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Which is the best compressed music format?

Gaspode

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Gaspode
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I thought maybe a brief period of Googling might provide the answer to this but no joy so far.

Is there any advantage to using newer music formats such as AAC and WMA rather than the much older MP3? These newer formats have better compression than MP3 and so should be better quality for the same file size. However it seems this is only noticeable at low bitrates < 128kbps. Above that and apparently the differences are 'comparable'.

I realise that MP3 is far more portable due to it's popularity. But it is fifteen years old now and it seems a shame not to use something newer and improved and still keep the files relatively small.

Does anyone know of any listening tests comparing the different formats? Is there a good reason to change from MP3?

Thanks.
 
The best compressed music format for what?

If you're going to be listening to it on earphones, quality is definitely not a priority. You might as well use mp3.

If you're playing it through decent speakers, then you won't want to sacrifice too much quality.
 
I have been using AAC (128 kbps) for quite a while, and I'm very happy with it. Depending on what you're doing, I hear Ogg Vorbis (which is open source and free) is very good on the (quality/memory consumption) ratio.

Smike: Do you mean little teeny earphones, or proper headphones? I have Grado SR-80s and I have to use high quality audio compression because they are very good.
 
Almo said:
I have been using AAC (128 kbps) for quite a while, and I'm very happy with it. Depending on what you're doing, I hear Ogg Vorbis (which is open source and free) is very good on the (quality/memory consumption) ratio.

Smike: Do you mean little teeny earphones, or proper headphones? I have Grado SR-80s and I have to use high quality audio compression because they are very good.
Click to expand...

earphones (in the Uk at least) tends to refer to in ear "buds" whereas headphones is a more generic term, which could include high quality cans.
 
Smike said:
The best compressed music format for what?

If you're going to be listening to it on earphones, quality is definitely not a priority. You might as well use mp3.

If you're playing it through decent speakers, then you won't want to sacrifice too much quality.
Click to expand...

Well I still buy cds but I rarely listen to the cd itself - I just rip it straightaway and play it on an iPod.

I suppose what I'm looking for is the minimum bit-rate so that I won't notice any difference from the cd - as played on an iPod plugged into a fairly good quality hifi. I usually rip at 192kbps - which maybe more than sufficient. But if I can get away with a lower bitrate in a better format so much the better.
 
Use the VBR encoding feature - it will reduce the filesize without sacrificing quality. I assume the iPod is capable of playing VBR MP3s.
 
cyborg said:
Use the VBR encoding feature - it will reduce the filesize without sacrificing quality. I assume the iPod is capable of playing VBR MP3s.
Click to expand...
Another vote for Variable Bitrate. Most players are capable of playing VBR MP3s. File size completely depends on the type of music, and how 'complex' the music is.
 
I use .MP3 for the same reason I use .ZIP

Not because it is superior but instead because it is the standard.
 
Perhaps I'll stick to MP3 then. Think the iPod plays VBR - iTunes does.

There doesn't seem to be a good reason to use anything else.
 
Gaspode said:
Perhaps I'll stick to MP3 then. Think the iPod plays VBR - iTunes does.

There doesn't seem to be a good reason to use anything else.
Click to expand...

Yes it does. E-music encodes new music at 196 kbps VBR and I play tons of those on my iPod. I encode stuff from CDs at 320 kbps VBR, those play fine as well.

I use MP3 for the same reason everyone else does -- it'll play anywhere.
 
For the best quality, FLAC. Which is basically a lossless format (like ZIP).
For best compatibility, MP3.
For best quality/size ratio, probably AAC or Vorbis.
 
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