Best Quality For size Codec

[BUMP THAT]

I am using conduits pocket player. I noticed it supports wma. I am using ogg right now. But which is the best to use? I know both are good, but I want the best :D. Any ideas?

[Perk]

Great question.

First, OGG is superior to standard WMA @ 192kbps. However, it's not compatible with too many things out there and seems to be loosing popularity. Whatever CODEC you choose, you probably already know that the higher your kbps setting is, the higher the sound quality.

I use to rip my music as WMA lossless and sync at WMA 192kbps. However, I'm finding better results by copying and pasting mp3 320kbps at files directly to my SD and CF cards without any conversion. They seem to be a better space compromise and are not as compressed.

If you want the best results, don't buy your music on-line. It's only available compressed. I buy CDs as they're still the reference fidelity. I buy a lot of them on ebay and other alternative places.

If you have the hard drive space, rip it in WAV and sync AAC for your device. betaplayer supportss AAC files and AAC is the best CODEC out there right now.

WAV is not a CODEC as it does not compress the music. It simply makes an exact acoustic copy.

Um, sorry about the long post.

http://www.bestmp3guide.com/

http://www.dapreview.net/news.php

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php

http://www.vialicensing.com/products/mpeg4aac/standard.html

http://mp3.radified.com/



Mike

[Sven Johannsen]

Like many other such questions, I think the answer becomes a personal choice. What is best to you may not be so to someone else. I look at wide acceptance (available players, or built in player so as not to cost me space), easy creation (just through a CD in and MP10 sucks it up), and acceptable quality for size (which is in itself a personal decision). For those attributes I stick with wma.

Others more concerned with the fidelity of the sound may choose something else and sacrifice the compression ratio, or choice of players or something else.

Every option has advantages and drawbacks. If one met everyones needs, there would only be one. ;)

[Perk]

Competition pushes technology to new heights.

Sure it's a natural to use WM player. It's included in my PC and PDA. It does a descent job. It’s a little feature poor on the portable side. As for installing an additional player, I do that in main memory. The media is stored in cards. Other Codecs and soft players exist for good reason. They bring value to the market.

Further, the newest Codecs were/are being developed in pursuit of improving the performance per storage ratio. The newest Codecs use psychoacoustic research so that only the subtlest details are lost in. The older Codecs simply use mathematical formulas to lop off huge chunks of underlying data. As we learn from the benefit of the newer Codecs, I’m sure something even better will be developed.

[BUMP THAT]

Hey thanx for the posts. I am leaning to WMA for it being so compatible. But OGG is so nice. I heard that I can get better quality in OGG if I rip to OGG than ripping to WMA at the same codec. IS this true? I am using Pocket Player. ;)

[Ripper014]

I find that is true... which is why I have been using it for years... but it is easy enough for you to test... Just download dbPowerAMP Music Converter and whatever codecs you need and do a test for yourself.

Everyone has an option and I don't have the ears of a bat... and find that OGG works fine for what I want... plus it seems to maximize my files sizes.

[BUMP THAT]

I love dbPowerAMP Music Converter. That app is great!!

[Perk]

I love dbPowerAMP Music Converter. That app is great!!

Where can I find it?

[Palmvert]

Do any pocket pc players support the FLAC Codec? I have a music server with files ripped using this codec and it would be nice not to have to reformat them prior to dropping them in the pocket pc.

[BUMP THAT]

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/ For dbPowerAMP.

I know Pocket Player supported a lot of codecs like WMA. But when I uninstalled it and then installed it later, alot of supported files were missing like WMA. It might support FLAC?.

[Damion Chaplin]

Do any pocket pc players support the FLAC Codec? I have a music server with files ripped using this codec and it would be nice not to have to reformat them prior to dropping them in the pocket pc.

Not as yet (at least, not to my knowledge). Hopefully soon. I rip my CDs in FLAC format and then have Winamp convert them to WMA or MP3 (depending on which device I'll be putting them on). With the FLAC plugin to Winamp, I can queue my entire collection, select the codec and bitrate of the final file and hit <PLAY>. It converts them all very quickly (although unfortunately it won't replicate my file folder structure unless I convert them one album at a time).

Which makes me wonder why Nullsoft has not developed a Pocket Winamp... It seems like name recognition alone ought to make it worthwhile. Seems like they might be missing the boat. Of course, not having to concentrate on a mobile version probably allows them to concentrate fully on their desktop version...

[Menneisyys]

Do any pocket pc players support the FLAC Codec? I have a music server with files ripped using this codec and it would be nice not to have to reformat them prior to dropping them in the pocket pc.

iPlay ( http://40th.com/ ) is able to play FLAC files.