PPC as an MP3

[FieldDoc]

I have a Dell Axim X5 and love it. My only annoyance (probably not just with the Dell) is that there is no form of hold button on the unit. When I am listening to music - I have the Dell in my pocket and use media player.

The problem is that the unit has to be on and buttons get pressed in my pocket or the screen gets tapped and drains the battery.

Is there someway of listening to music and somehow locking the unit to be unresponsive (except maybe for the power button which doesn't seem to get knocked in my pocket).

[PetiteFlower]

Well, you could get a hard case like the the new Innopocket one that's coming out so that the buttons wouldn't get knocked even if it was in your pocket :)

[pocketpcdude1024]

Perhaps you could map the buttons in media player (Tools>Settings>Buttons) and make sure you check "Unmap buttons during background play" :wink: Oh, and you can toggle the screen on & off so it doesn't get tapped or drain the battery too much while in your pocket!

[FieldDoc]

How do you toggle the screen on and off?

[pocketpcdude1024]

You must map a button to toggle the screen. With the new WMP, there are two screen toggle options (Tools>Settings>Buttons) Select "Screen Toggle" (not full screen toggle) and push the button you wish to map (Enter would be the best option since it's probably the hardest to push) Then push "OK" and it's done! :D

[qmrq]

Try <a href=http://www.scottandmichelle.net/scott>Scott's Utilities</a>. Also, if you have WMP installed in RAM, I would uninstall it, it's not a great player.

I'd also recommend archiving your music to .ogg instead of .mp3. It has better quality when compared with mp3 or wma [proprietary, avoid] encoded at the same bitrates and encodes in non-joint stereo. Mp3 is encoded in joint stereo; that is sounds below a certain frequency are downmixed from stereo to mono. The reason for this is that many people have difficulty localizing low-pitched sounds. I can personally tell the difference, however I'm a musician. I've noticed that some people can't distinguish between the two.

[pocketpcdude1024]

Try <a href=http://www.scottandmichelle.net/scott>Scott's Utilities</a>. Also, if you have WMP installed in RAM, I would uninstall it, it's not a great player.

WMP is a decent MP3/WMA/WMV player, and I use it regularly. No PWMP problems so far.

I'd also recommend archiving your music to .ogg instead of .mp3. It has better quality when compared with mp3 or wma [proprietary, avoid] encoded at the same bitrates and encodes in non-joint stereo. Mp3 is encoded in joint stereo; that is sounds below a certain frequency are downmixed from stereo to mono. The reason for this is that many people have difficulty localizing low-pitched sounds. I can personally tell the difference, however I'm a musician. I've noticed that some people can't distinguish between the two.
If it were me, I would not convert my music once it's stored as a specific file type. The hassle is not worth the improved bitrate.

[qmrq]

If it were me, I would not convert my music once it's stored as a specific file type. The hassle is not worth the improved bitrate.

Of course you would not convert any downloaded files that are mp3. Both .mp3 and .ogg are lossy compression schemes, so you'd be losing data twice instead of once.

Now is it worth the "hassle" for the "improved bitrate" ? That is debatable. If it is on your handheld device, than it most certainly is. I have 448MB of flash memory. This is more than enough to carry reference material that I like to have on me, with plenty of room to spare for photos of my family and .ogg and divx files. Many people only have 256, 128 or less in flash and encoding to .ogg can make a [i]big difference for these users if they want to make part of their music collection portable. There isn't really any hassle in converting your files to .ogg, unless you are running something ancient on your workstation like a Deschutes or K6-2.

WMP is a decent MP3/WMA/WMV player, and I use it regularly. No PWMP problems so far.

That's almost an outright lie [the decent part]. I would not describe WMP on any platform as decent. "Acceptable" or "Mediocre" would be the way to properly describe it. I am convinced that people who believe WMP is a useful utility simply have not tried anything else. There are many alternative media players out there, and often the worst of them are often better than WMP.

[pocketpcdude1024]

WMP is a decent MP3/WMA/WMV player, and I use it regularly. No PWMP problems so far.

That's almost an outright lie [the decent part]. I would not describe WMP on any platform as decent. "Acceptable" or "Mediocre" would be the way to properly describe it. I am convinced that people who believe WMP is a useful utility simply have not tried anything else. There are many alternative media players out there, and often the worst of them are often better than WMP.

