Digital music: Poll: What is your favorite audio format?
- 1/18/08 2:42 PM
MP3
by NavsAks123 - 2/3/08 1:34 AM In reply to: Poll: What is your favorite audio format? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Its mp3 format which is universally accepted...
- Space complexity is very less as compared to .wav files
- More reliable and avail.
- Best compressed format having same properties and very rare to find a distortion in this format.
MP3 is a proprietary format (there is no free ride)
by rwiedeman - 2/7/08 8:16 AM In reply to: Poll: What is your favorite audio format? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
BTW, all these media players have to pay for MP3 compatibility, and it is not cheap. MP3 patents are a licensed property of Thomson SA (France), which enforces in the US, Canada, Japan, and the EU; it is not open source -- you just get it as part of WMP, iTunes, Creative, and iPod products those companies paid Thomson SA for it, and passed the cost on to you.
I find MP3 to be good enough for music at 192 k, but I also find WMA a little "warmer" sounding, and like it at 160 k. I also like AAC at 256 k (iTunes will let you upgrade your 128k AAC files for a nominal fee as those become available), but the standabrd 128 k downloads sound a bit "thin."
All said, I would choose WMA Variable as the best compromise for ripping CDs with best possible quality and smallest possible size. It's not like WMA is going anywhere; it's the preferred format of the dominant operating system, and iTunes can import it.
On my PCs, WMP rips and burns CDs much faster than iTunes, too.
Ogg Vorbis and the other open source formats are cool, and technically superior... but I am unable to tell the difference on a reasonably home stereo (Yamaha CD player with optical to a Sony receiver and Mission UK speakers), so I find the hassle of going "off the reservation" (in terms of the built-in Windows app) not worth it.
MP3 ftw
by ~Canuck~ - 3/1/08 8:12 AM In reply to: Poll: What is your favorite audio format? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
MP3 with VBR sounds about the same as any lossless format; I tried using lossless for awhile, but the files are way bigger, and harder to use universally on players. Plus, I can't hear a difference anyways.
WMA for me
by DevilsRed - 3/3/08 1:36 PM In reply to: Poll: What is your favorite audio format? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I like WMA because it takes up very little space, and because I'm natively a Creative/Windows Media Player type, I think it's the easiest to deal with unless you're using Audacity.
WAV. Thank you very much
by cyberDJ-2038765336053745013836 - 3/3/08 2:39 PM In reply to: Poll: What is your favorite audio format? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Here are my reasons for preferring a large, superior-sounding audio file format:
1) Uncompressed audio:
No lost nuances. Quality trumps convenience.
Plus, WAVs can be encoded at higher resolutions (24-bit, 96kHz).
2) No DRMs:
I can play wavs anywhere on anything.
3) Universal compatability:
WMA (lossless and lossy)
AAC
OGG
FLAC
All of these formats may sound better than MP-3 but they are very proprietary.
Nothing sucks more than having your music in a format that your new player can't resolve.
4) Storage is cheap:
In 2008, there is no reason to sacrifice sound quality for space anymore.
I bought 2 new 500GB Seagate hard drives for $99.00 each. That is 1TB of space for $198.00.
I can tolerate a slow download time in exchange for unprecedented listening freedom.
Don't (yet)
by oterrya - 3/8/08 7:02 AM In reply to: Poll: What is your favorite audio format? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The main reason is lack of permanent storage methods. CDs have been around for a long time and probably will continue to be so. If I downloaded a song, I probably would put it on a CD in .wav format for permanent storage -- so why not get the CD in the firstplace. I can then save them in an alternate format of my choice of the moment for daily usage -- and the less technically inclined in the household can play them on our nice music system in the living room to boot. Maybe someday.
Favorite format
by soinel - 3/8/08 12:12 PM In reply to: Poll: What is your favorite audio format? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Although antiquated and unknown to most of todays music buffs, I still prefer the good old Reel to Reel...I still have 6 machines in full operating condition, 4 of which support 10" reels(up to 24 hours of music). They don't archive as well as the plastic coasters but they mail nicely at media rates and are not detected by CD or DVD sniffing dogs. I use the PC to edit and normalise then use Digital to Analog conversion and "Line out" to make my tapes. The other option would be to play the music through a high quality sound system and use high quality microphones for pick-up. I archive my music on CD & DVD in Wav or other lossless format and indicate mode on lable. I don't have some of the bell & whistles provided by the modern players but I don't have RIAA problems either....
WMA is the best
by tubageekster - 3/30/08 7:18 PM In reply to: Poll: What is your favorite audio format? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
WMA has the best quality and it is getting more and more universal.
flac
by snapper21 - 4/24/08 9:16 PM In reply to: Poll: What is your favorite audio format? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
flac
Favorite audio format
by SteveORama - 4/30/08 12:12 PM In reply to: Poll: What is your favorite audio format? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
MP3 all the way! It works with everything I've got...iPod, iTunes or my new favorite site: www.jamstudio.com. I make all my own music at Jam Studio, burn an MP3, dump it into ProTools and I'm good to go! Can you say that about any of those other formats? MP3!
Depends on the planned use of the audio
by punterjoe - 5/5/08 5:56 PM In reply to: Poll: What is your favorite audio format? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
full PCM (WAV or AIFF) for capture. Compressed lossless for archiving/editing. I use Sony SoundForge Acid & Vegas so Sony's .PCA works for me at roughly 50% filesize.
As for lossy formats, VBR for file playback, CBR, maybe with SBR (Mp3Pro/AACplus) for streaming, ATRAC sounds surprisingly good on my PSP.
I'll use MP3 or WMA for compilations for my car stereo or set top DVD player with multimedia file playback... both in the car & through the TV the playback chain is so compromised the shortcomings of modest bitrate MP3 or WMA are not a significant factor. I'll crush & tweak audio if it's intended to be listened to in hostile environments - car stereo in a convertible, earbuds on the subway, or a boombox at a noisy event.
PCM is the archive format, everything else is just delivery format, and chosen so the limitations complement the listening environment/hardware.
I agreee...
by CStudios - 5/6/08 10:20 PM In reply to: Depends on the planned use of the audio by punterjoeI have to agree with punterjoe, it all depends on what application you will have for the audio, so in a sense, I kind of like having different formats... but then again, I also would like to see a standardized "lossless" and "lossy" compressed as someone suggested earlier.
For listening, demos, and full-quality downloads of samples for playing in the Stereo at home or on the computer: I choose WAV; also eliminates the hassle that comes with trying to figure out codecs.
For offering downloads, and compatibility with other devices, I'll use MP3.
MP3
by jfkasenda - 5/21/08 3:27 AM In reply to: Poll: What is your favorite audio format? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
MP3 is the best for a lot of reasons.
First, it saves a lot of disk space when needed. While WAV may require 40 MB for one song, MP3 modestly takes only one tenth of its counterpart.
Second, we can choose the quality for each file. Not all sound files need to be saved in highest quality. MP3 gives us the range of options for quality.
Third, MP3 is the most widely known format and probably will remain so ten years to come. It's also universal among other platforms, including Linux.
Fourth, portable devices can always play MP3s but not other formats.
That's what I can think of so far.
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