Total noob on encoding

[Quak3R]

well,
I just picked up my Cowon IAUDIO x5 20gb mp3 player, and i must say, this is quite the player .
My question for you guys is whats the best possible file type for the best possible sound? I have 20gb, so space is not a concern for me.
I always thought mp3 was the best file type, but apparently, that's not the case anymore. Now i hear .wav is much better.
anybody who can explain this to an idiot Seaman, please let me hear it.

 

[jpmkm]

Wav files are uncompressed, so you probably don't really want to use that for an mp3 player. 192kbit or higher mp3s are generally undistinguishable from uncompressed wav files to the untrained ear on lower end equipment. btw, wavs have been around much longer than mp3s.

 

[strid3r]

Mp3's are a lossy codec, meaning some of the original signal is lost when you encode it into a mp3. There are also other lossy codecs as well, including OGG, Musepack, and AAC. There are also file types that are lossless (FLAC, APE, etc), meaning you lose nothing when you encode the original wav file. These files tend to be bigger, but that's the trade-off for a lossless file.

 

[Newbify2]

Because the Cowon IAUDIO x5 only has support for MP3, WMA, OGG, ASF, and WAV files your best bet would be using a LAME encoded mp3 or Ogg Vorbis using Exact Audio Copy
http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

 

[xonik]

FLAC is also available, but ID3 support for FLAC (or any other codec, for that matter) is not available.

 

[Deadlierchair]

FLAC is also available, but ID3 support for FLAC (or any other codec, for that matter) is not available.

Rumor has it that will come in the next firmware update...

FLAC is really great because it is the best you can get out of the player so you aren't limiting your source in any way. That being said, unless you have nice headphones and really care about it/want to spend some $$$ I'd go for 192 or 256 VBR mp3 ripped using EAC and encoded using LAME.

 

[Whitedude]

A highish quality mp3 would probably do you just fine. On my computer I use FLAC (a lossless audio codec), but frankly, even with a pretty decent headphone setup (HD595's and a amp) I can't tell too much of a difference when it comes out of my iPod as compared to my reciever+speaker setup at my house.

 

[MasterShake]

How does windows media audio lossless stack up against FLAC? I use windows media player so I went with that because I don't think that FLAC is compatible with it (I think anyway). I currently only have onboard sound on my dfi nf2 250gb and Logitech z-5300e's and some cheaper Koss headphones that I use very often. I plan on upgrading my headphones soon and getting a soundcard. Is wma lossless good? I really want the highest audio quality, I've got most of my cd collection on here right now.

 

[xonik]

By definition, two lossless codecs will have the exact same audio quality, down to the last bit. The reason why FLAC is more prevalent, in my opinion, is that it has support for ID3 tags while WMA lossless does not.

Another nice thing about lossless is that you can transcode WMA into FLAC and vice versa, with literally no degradation of the source data. So try both, and see what meets your needs best.

 

[Whitedude]

/\ as he states above, you can convert WMA lossless into FLAC, and also into apples lossless format. Try all three, see which one fits you best.

 

[MasterShake]

Thanks guys. Now all I need is a decent pair of headphones. I have a pair of $1300 acoustic research speakers on my home stereo. My crap headphones almost make me want to cry going from that. I live in a duplex, so I can't play music loud at all.

 

[vamp]

The best thing to do is to rip a song from a cd, then encode it into different formats and listen test on your own. Not everyone has "golden ears", cares to use them, or listens in an environment that allows it.

MasterShake, check out head-fi.org
it's not my fault...