I was actually holding back from saying that WMP does everything that I need and is a wonderful player. Why would I need anything other than WMP to play my MP3 music? I have tried realOne (or whatever it's called), WinAmp, and various other players and I keep coming back to WMP. Why? I like it. It's easy to use. It's ~get this~ reliable. And I'm NOT lying. :D

[FieldDoc]

thanks for the tips on toggling the screen I can get it to work on pocketmvp but not WMP - when it says to push a hardware button to map the button does the funtion it is supposed to do (ie if i push the calender button, calender pops up!!!). Annoying!! Also, I seem unable to push the enter button on my d-pad (is this a known problem with the Axim?). Lastly, I really like pocketmvp but it doesn't play .wma and half my music is in this format!! Is it difficult (or even possible) to convert .wma to .mp3 or .ogg and if so how do i do it?

[shawnc]

I have a Dell Axim X5 and love it. My only annoyance (probably not just with the Dell) is that there is no form of hold button on the unit. When I am listening to music - I have the Dell in my pocket and use media player.

The problem is that the unit has to be on and buttons get pressed in my pocket or the screen gets tapped and drains the battery.

Is there someway of listening to music and somehow locking the unit to be unresponsive (except maybe for the power button which doesn't seem to get knocked in my pocket).

I had EXACTLY the same problem. pocketpcdude1024's suggestion will solve your problem.

[pocketpcdude1024]

thanks for the tips on toggling the screen I can get it to work on pocketmvp but not WMP - when it says to push a hardware button to map the button does the funtion it is supposed to do (ie if i push the calender button, calender pops up!!!). Annoying!! Also, I seem unable to push the enter button on my d-pad (is this a known problem with the Axim?). Lastly, I really like pocketmvp but it doesn't play .wma and half my music is in this format!! Is it difficult (or even possible) to convert .wma to .mp3 or .ogg and if so how do i do it?

Remember to select the function you want to map from the dropdown list, and then push the desired button. The 'enter' button should map properly, but I can't seem to map my 'notes' button. If you want to prevent the mapped buttons affecting your playback, assign them the "Full Screen Toggle" function. More than one button can be mapped to a single function, I should add. :D

If you have your files in one format, don't convert them to another format because every time you convert, you lose data. The only way to mass convert files is through a 3rd party program (which usually costs money)

[PetiteFlower]

I have spent extensive amounts of time trying to convert things to ogg and I can not get it to work. If anyone can tell me a program that I can use(free or free trial) that isn't DBPower Amp or CDEX I would be very appreciative. I tried both of those programs and can't get either to work. DBPA seems to work, but once it says the conversion is complete, I open the folder that the ogg file is supposed to appear in, and it's not there. I've asked for help but no one's helped!

[qmrq]

<a href=http://www.vorbis.com>www.vorbis.com</a> would be a good place to start.

[pocketpcdude1024]

It's harder than it looks to find an OGG player, and there doesn't seem to be just a codec to download! If I were you, I would not convert files to OGG since there is hardly any support for them as an audio file type.

[disconnected]

PocketMVP will play Ogg files, and it's free. For conversion, I use Easy CD-DA extractor from www.poikosoft.com. It's 19.95, but I think you can download and try it before buying. It's very easy to use.

[pocketpcdude1024]

I use Easy CD-DA extractor from www.poikosoft.com. It's 19.95, but I think you can download and try it before buying. It's very easy to use.

I use that to extract or "rip" my CDs. I have used the file converter and, in fact, I converted one of my files to OGG to test it, but without an OGG player, I was unable to.

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

I use Easy CD-DA extractor from www.poikosoft.com. It's 19.95, but I think you can download and try it before buying. It's very easy to use.

I use that to extract or "rip" my CDs. I have used the file converter and, in fact, I converted one of my files to OGG to test it, but without an OGG player, I was unable to.
If you're talking about a desktop player that can play OGGs, then WinAmp will do the job. I believe you just have to download a plug-in. You can also get a free player from dBpowerAMP (http://www.dbpoweramp.com) which I've heard is pretty good (I've been meaning to download this myself).

[pocketpcdude1024]

If you're talking about a desktop player that can play OGGs, then WinAmp will do the job. I believe you just have to download a plug-in. You can also get a free player from dBpowerAMP (http://www.dbpoweramp.com) which I've heard is pretty good (I've been meaning to download this myself).

OK, I'm downloading it now. I hope that it won't automatically reasign all my file extentions...

