Some more thoughts on ripping speeds & formats…
People often rip at to high a speed as they think that is the only way to go. It all comes down to… the file format, your age, listening style, music preferences, & drive space.
Age & Hearing Abilities…
Unfortunately human hearing, being what it is, can be very deceiving & we often are not aware of some of our human limitations.
For older listeners you might try WMA at even lower ripping speeds such as 80kb or even 64kb to save even more space. As we grow older we all experience a progressive loss in high frequency hearing ability. This creeps up on us so slowly that we are usually not aware of the high frequency loss. So it depends on who is actually listening to the music… a young or older person. If you are the only one listening to the music, then rip it at a speed commensurate to your hearing abilities. If others are going to listen to it, you might rip at a slightly higher kb rate.
The ripping speed also depends on how you normally listen to your music.
The Casual Listener…
For casual (or background) listening, select a lower ripping speed (in WMA that would be 80 or 64kb) as you will not be concentrating on the music & will not notice small flaws in the music.
The Serious Listener…
If you are a serious listener (you are doing nothing else but concentrating only on the music, there are no other distracting noises, there are no other people in the area to distract you, etc) then rip at a higher bit rate to make sure you are getting every little nuance (with WMA that would be 96 or 128kb but I see no need to go any higher under any condition).
Music Preferences…
If you only like the gut wrenching, chest pounding of really big bass with little real high frequency instruments, then a lower bit rate is all you really need as there is little high frequency content. We’re talking 64kb or maybe 80kb.
If your style is more to jazz or classical (which has a broad spectrum of frequencies) then use a higher bit rate. 80 - 96kb. A lot of very high frequency (& you are young & have high end speakers) 128kb might be the a little better.
If vocals are your thing, then we are talking about mid frequencies (but don’t forget the musical instruments). 64 – 80kb should be fine.
Drive Size…
If you are limited on available space then rip at the lowest bit rate possible that produces acceptable sound such as 48 – 80kb.
If drive space is not a problem, then use the best bit rate for your age, listening style, & music preferences.
By the way, I no longer have the 1.6 GB drive that started my search for a better & smaller ripping format. I currently have 200 GB of high speed drive space at ATA 133 RAID 0 array. But I still use WMA at 96kb as it simply “does the job” & I see no need to go to any faster ripping speed.
And Lastly, the Microsoft Myth…
I hear from some people about WMA being from Microsoft…
“There are to many strings attached”, or “I don’t trust them”, or “They might be secretly taking information from my computer”.
This is absolute nonsense! Let’s be realistic. WMA is a simple file format & that’s all it is. If it was doing funny things it would have to be much larger then it is. After all, WMA produces some of the smallest files out there. Also Microsoft would have much better ways to get information from you through the Windows operating system itself as few of us has any idea what they all do.
So forget the Microsoft nonsense & simply enjoy the great music.
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Topic: WMA Ripping the best? (Read 4263 times)