my computer. I do almost all of my "music" listening while I'm working on my computer. I'm really spoiled just cueing up 10 tracks of my choice at a time. I have about 40,000 mp3's, with about 2/3rds being ripped from CD's I own. Sure, I could play the actual cd's and forego compression altogether, but again, I'm spoiled by having *ALL* 40,000 tracks at my fingertips without switching discs, etc.. Most of the cd's I own, I ripped at 160k years ago with AudioCatalyst. They always sounded ok on past setups (always a real amp and speakers), but these RF-7's just have a way of giving up all the ugliness in a recording I was thinking of re-ripping my whole collection at 256k (still mp3's) with iTunes, as I've heard it's MP3 encoding is fairly good. I'd like to hear from someone else that also listens to a lot of mp3's and what encoders/bit rates you've used and been happy with. I'm also thinking the DAC in my sound card may be "holding back" some of the fidelity, and I've got an Entech Number Cruncher 203.2 external DAC on the way to put between the optical SPDIF on my sound card and my receiver. I'm currently using the line-level analog output on my soundcard. Thanks for reading, -Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted October 8, 2006 Share Posted October 8, 2006 i'm happy with MP3 VBR's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBryan Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 I use AIFF with iTunes - sounds pretty close to me. -Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 I dunno...I don't own an iPod nor have I ever downloaded a single MP3 my entire life (most I've heard sound awful to my ears, thus I never had an interest). Wouldn't a carousel CD player work for you, or can't you hook one up to your computer system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NetMagi Posted October 9, 2006 Author Share Posted October 9, 2006 I just can't fit 40,000 tracks in an cd carousel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NetMagi Posted October 9, 2006 Author Share Posted October 9, 2006 i'm happy with MP3 VBR's at what max bitrate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 320 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Well, that would be interesting to check out with your own ears. I'd also be curious to hear your take on the RF7 performance with variable bit rate mp3. Also to compare that with some lossless format WMA or such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrol Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 whenever i load my cd player in my car, truck or suv, it's almost always with mp3 source material . . . with the ambient noise provided in the oving car, I've never heard a differance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 edit: I think he meant "moving" car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 edit: I think he meant "moving" car Perhaps Roving? Maybe he has a Range Rover and that's what they call it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 I use my iMac for my office jukebox as well. Usually the volume is pretty moderate with computers humming, etc, so I don't consider it very critical listening. Still I use those ripped tracks (from my purchased CD's never downloaded) to be useful for making compilation CD's so want good quality. I use 192 MP3 for CD's where I want to save some space, AIFF for tracks that I know I will be using over and over again. Sounds like music to me. M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddyi Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Hey Duke - whacha using ot encode the 320? I just ripped a pile of cds at 192K mp3 - loses a lot on better recordings of drums vs WMA (win 9.1) at highest vbr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 you should try listening to ipods used by wedding DJ's at horrendous volumes through CS800's and Peavy speakers- talk about noise hangover! I'm gonna start wearing earplugs at weddings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 at horrendous volumes through CS800's and Peavy speakers- .......................[+o(] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 the worst part was how cool this guy thought he was with his 'tons-o-junk' PA! I didn't even bother explaining it to him.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 Hey Duke - whacha using ot encode the 320? I just ripped a pile of cds at 192K mp3 - loses a lot on better recordings of drums vs WMA (win 9.1) at highest vbr dB Power Amp......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddyi Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 hey Duke - do ya have a low setting on DBpoweramp to go with 320 top? - does it rip OGG nice from CD? what DAC/soundcard do ya use for VBR? - or are you spinning CD/vbr-mp3 off Jolida CD player? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 I have found that since hard drive space is so cheap and the time to rip them is so precious that 320 CBR MP3s and FLAC was the way to go. There are programs out there that will allow you to put in your CD once and rip to multiple formats at once. Last time I did it I was hoping to make it my last so I did 320CBR MP3s, FLAC and WAV. I now wish I did a 128 or 196 MP3 as well for more portable versions. I also run the optical out from my MP3 appliance (Turtle Beach Audiotron) to my pre/pro. I figure the DAC in my Sunfire gear it better then the Audiotron. I agree, once you have thousands upon thousands of songs just an instant away it is hard to beat. CDs now seem soooooo 1987 [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 http://www.bobulous.org.uk/misc/audioFormats.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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