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

I have spent extensive amounts of time trying to convert things to ogg and I can not get it to work. If anyone can tell me a program that I can use(free or free trial) that isn't DBPower Amp or CDEX I would be very appreciative. I tried both of those programs and can't get either to work. DBPA seems to work, but once it says the conversion is complete, I open the folder that the ogg file is supposed to appear in, and it's not there. I've asked for help but no one's helped!
I take it that you don't have a second computer/laptop that you can try to rip your OGGs on?

I remember you mentioning this issue in a previous thread and am quite surprised that a resolution hasn't yet presented itself.

[ctmagnus]

Mp3 is encoded in joint stereo; that is sounds below a certain frequency are downmixed from stereo to mono.

But only if you encode in joint stereo. There's also the option in many encoders to encode in true stereo.

[Janak Parekh]

I have spent extensive amounts of time trying to convert things to ogg and I can not get it to work. If anyone can tell me a program that I can use(free or free trial) that isn't DBPower Amp or CDEX I would be very appreciative.
What happens when you try to rip with those two? CDex, in particular, works flawlessly for me.

But only if you encode in joint stereo. There's also the option in many encoders to encode in true stereo.
Correct, and a lot of people feel true stereo sounds better, although it's slightly less efficient bitwise.

--janak

[ctmagnus]

But only if you encode in joint stereo. There's also the option in many encoders to encode in true stereo.
Correct, and a lot of people feel true stereo sounds better, although it's slightly less efficient bitwise.

--janak

Bitwise, schmitwise... That's what the 40GB players are for :)

I can also differentiate between stereo and joint stereo and I have only one functioning ear (most of the time).

[PetiteFlower]

Ok I tried again to figure out the Ogg ripping thing and managed to get CDex to work :) I ripped my current MP3 collection to 64kbps ogg files and managed to fit about 20 more songs on my 256m SD card then I could before, and they do indeed(I think anyway) sound better then the mp3s I had ripped at 96k :)

Go me!

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

I tried again to figure out the Ogg ripping thing and managed to get CDex to work
&lt;...>
Go me!
Whoot! Whoot!

YOU GO!! Good news indeed!

[Janak Parekh]

Hmm, ekkie, you seem more excited about the success than she is. :lol:

Seriously, PF - welcome to the world of Ogg. ;)

--janak

[pocketpcdude1024]

I converted one of my MP3s to OGG and downloaded a player. Unimpressed, I see no need to mass convert my music to OGG. There is nothing that it offers that MP3 doesn't. :?

[Janak Parekh]

I converted one of my MP3s to OGG and downloaded a player. Unimpressed, I see no need to mass convert my music to OGG. There is nothing that it offers that MP3 doesn't. :?
What were the bitrates? Try taking a high-quality (say, 192kbps MP3) and convert it down to 64kbps MP3 and compare that result to a 64kbps Ogg. There should be a noticeable difference.

Mind you, it's always preferable to work with original material. Recompression will leave you subject to artifacts. I ended up reripping all my music from my CDs (all my music is "legit". :))

--janak

[pocketpcdude1024]

all my music is "legit". :)
--janak

Same here. Even worse than converting music to OGG is ripping music to OGG! This means over 100 CDs have to be inserted, ripped into OGG, and saved. I'm sorry, but it's not worth my time to do this when I have a perfectly functioning MP3 collection. Also, for consistency, I try to avoid mixed file formats (and even bitrates). :)

[ctmagnus]

it's not worth my time to do this when I have a perfectly functioning MP3 collection. Also, for consistency, I try to avoid mixed file formats

I concur. I would have loved to have all my music in ogg format, except, the Nomad Jukebox 3 that I was anticipating purchasing (and have since purchased) doesn't support it.

[pocketpcdude1024]

I concur. I would have loved to have all my music in ogg format, except, the Nomad Jukebox 3 that I was anticipating purchasing (and have since purchased) doesn't support it.

That's the problem with these quaint codecs- nothing supports them! MP3 is universal, so any OS or device, beit Windows, Mac, or Linux, can listen to the music without codec hunting on the internet.

[PetiteFlower]

Well, my mp3 collection isn't legit, but it is pretty small, it's not like I dl entire albums instead of buying them, I just get a song here and there that I otherwise would have taped off the radio. Since there's nothing illegal or wrong about taping songs off the radio, I don't feel that I'm doing anything wrong by taping off the internet in the same amounts.

