Audio files

[Martin]

So I, being the curious guy I am, am wondering what audio file types you prefer and why.


Nothing else to it.

I prefer FLAC files for their sound quality. (thank you Spirit for reminding me of them)

 

[Footed P.J.]

Well, I didn't vote, since I don't want to do things the wrong way. But to answer, my stash seems to be mp3. I use iTunes for both music purchases and to webcast radio, as I am doing right now. I think that's all mp3, but I am not a technogeek, so I apologize if I am wrong.

 

[BluTack]

MP3 cos they are easy to get and basic.
OGG seems ok.
Never tried FLAC.
WMA... Well lets not go there.

 

[chevre]

Either mp3 or ogg. I've never tried flac. WMA I really do not like, especially if there is DRM involved.

 

[Charlie]

Wait, there's a difference between types of file?

I guess I use MP3, since that's the only one I know of!

Actually I think I know what WMA is...

I use ITunes, what's that. Doesn't it have a four in it?

(Yeah, I'm an idiot. )

 

[Point]

Wait, there's a difference between types of file?

I guess I use MP3, since that's the only one I know of!

Actually I think I know what WMA is...

I use ITunes, what's that. Doesn't it have a four in it?

(Yeah, I'm an idiot. )

Anything besides m4a, m4v, mp3, and wav is EVIL! That's all you, the iTunes aficionado, need to know!

I use mp3 because of its versatility. Besides, who needs 60 MB freaking large files? I can't even tell the difference most of the time.

 

[ayanna]

I use mp3 for the same "easy to get" reason that Mickal used.
Plus they take up less space on my mp3 player and my mobile!

 

[recovery]

I didn't really know what to vote. It depends on what I am downloading. Since I don't pay for my music. IT mainly comes in MP3 form. Even if you do buy it. It does come in MP3 form and thats it. DRM or not. Besides, not as it DRM is easy to get rid of anyway. But Its not needed and totally restricts the point of having MP3s. They are portable. Can got from device to another.

But I have downloading torrents with the .TTA Losless codec. So far, I can play them on VLC. But I need something better than VLC to play them with. And I would convert hem to a 256Kb/s MP3, 44Khz if possible. But I would still retain the original file. I don't seem to have decent enough speaker system to really hear the difference between a lossless codec and a compression one like MP3.

Other the past week I was tempted to get download a TouHou Lossless collection pack thingy. But its like 200GB+. It'll take months. But I guess it would be worth it. THe biggest torrent I have downloaded so far is 26GB.

I also have yet to own a portable media player. Whether it'll play FLAC or TTA files. I don't know. As I need the money first .

 

[Kams]

I like AIFF because they usually have much higher bit rates, but they are bloody HUGE. A 3 minute clip could be like 50MB! I'll stick with MP3 because of its versatility like Point said.

 

[EmeraldsAndLime]

I usually go for mp3 files, mostly because they are easy to get.

But also, I'm slightly deaf (well, not deaf... rather, my hearing is that of a 40-50 year old). So to me there is no noticeable difference between a high quality mp3 and FLAC.

 

[avery]

lossless compression is such a waste of time and memory. mp3s deliver very high quality sound: good enough that you can feel the bass notes throb if you crank it up. i personally think that the quality of the music is a zillion-and-one times more important than the quality of the sound. if you're listening to a good song, it'll be good even if the sound quality is poor (though obviously good quality is preferable). and if the music is boring, no amount of insanely-high fidelity is going to wreak any improvement.

people get so geeked-out about their speaker systems and sound compression. it's so irrelevant to the whole point of listening to music! the mountain goats recorded their first half-a-dozen albums on a tiny microphone built into the front of a boom box. they gave audio tapes to all their friends, who made copies for all their friends, and that was the only form of release or distribution they had. the fidelity decreased with each copy, but the songs are so great they became very successful that way.

 

[Martin]

Anything besides m4a, m4v, mp3, and wav is EVIL! That's all you, the iTunes aficionado, need to know!

I use mp3 because of its versatility. Besides, who needs 60 MB freaking large files? I can't even tell the difference most of the time.

I can and thus it makes it worth it to me.
Why are other files so bad??

Oh and Charlie: iTunes generally is AAC if I remember correctly.

EDIT:
Avery: Yea, song quality is more important then audio quality but if you can get both it's even better (in my opinion) and I still have quite some HDD space left so for me that isn't really a problem.

 

[Tigger]

I use aac when I rip from cds, when I download usually mp3s

 

[Squigma]

Either mp3 because that's what most of the stuff I download is, or wma because that's how windows media player rips it off CDs. It works, and I really can't tell the difference between what is apparently high quality audio and what's apparently low quality. So I just use whatever is easiest, because there's no real difference between any of them!

 

[Sawaa]

Mp3 for most things; but FLAC for concert bootlegs ^_^

 

[BromeTeks]

MP3, they are eay to get and work on my MP3 player.

Oh, and footed P. J., iTunes uses MP4s, because all apple products are highly specialized.

 

[Footed P.J.]

Go me. I feel like a technowiz.

 

[Point]

I can and thus it makes it worth it to me.

How many hard drives do you have to store it all then? If my library was that big I'd have >500GB of music right now!

Why are other files so bad??

Because, iTunes won't play them and iPods won't accept them

 

[Martin]

Then use WinAmp it plays them. And I don't have an iPod so I don't care.

 

[kevintje]

MP3 all the way,

why?

mp3 is easy to play and encode cuz of 'lame'.
ogg / flac nothing bad to say, except it's not popular... and not supported on so many things as mp3 is (I'm talking mp3 players, car radio's, ...)
wma... well, as madmickey said, let's not go there ^^

so... for me? mp3