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View Full Version : what audio format you use to play music on ppcs??


justBe
07-22-2002, 08:55 PM
wma? mp3? ogg? what people use? i tried a lot with mp3 (128, 192, 64 kbps) wma (64kbps) and i always find sluggish performance when listening to music and trying to do something else!

which is the best one? and which is the format and the player that work best on ppcs? (not xscale ones)

i tried conduits player, wmp and divx player, none of them satisfy me :(

any recomandations?
thxs! :bad-words:

JonnoB
07-22-2002, 09:06 PM
I have had the best luch with wma at 64. I load up my 128mb CF card and play them through my car stereo with a short-range FM transmitter. Sounds as good as over the radio music. And my PPC is being charged while driving. I mapped some buttons to control play/pause, next/prev, etc.

Jorj Bauer
07-22-2002, 10:56 PM
wma? mp3? ogg? what people use?

I use PocketDivX and MP3s. I've already mp3'd most of my CD collection, so I'm not changing formats now unless something *really* compelling comes along...

Dave Conger
07-23-2002, 01:13 AM
I use MP3 or WMA with WMP. I have all my single songs in MP3 and usually run the at 96, 128, or 192kbps. When I do mixes of songs I use WMA usually at 128.

spursdude
07-23-2002, 02:42 AM
64kbps wma's all the way. the quality is just as good as 128kbps mp3s, and it saves precious space on my cf card. if you already have mp3s, you may not want to hassle with the conversion. however, i've ripped all my cd's in wma files, and with the windows xp media player bonus, i get a nice free wma converter for downloaded music.

Dave Conger
07-23-2002, 05:41 AM
...you may not want to hassle with the conversion....

Anyone know of a good bulk audio converter? I have had bad luck with some in the past....

Edit: Conversion like MP3 to WMA.

juni
07-23-2002, 06:05 AM
Windows Media Player (XP) converts cds nicely and quickly into wmas. It only took a few minutes to do my new Strokes and Hives cds :)

Jason Dunn
07-23-2002, 02:28 PM
Careful of "double dipping":

http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/pocketpc/stepbystep/transcode.asp

dcharles18
07-24-2002, 12:17 AM
Here's another vote for WMA, 64kbps

Corn Bread
07-24-2002, 03:13 AM
WMA for me also, at 64kbps

marlof
07-24-2002, 08:50 AM
WMA, 64 kbps . Previously ripped with MusicMatch, since my switch to XP simply with Windows Media Player.

Janak Parekh
07-24-2002, 04:25 PM
MP3's, myself. I like the MP3 ripper I'm using, as well as the portability of MP3 files. I rip at 160kbps VBR. Of course, WMP can barely handle this, so I'm using iPlay (www.40th.com). Either that, or PocketDivX (www.projectmayo.com, which is free, but clunkier), is a far superior audio player to WMP. Couple reasons why:

0. WMP can't handle MP3's reliably, especially higher bitrates (and I've tried every version and patch);

1. Can cache Microdrive, so it's not running all the time;

2. Uses very little CPU power; the rest of the unit doesn't slow down 50%+;

3. Uses less memory;

4. It's much easier to open one directory of MP3's and play them (important for me, as I use nested directories, e.g., "\Storage Card\Artist\Album\*.mp3");

5. Feature set in general. iPlay has an insane number of features, including a full equalizer.

Having said all that, if you are using a small CF or SD card, 64 or 96kbps WMA is the most space-efficient bet. However, try comparing the quality with a 128 or 160kbps stream with a good pair of headphones; despite what Microsoft says, it isn't comparable, even with the WMP8 codec. (Cymbals and high vocals sound much "raspier", in particular).

--bdj

Wiggin
07-26-2002, 12:01 AM
I'm using MP3 files, all ripped at 128 kbps with Musicmatch. I use a 1GB Microdrive, so space is not an issue. WMA is much better for file size, with acceptable quality, I just do not like the hassles that come along with wma format. As for the player of choice... I'm still looking :crazyeyes: WMP is my current fallback while I test others... iPlay is loaded with options, but too costly. I've played with PocketDivX, which is somewhat unstable... when it works, it's fine. I'm waiting for the Musicmatch equivelant for the PPC....such an easy concept...yet so hard to execute!
Cheers

spursdude
07-26-2002, 07:15 AM
WMA is much better for file size, with acceptable quality, I just do not like the hassles that come along with wma format. As for the player of choice... I'm still looking :crazyeyes: WMP is my current fallback while I test others...

just wondering - what hassles are you talking about? also, if you're using WMP, i would suggest using WMA over MP3, because WMP has accepted every single one of my WMA files, but randomly goes to the next song with a few of the few MP3 files i have used on my PPC.

Wiggin
07-29-2002, 05:07 PM
Largest issue is around rights management.. I'm all for the concept (I'm not a file-swapper...don't support the concept), I just do not like the way WMP executes. Using MP3s allows free movement of files into / out of any directory without having to worry about the rights file being updated and/or found. This can be especially challenging when you are copying files back and forth between a PC and a handheld devices. Let's face it, MP3 files are just plain easy to use, anyplace, for any reason. Larger file size, yes, but that's about the only downside. Not to mention the fact that I have ripped a very large number of songs (2000+) off my CD collection in MP3 format... I'm not about to go back and re-rip it all in WMA format. So, my search for the holy grail of MP3 players will continue!
Cheers

Jason Dunn
07-29-2002, 09:35 PM
Largest issue is around rights management..

When you rip WMA, you just turn all copyright protection and DRM off. :-)

taxus
07-30-2002, 05:11 AM
Yeah, that's what I do. I didn't realize the rights management was on by default, and when I got my Toshiba 2 weeks ago I ripped half a dozen of my CDs (I never really used MP3 and WMAs before) before I realized that WMP was unprotecting them before sending them to the PDA. It doesn't seem like WMP8 in PocketPC 2002 supports rights management. Which means that they were ripped a second time. :evil:

I'm done using WMP to transfer my WMAs to my PDA: I use a SD card reader.

ECOslin
07-31-2002, 07:43 PM
Test results

http://ff123.net/64test/results.html

The Rankings being:
1.MP3pro
2.Ogg
3.WMP 7.1, soon to be version 9 in September.(Microsoft has claimed DVD quality in half the space.)
4.MP3

MP3pro sounds good but after generally a year(has it been a year already?) of release I haven't heard of any great commercial development. I think the one main player/converter is still beta.
I would like to see more of it, but I'd hate to reconvert my CDs again.

Edward

Dave Conger
07-31-2002, 08:31 PM
2.Ogg


I am surpised that Ogg isn't promoted more. Seems like Ogg would have taken off with lots of "techies" using it...

jjwarren
08-02-2002, 05:20 PM
2.Ogg


I am surpised that Ogg isn't promoted more. Seems like Ogg would have taken off with lots of "techies" using it...

Ogg is a pretty good format, but it will take a while to percolate down to Pocket PC's. Ogg requires floating point operations that aren't supported on ARM processors, and it's not entirely clear that XScale processors have enough computational horsepower either.

As for me, I prefer 192K MP3, but I also use 96K WMA, and Real 7 & 8. The post above about file mobility is spot-on - almost any mp3 will play almost anywhere (bad encoding aside), but the same isn't true of WMA, and certainly not of the various Real formats.

pyrojeff
08-12-2002, 02:43 PM
I use a program called dBpowerAMP Music Converter, it is the best out there because it can convert between virtually any format (MP3,WMA,WAV,OGG) as long as you have the plug-ins. Best of all, it's free, and it works a heck of a lot better than any of the shareware out there.

Website: http://www.dbpoweramp.com/