Anyway the only way I'll ever convert CDs to data is if I get(someday) a storage card big enough to fit the whole thing. But I think I would be pretty sad to see my CD collection do nothing but sit and gather dust! And then on the other hand, how cool would it be to be able to have my entire collection in my car at one time instead of the (not too shabby) 12 CD changer that's in there now. But if I do decide to go that route ever, it will probably be with Ogg since I can fit more high-quality music in the same amount of space, and my PPC supports Ogg just fine.

[Janak Parekh]

Anyway the only way I'll ever convert CDs to data is if I get(someday) a storage card big enough to fit the whole thing.
Nah -- rip them all to a hard drive, and then copy subsets to a storage card. That's what I do.

But I think I would be pretty sad to see my CD collection do nothing but sit and gather dust!
Actually, I've never been happier. CDs were annoying to deal with. It's good having the "original material", but I'm much happier with them on the shelf. Plus, I put them in a binder zipped up, so they can't collect dust. ;)

--janak

[PetiteFlower]

Heh, I can see how some people would like that but I have a thing for physical objects over pure data. It's the same reason I don't want to get a digital camera--because I'll stop taking "real" pictures and I really like real pictures. I like film and I like the snapping sound of the shutter, I don't know what it is but I just like the tangibleness of it. Makes you more careful about the pictures you take when you only have 24 on a roll and you can't delete a bad one. So, I also like CDs, I like the cover art, I like looking at the case when I'm listening to the songs at work, I like being able to actually touch my music :) Guess it is possible to be a tech geek and an old-fashioned girl at the same time!

[Janak Parekh]

Heh, I can see how some people would like that but I have a thing for physical objects over pure data. It's the same reason I don't want to get a digital camera--because I'll stop taking "real" pictures and I really like real pictures.
I don't know about that. My sister was the same way, but she just got a digital camera... and I'm pretty sure she's not going back. The usefulness of a digital camera is very hard to pass up. I understand your satisfaction with CDs far more than the camera obsession -- there are actually tangible benefits to listening from CD, especially if you're listening to classical. ;)

--janak

[Jude]

That's the problem with these quaint codecs- nothing supports them! MP3 is universal, so any OS or device, beit Windows, Mac, or Linux, can listen to the music without codec hunting on the internet.

I won't argue that relatively obscure codecs such as Monkey's Audio, FLAC, MPC, are still all kinda "quaint". But I do believe OGG Vorbis has somewhat gone beyond the realms of "quaint"-ness. There are upcoming hardware players that already support it for one thing. Like the Neuros Digital Audio Player and the iRiver, both of which seem to be very good devices. A lot of people use the format to listen to music on their Pocket PCs (or even use OGG to encode the audio tracks in their movies). And thanks to Palm's not bundling an MP3 player with the Tungsten, a whole bunch of people were introduced to OGG when the first music players available for that device supported only OGG.

Funny you should mention Linux, because that user community is one of the staunchest supporters of OGG.

MP3 may be universal, but just because the majority uses it doesn't necessarily make it the best or even good. So it doesn't mean we all should just surrender to it. It's just like with the Mac OS and Windows, or Palms and Pocket PCs!

I actually switched to WMA 9 for a short while back because it sounded partially better than OGG at really low bitrates. But I got too annoyed by Windows Media Player (especially how it jumps back to the beginning of the song once you turn off your PPC) and so I switched back to OGG.

I do agree though that if you're going to get a music player with a humongous capacity (several gigs and up) then although OGG Vorbis support would be nice, I guess even just MP3 would do ok since you have the space to rip and store your music using pretty high bitrates anyway. Compared to OGG or WMA9, MP3 still cuts off a lot of info in some frequencies no matter how high you set the bitrate though.

[TopDog]

It's harder than it looks to find an OGG player, and there doesn't seem to be just a codec to download! If I were you, I would not convert files to OGG since there is hardly any support for them as an audio file type.
The GSPlayer (http://www.geocities.com/punkunp/) supports Mp3 and OGG.

Great player, I recommend it Highly, can map buttons/screentougle/playlists...

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

I converted one of my MP3s to OGG and downloaded a player. Unimpressed, I see no need to mass convert my music to OGG. There is nothing that it offers that MP3 doesn't. :?
What were the bitrates? Try taking a high-quality (say, 192kbps MP3) and convert it down to 64kbps MP3 and compare that result to a 64kbps Ogg. There should be a noticeable difference.
I'm wondering the same thing regarding the bitrates pocketpcdude1024 was working with.

