Could a panel of pro DJs and industry professionals tell the difference between the different compressed audio formats of mp3, AAC, WMA, and Vorbis?DJmag put five experts to the test through the infamous system at London club Fabric
Fwiw, I've decided for myself that 192 AAC is all that I need. I used to rip things at much higher rates but I just couldnt tell the difference.
If you do a lot of your own ripping, what do you generally choose?
DJ Magazine: Cutting Edge dance music, club culture and DJ technology - DJ Technology
LAME 3.90.3 --alt-preset
pretty much covers THE whole range of stuff and at very high quality and tested by people more fanatical than I would/could ever be about audio...
for more info, look at the FAQ at:
www.hydrogenaudio.org
When I was ripping and encoding I generally used to rip to 192 MP3. Seems to have the perfect combination of sound quality and file size.
These days, however, I have no need to rip as I generally just download music via iTMS or other online music sites.
rip everything in lossless.
then, each time a better format comes out, i run a script that transcodes it.
ensures i have pure digital copies should my CD collection ever go bust ;)
I rip a lot of "live" recordings of digital TV shows featuring guest artists---generally 190 MP3.
For true live recordings I archive them for one year in a lossless format (Shorten or AIFF). Then I make copies with 360 MP3 for which is what NPR and college radio asks me submit when I do work for them. If non-profit radio considers 300+ MP3, that's good 'nough for anybody.