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MP3 vs WMA vs FLAC

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Old Jan 15, 2007 | 10:11 AM
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Default MP3 vs WMA vs FLAC

How many of you audio buffs use formats other than MP3 ? As the subject line states, what are your opinions on quality of sound from MP3 to WMA to FLAC ?

Discuss please

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Old Jan 15, 2007 | 10:59 AM
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With any sound format it's the compression that matters. 96kbps sampling rates sound like crap no matter what the CODEC, 128Kbps are barely less crappy... you need to get into 192Kbps to get anything listenable. Mathematically lossless forms like FLAC, Lossless WMA and the lossless in iTunes (m4a ?) are all going to kick any compressed format's butt in terms of sound quality, but then you play the penalty in storage space.

I've heard FLAC and lossless WMA and both sound like CD audio. I can't say I've done critical listening to see if I could spot the difference but I'd say for car audio it's unlikely you would be able to tell in a moving vehicle.
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Old Jan 15, 2007 | 11:40 AM
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I run 192Kbps WMA and they saound real nice
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Old Jan 15, 2007 | 11:54 AM
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I play mostly MP3 on my home pc and burn to disc the MP3 format at either 256 or 320 for use in the Vette. I cant tell the difference between these bitrates other than the file size issue. Obviously 320kb as opposed to 256kb or even 192kb the file size difference can be significant. Unfortunately, my Alpine HU does not support FLAC. Then again, Im not so sure of the difference in quailty of FLAC vs a 192/256/320kbps MP3 file.

Other opinions ?
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Old Jan 15, 2007 | 12:20 PM
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I am far from a audiophile, but anything less than 320kbps sounds horrible to me. I rip all my CDs at 320 and prefer MP3s primarily for the Tags (and I use Macs)
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Old Jan 23, 2007 | 07:45 PM
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Originally Posted by JefeC5
How many of you audio buffs use formats other than MP3 ? As the subject line states, what are your opinions on quality of sound from MP3 to WMA to FLAC ?

Discuss please

I must be deaf from all of the jet noise...but I think that the 128 WMA sounds as good as a higher bit rate MP3. (I have just started ripping my CDs to 392 MP3 for the new Fireball for in home use). I use 128 WMA in my iRiver, ZEN Nano and car CDs and they sound awesome to me.
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