We're really talking about equivalent music quality at far lower bitrates. MP3s sound pretty bad at 96kbps or lower and relying on WMP for WMA is rather frustrating personally. To rip music into OGG at 64kbps with music quality rivaling MP3 at 128kbps. How is that not impressive?

Granted, the inability to play OGGs on a number of mainstream hardware players is a rather legit argument and I can certainly understand those that feel that data conversion is a major hassle if there is a large legacy collection already in place. But these facts are already known by most everyone choosing to experiment with OGG. For those that are "unimpressed", I have to ask in return, "What exactly were you expecting?"

[mscdex]

thanks for the tips on toggling the screen I can get it to work on pocketmvp but not WMP - when it says to push a hardware button to map the button does the funtion it is supposed to do (ie if i push the calender button, calender pops up!!!). Annoying!!

You can change what each of the buttons do in the Settings menu (Start -> Settings -> Buttons). I have them all set to "None", except my Q button on my iPaq, which opens the task list (which I hardly ever use anymore because I use wisbar). Then once you do that, go into WMP setup and select Screen Toggle in the dropdown box and press the button you want to toggle the screen with. Hit ok, and you're good to go! :)

[pocketpcdude1024]

I converted one of my MP3s to OGG and downloaded a player. Unimpressed, I see no need to mass convert my music to OGG. There is nothing that it offers that MP3 doesn't. :?
What were the bitrates? Try taking a high-quality (say, 192kbps MP3) and convert it down to 64kbps MP3 and compare that result to a 64kbps Ogg. There should be a noticeable difference.
I'm wondering the same thing regarding the bitrates pocketpcdude1024 was working with.

We're really talking about equivalent music quality at far lower bitrates. MP3s sound pretty bad at 96kbps or lower and relying on WMP for WMA is rather frustrating personally. To rip music into OGG at 64kbps with music quality rivaling MP3 at 128kbps. How is that not impressive?

Granted, the inability to play OGGs on a number of mainstream hardware players is a rather legit argument and I can certainly understand those that feel that data conversion is a major hassle if there is a large legacy collection already in place. But these facts are already known by most everyone choosing to experiment with OGG. For those that are "unimpressed", I have to ask in return, "What exactly were you expecting?"

Bitrates? 56kbps is what I like my MP3 at. That's right, 56kbps. As for OGG, I couldn't care less about this file format. I'm ripping in MP3, and that's pretty much final. I'm sorry that I had to get so short, but I have expressed my opinions about the lack of players for OGG and the fact that just because it's more efficient doesn't mean that everyone will stop, drop, and convert all their music to OGG. I don't want to go over it again. I'm through... :roll:

[spursdude]

Bitrates? 56kbps is what I like my MP3 at. That's right, 56kbps. As for OGG, I couldn't care less about this file format. I'm ripping in MP3, and that's pretty much final. I'm sorry that I had to get so short, but I have expressed my opinions about the lack of players for OGG and the fact that just because it's more efficient doesn't mean that everyone will stop, drop, and convert all their music to OGG. I don't want to go over it again. I'm through... :roll:
It's really a matter of opinion and ear sensitivity. A few years back, I had all my music in 64kbps MP3 format. I couldn't tell any quality difference, but some of my friends and relatives could. Then, I moved to 128kbps when my ears got too sensitive. More recently, I've put everything into 64kbps WMA format. It's a great compromise for me - it works great in Windows Media Player 9, the sound quality is great, and it works flawlessly with WMP for PPC. I did try ogg, but I couldn't justify re-ripping all of my CDs for a quality change I couldn't notice.

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

Bitrates? 56kbps is what I like my MP3 at. That's right, 56kbps. As for OGG, I couldn't care less about this file format. I'm ripping in MP3, and that's pretty much final.
I didn't mean to come across as being offensive. If you rip at 56kbps, then more power to you. I had just wrongly assumed that you rip your music at 96kps or higher.

I'm sorry that I had to get so short, but I have expressed my opinions about the lack of players for OGG and the fact that just because it's more efficient doesn't mean that everyone will stop, drop, and convert all their music to OGG. I don't want to go over it again. I'm through... :roll:
I'm certainly not trying to convert you (or make you "drool").

