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Thread: CD vs. MP3 vs. WMA

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Roswell,NM
    Posts
    12

    Question CD vs. MP3 vs. WMA

    Hi,

    I was wondering if anyone here has done some blind comparisons of very high quality compressed music vs the originals off the cds.

    I had my car broken into a couple years ago and the cd deck was stolen along with the original which was still in it. From that I learned to backup all my original cds, and keep copies in my car in case it gets stolen, damaged, etc.

    I also keep a copy of all my cds in MP3 form on my computer encoded at 320kbps. I have also gotten pretty much hooked on buying music through iTunes and Musicmatch. I have no problem paying for the music I listen to, I just disagree with paying $20+ for a regular cd when DVD-A is around $25-$30. $5 to $10 for an album online is much more reasonable IMO.

    The tracks off of iTunes is encoded in 128kbps MPEG-4, and Musicmatch is 160kbps WMA.

    Has anyone actually heard a difference between the original CD and cds converted from 128kbps MP4, 160kbps WMA, and 320kbps MP3?

    My Ascend / Hsu speakers should get here on tuesday, I was wondering if the albums I purchased online wouldn't sound right with such accurate speakers.

    Cheers,
    Ray

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    335

    Default

    DVD-A is around $25-$30
    I haven't paid more than $20 for a DVD-A/SACD disc.
    Human voices, distortion in higher frequencies, and background clarity/depth have been some of the problems I've found with MP3s.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Manhattan Beach, California
    Posts
    7,032

    Default

    I have found that with a good encoder, such as LAME, at a higher bitrate, I use 256b/sec, that the quality of MP3's are very good...most people will not be able to immediately hear the difference. For me, the biggest noticeable difference is depth. If I want endless music while I am doing stuff around the house.....I use my MP3 library.

    Also have to remember that the quality of the playback device is important...just like the quality of DACs when playing CDs/DVD-As/SACDs. This is something that many people overlook. I use the DACs on my pre/pro to convert the PCM stream. It makes a world of difference when compared to my iPod.

    The stuff that is downloadable via iTunes though does not sound good to me, as well as music ripped through iTunes.

    I use CDex with the latest LAME dll.

    Most of my DVD-As and SACDs have been under $20 as well.
    -curtis

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