Which is the best audio format (MP3, WMA, OGG Vorbis, AC3, and DTS)

Discussion in 'Audio' started by eddylws, Dec 12, 2005.

  1. eddylws

    eddylws Member

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  2. djscoop

    djscoop Active member

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    for a basic question like this, please do a search next time...this is a very common question as far as file formats go.

    Which one you want to use really depends on what you want to use it for. For basic playing of music, mp3 has some advantages over others. First, it is compatible with new car stereos and portable devices, if you plan on transferring your music to those. Second, comparaed to lossless formats, mp3 files are small, allowing you to store more. I woulnd't recommend wma, the codecs are horrible, and mp3 is much better.

    Now if you plan to archive CDs for burning them later, you might want to look into a lossless format like FLAC. But note that there is not much hardware support for it, and the file sizes are rather large. Or you can just rip your CDs to uncompressed WAVE files, or if you want to keep many CDs on your computer and maintin their quality and file structure, you can create ISO (image) files of them, and then use Daemon Tools to virtually mount them on your computer.

    If you do go the mp3 route, be sure to use EAC (exact audio copy). Actually you should use EAC to rip your CDs no matter what format you convert them to. It is free and the only ripper with extensive error correction to ensure a 100% accurate rip. When combine with the LAME mp3 encoder plugin, using VBR (variable bitrate) settings, you will create very nice mp3s. We have a guide for using EAC and LAME here:
    http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/mydeneaclame.cfm

    Here are some other sites to check out:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLAC
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mp3
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exact_Audio_Copy
     
  3. eddylws

    eddylws Member

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    Thanks for your advise, i will try this out.
     
  4. diabolos

    diabolos Guest

    To add on,

    AC3 and DTS are lossy audio codecs used in the distribution of professional content to consumers in surround sound.

    Ced
     
  5. weazel200

    weazel200 Regular member

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    Couldn't have put it better myself scoop.
     
  6. djscoop

    djscoop Active member

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    between me, diabolos, and you weaz, we got this audio section covered! lol
     

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