Here's what jumped out at me. You stated you tried OGG and was "unimpressed" and then appeared to state the reasons as 1) there aren't enough players that support it and 2) converting a legacy collection is a hassle. Both are COMPLETELY legitimate responses for not wanting to use OGG; however, those two facts are already known without having to test OGG. Add on top of that that you currently rip at 56kbps MP3 (which leads me to assume that there isn't a discernible difference to your ears between the sound quality for MP3 at 56kbps vs MP3 at 128kbps... which is COMPLETELY fine as well).

Taking all that information into mind, I just wonder what kind of hopes or expectations you may have had in the first place that would have ultimately lead you to state you tried OGG and was "unimpressed".

That's all.

It's really a matter of opinion and ear sensitivity. A few years back, I had all my music in 64kbps MP3 format. I couldn't tell any quality difference, but some of my friends and relatives could. Then, I moved to 128kbps when my ears got too sensitive. More recently, I've put everything into 64kbps WMA format. It's a great compromise for me - it works great in Windows Media Player 9, the sound quality is great, and it works flawlessly with WMP for PPC. I did try ogg, but I couldn't justify re-ripping all of my CDs for a quality change I couldn't notice.
That's an excellent point. Reliance on WMP9 would certainly make WMA a great option and as seen from pocketpcdude1024, a lot of this is really just a matter of opinion and ear sensitivity.

[Jude]

Okay, I'm not trying to convert the unconvertable here, but only trying to share my views with those Pocket PC owners who are still planning on or deciding about how to use their Pocket PCs as a music player.

I choose to support OGG not only because it's a very good codec sound quality-wise (definitely beats MP3, holds its own against WMA), but also because of it's free and open source nature. I like the idea of things being free and open source and would want this sort of attitude to gain wider acceptance. It's also sort of like an undeserved underdog right now and it's always appealing for me to support an underdog. Especially when it doesn't cost me anything.

WMA 9 is also a very good audio codec and even beats OGG to some ears (mine included). I even used it for a time when it first came out. However, Windows Media Player 8.5 for the Pocket PC is not a very good music player. It's skippy, and doesn't pause in place in the middle of a song when you turn off your Pocket PC for one thing, which was what ultimately sent me switching. When a good (and preferably free or cheap) music playing app that supports WMA 9 appears for the Pocket PC, I might switch back. It's not the codec's fault. It's the media player's.

And since OGG has comparable quality to WMA 9 and yet is supported by several really good players, I choose to use it as my codec of choice for the meantime. One reason why I bought my PPC was to have a portable music player in the first place and PPCs play OGGs very well and so the "OGG is not compatible with most portable MP3 players" argument doesn't really apply to me or to other people who use their Pocket PCs the same way.

Obviously I don't mind ripping and re-ripping my music to a different codec every so often. But here's how I've set things up to make codec-switching as painless and manageable as possible. First, I installed the dbPowerAMP converter and its included codecs for Monkey's Audio, OGG, and WMA 9. Then using Exact Audio Copy I ripped my CDs (not all in one go, just by small batches whenever convenient or when I want to listen to a particular one) to Monkey's Audio format, which is a lossless codec that compresses at a roughly 4:1 ratio (but you can use the Windows Media Lossless codec too if you like). I then keep all these ripped music files in a folder on my hard drive (I have a 40gb one mostly set aside for this purpose. It may seem excessive but if you can afford a 128 MB CF or SD card you can definitely afford an extra 40 gb hard drive). I can now choose to convert these to OGG, WMA, MP3, or even back to WAV and then to whatever other new codec may come out, whenever I see fit, and at whatever bitrate is appropriate. And since the files are stored using a lossless format, its's literally as good as re-ripping and converting from the original CD, but without all the fuss. I just select the files, right-mouse click and convert away.

[spursdude]

Obviously I don't mind ripping and re-ripping my music to a different codec every so often. But here's how I've set things up to make codec-switching as painless and manageable as possible. First, I installed the dbPowerAMP converter and its included codecs for Monkey's Audio, OGG, and WMA 9. Then using Exact Audio Copy I ripped my CDs (not all in one go, just by small batches whenever convenient or when I want to listen to a particular one) to Monkey's Audio format, which is a lossless codec that compresses at a roughly 4:1 ratio (but you can use the Windows Media Lossless codec too if you like). I then keep all these ripped music files in a folder on my hard drive (I have a 40gb one mostly set aside for this purpose. It may seem excessive but if you can afford a 128 MB CF or SD card you can definitely afford an extra 40 gb hard drive). I can now choose to convert these to OGG, WMA, MP3, or even back to WAV and then to whatever other new codec may come out, whenever I see fit, and at whatever bitrate is appropriate. And since the files are stored using a lossless format, its's literally as good as re-ripping and converting from the original CD, but without all the fuss. I just select the files, right-mouse click and convert away.
Definitely very clever... I'll give that some thought.

