First iPod - Quality MP3 Settings Question

I purchased my 1st iPod last week and am in the process of 'ripping' all my music from CD to MP3 format. My question is in regards to the quality I rip my CD's to MP3's. Does it really make a bit of noticable difference if my CD's are 320kbps? I ripped them at the highest quality available (320kbps) and am worried now that I wont have enough space on my Nano 8GB player for all my CD's.

Can someone tell me if I can even tell a difference between an MP3 ripped from CD at 128kbps and 320kbps?

I am not using the iPod ear buds that came with it but have something similar like V-Moda ear buds and Shure E2C's ear buds.

Thanks for any info!

Some people report they can hear a difference, others not. is all a matter what you can hear. 320k is better as for quality but a larger file price. What I would suggest to you is to test it for yourself. and see if you can hear a difference and is it worth the size of the file. A lot of people use 160k or 192k for "better quality" and still keep the file smaller. there is also the VBR setting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3

Just wondering when you purchase songs via iTunes, what quality are the songs downloaded at? Is there an option in iTunes that allows you to download files at a specific quality like 128 or 320?

If you download them, they will be at 256kbps. I definitely can tell a difference between CD quality (1411kbps) and this. It really depends on what you will be using it for. For me when at home I listen at CD quality but on the go or in the car, it doesn't matter as much.

I've found 256kbps to be a good compromise for me. I keep higher quality stuff on my computer to listen with real headphones, but for portable audio 256 is plenty.

Carloswill said:

Can someone tell me if I can even tell a difference between an MP3 ripped from CD at 128kbps and 320kbps?

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Only way to determine that would be to do ABX testing or some other form of blind A/B testing. You can read about ABX testing here. The easiest way to do ABX testing, right now, is with foobar2000.

Zardoz said:

there is also the VBR setting.

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Which will produce higher quality files at lower average bit rates than CBR or ABR. VBR is always recommended if the device supports it, which all iPods do.

For whatever it's worth, I use LAME 3.98r2-encoded MP3s at the -V5 setting, which results in files at around 130kbps. These are typically transparent to me on my Prelude->Headroom Micro->HD 650 PC setup and most assuredly transparent to me on my stock iPhone earbuds.

Carloswill said:

Just wondering when you purchase songs via iTunes, what quality are the songs downloaded at? Is there an option in iTunes that allows you to download files at a specific quality like 128 or 320?

Click to expand...

Standard iTunes Store bitrate is 128Kbps for 99 cents. There are also a lot of songs for $1.30 that are 192Kbps.

Long and the short of bitrates: 10 years ago there used to be a very discernible difference between 128Kbps and 320Kbps. The combination of people opting for cheap headphones (like the earbuds that come with the iPod) and a dramatic improvement in the quality of MP3 encoders means that today in 2009 there's very little discernible difference between 128Kbps and 320Kbps, besides file size. This is presuming you're using a good encoder, though.

iTunes' encoder is very good: however, for reduced file size and equivalent quality, you may want to externally encode using a LAME encoder and VBR settings, and then import to iTunes. Up to you, though. It's really not a necessity.

Note that I'm not saying there isn't a difference between bitrates: I'm simply saying the difference isn't discernible by most due to low-quality audio gear. If you get a set of quality earbuds, like the Shure E3c or E4c, you'll probably be able to tell a difference between 128Kbps and 320Kbps. And on a good quality speaker or home theater system, you can usually tell a difference between any lossy format (MP3, WMA, OGG, etc) and lossless format (FLAC, Apple Lossless, APE, etc.)

tl;dr Don't worry too much about bitrates, worry more about what sort of headphones you're using.

If you're looking for some further reading, Gizmodo has a great write up:
http://gizmodo.com/5273332/the-great-mp3-bitrate-test-+-results

I can attest that 256kbp is the sweet-spot for ripping.
As others have said, though, it's all dependent on the headphones/speakers you're using. If you're using about $150ish headphones, then you'll really appreciate the higher bit-rates. If you're just using $50 headphones to commute to work on the subway train, then there's no need to.

In my opnion, most of us have a dedicated HDD strictly for music; so why not take advantage of it and rip it in a quality format? That way, down the road if you get better speakers/headphones you dont have to re-rip everything again.