Audio File Quality
May 6, 2015 08:45:05 #
I am in the process of ripping songs from cds and would like to know what is the highest quality file type to convert to. I do know that ".wav" is higher than ".mpeg". I want the highest quality file, as storage space is not an issue.
May 6, 2015 09:23:25 #
Any of the uncompressed lossless file formats, or lossless compressed file formats will capture the CD quality unchanged. See here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_file_format
Personally, I generally use .wav.
Personally, I generally use .wav.
May 6, 2015 09:43:14 #
With little or no argument, a WAV file will provide the best quality. Since storage is not a factor, might as well go with WAV. Since I listen to music on my iPhone or iPod storage is a factor so I convert to mpeg. Even with average headphones, mpeg still sounds good to me. It's all in the ear of the beholder.
May 6, 2015 10:47:04 #
May 6, 2015 19:46:34 #
You can't improve audio quality by simply converting it to a different format (you can't make something out of nothing). My recording studio records in WAV, which is very high quality, but the files are huge (only a few tracks would fit on a CD). So, I convert to MP3 to use on CDs--most CDs are in this format. To be honest, if the same track is heard in WAV & MP3, the play back gear would have to be extremely high quality to detect any difference, & then only a few people would, anyway.
If you rip from a CD & then convert to WAV, you will gain no increase in quality--just a bigger file, as what was lost when it was compressed to MP3 to use on a CD is lost forever. It cannot be recovered. Audio & digital photography files are similar in this aspect. If an image is recorded in 6000 pixels long side, & later resized to 2000 pixels, the lost pixels are gone forever. If the 2000 pixel image is resized back to 6000, you won't recover the original quality.
Audio & imaging both follow the same rule. Resizing down will lose quality--resizing up will not improve quality.
If you rip from a CD & then convert to WAV, you will gain no increase in quality--just a bigger file, as what was lost when it was compressed to MP3 to use on a CD is lost forever. It cannot be recovered. Audio & digital photography files are similar in this aspect. If an image is recorded in 6000 pixels long side, & later resized to 2000 pixels, the lost pixels are gone forever. If the 2000 pixel image is resized back to 6000, you won't recover the original quality.
Audio & imaging both follow the same rule. Resizing down will lose quality--resizing up will not improve quality.
May 7, 2015 11:05:52 #
DOOK wrote:
You can't improve audio quality by simply converti... (show quote)
The statement above is correct as far as it goes. The problem is, if you re-compress the CD file to an mp3, further loss occurs. If you want to preserve the CD quality however good or bad it is, as it is without further loss, you must use a lossless format, like .wav.
May 7, 2015 14:49:04 #
Violameister wrote:
The statement above is correct as far as it goes. The problem is, if you re-compress the CD file to an mp3, further loss occurs. If you want to preserve the CD quality however good or bad it is, as it is without further loss, you must use a lossless format, like .wav.
Thanks. I know you can't get any better than the original recording. Just wanted the best conversion file to capture the highest quality as possible. You have convinced me to stay with .wav.
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