[Jordan Rosenwald]

I don't get it? How are you all listening to your MP3s/Ogg/etc?!? I took a multi-week project of ripping all my CDs to MP3 at 192kbps with the plan of putting them on my PDA and a HD player (which I was going to purchase).
Sure most sounded good. But there were TONS that just sounded flat.
To this day, after several hundred listenings, Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Little Wing" still puts chills up and down my spine. In MP3, at 192, I felt nothing. Not a twinge, nothing.
I've only just begun to play around with Ogg (though I've been reading about it for a long time). But I just am shocked to hear people are encoding songs at such low rates.

By the way, the only thing that I can highly recommend low bit rates for is Old Radio Broadcasts. Fitting a few hours of broadcast in 30 megs or less just rocks!

[PetiteFlower]

Yeah, well you're an audio snob ;) Most people don't have ears like yours!

[Jordan Rosenwald]

Yeah, well you're an audio snob ;) Most people don't have ears like yours!

Is that really it? Don't get me wrong here. The latest Top 40 album tend to sound just fine. But you take a quality recording and no only does it not sound the same but it really sounds BAD by comparison.

[PetiteFlower]

I've never done a side by side comparison and I don't have really high quality stereo equipment that could really highlight the good or bad in a recording. I've been told that the difference between listening to vinyl and CDs is similar, but I've never heard it for myself so I couldn't say either way, you know?

[Janak Parekh]

I don't get it? How are you all listening to your MP3s/Ogg/etc?!? I took a multi-week project of ripping all my CDs to MP3 at 192kbps with the plan of putting them on my PDA and a HD player (which I was going to purchase).
OK, I thought I have sensitive ears, but you're more sensitive than me. I can sometimes tell the difference between Ogg 160kbps and uncompressed PCM CD audio, but it's not super-critical. I have a couple of notes for you, though:

1. What MP3 codec did you use? It makes a big difference. Also make sure you're not using Joint Stereo.
2. What soundcard or Pocket PC do you have? Have you tried ripping to WAV and playing it back? Certain soundcards/PocketPCs have relatively poor DACs.
3. Note that a lot of people say the same thing about CDs (as opposed to vinyl). ;)

--janak

[TheNewSteve]

WMP files sound fantastic.

but only if you encode them at 192 kbps.

:)

i had some songs at this and they sounded great.

then i made the mistake of taking them all down to microsoft's "cd quality" setting of 64kbps.... ick.... drums in the washing machine out of phase, crappy sound. (just my opinion).

i got winampaq (winamp clone, i don't care about skins or that sometimes the characters all reflow in japanese, it's free, has screen toggle, can use scroll switch for volume and most importantly has a full set of EQ sliders (my main gripe with WMP), plays .mp3s and .oggs, which i still have to get around to re-ripping, since i basically killed all my .wmas by making them 64kbps. will probably encode at 128 or so in .ogg, maybe 96, need to do more testing.

If i am really happy with the results and end up carrying more music and listening to it more often on my axim, i am liable to ditch the earbuds and get those $40 Aiwa noise cancelling headphones (they still fold up and you can hear the music without blasting, which doesn't really stop outside noise anyway).

-Steve

[Jude]

The lates version of WinamPaq (0.93) doesn't have that scrolling-the-list-turns-it-into-Korean (not Japanese) bug anymore. I agree that its EQ and presets work great (easy on the pre-amp though, especially on an iPaq 36xx-39xx)

I've tried OGG at 64, 80, 96, and 112. 64 is rather tolerable already, 80 even more so (but there isn't much of a diff). 96 sounds a whole lot better than 64 and artifacts are barely discernible. 112 is probably CD quality for a lot of people already, it almost is to me. As a compromise, I rip at 96 kbps.

Actually, I even think that at 96+ kbps OGG, listening to music on my iPaq sounds even better than listening to my portable CD player (a cheap Aiwa). There just seems to be more "oomph" to the music, better bass, a "clearer, richer" sound, and no skips. I use Sennheiser MX400 headphones.