Windows Media Audio Professional

[wit>trope]

I have Windows Media Player 10 and for the options to rip my CD music to my hard drive I have Windows Media Audio, WMA Variable Bit Rate, WMA Lossless, and MP3 ... but I don't see the Windows Media Audio Professional option.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/codecs/audio.aspx

Does this mean the WMA Professional codec can't be used to rip songs from CDs? It seems like the Professional codec is used only for internet streaming or something. Do songs on CDs come with more than 2 channels? I hope I'm not losing any channels by using the non-Professional codec.

 

[bad_ronald]

Most songs that come on CD's are just stereo. In order to get music with 5.1 Surround, you'll need to purchase your music on DVD audio discs.

 

[Aphex_Twin]

Just a small piece of advice... Use at least mp3 - it's easier to inscribe back onto CD and you can listen them on an mp3 player. But they do say the best things in life are free... why don't you try the ogg formats ( http://www.vorbis.com/ ) and a better player ( http://www.quinnware.com/ )

 

[wit>trope]

Most songs that come on CD's are just stereo. In order to get music with 5.1 Surround, you'll need to purchase your music on DVD audio discs.

So it will say on the CD if it's more than stereo right? I didn't even know that there was such a thing as DVD audio! Do you think they'll eventually have Blu-Ray/HD-DVD audio?

 

[Lozzy_Ozzy]

CD's only have stereo (you may find some with mono though).

 

[wit>trope]

Just a small piece of advice

Thanks I always appreciate advice

... Use at least mp3 - it's easier to inscribe back onto CD and you can listen them on an mp3 player. But they do say the best things in life are free... why don't you try the ogg formats ( http://www.vorbis.com/ ) and a better player ( http://www.quinnware.com/ )

It's too late now because I already ripped everything. I guess I'll now have to make a few mp3 CDs because I don't think my mp3 player plays WMA ... do you think I should recopy everything from the source CDs or convert the WMA files already on the computer hard drive? ... I'm guessing converting will result in loss in quality. But I ripped everything at variable bit rate (some on Best quality and others on one notch below Best) and the bit rates range from like 180 Kbps (lowest song) to 500 Kbps (highest song) so maybe I wouldn't sacrifice any quality by just converting.

Speaking of bit rates, does anyone know why the bit rate reported in Properties is different (usually a little higher) than the bit rate reported in Windows Media Player during play? Also the bit rate is supposed to be "variable" but during play it keeps on reporting the exact same bit rate in the player (but it's different for different songs).

 

[Lozzy_Ozzy]

You should re-rip it all, at highest quality MP3.

 

[wit>trope]

You should re-rip it all, at highest quality MP3.

My iTunes allows me to rip it up to 320 kpbs at constant bit rate and also has an option to rip at variable bit rate with just a verbal descriptor for the quality ("Highest" etc) and the ability to set a mininum bit rate (also up to 320 kpbs). I heard that variable bit rate was better.

Will my mp3 player play variable bit rate mp3s? In the manual it just says:

∫MP3
Supported bit-rates:
32 kbps to 320 kbps
(128 kbps is recommended)
Supported sampling frequency:
48 kHz/44.1 kHz/32 kHz
Maximum number of items
(total no. of albums and tracks): 999
Maximum album levels: 100

No mention of "variable bit rate"

 

[aneeshm]

If you want a proven lossless format , go for FLAC or OGG .

 

[blindside]

Can you really tell the difference between an mp3 and a OGG?

 

[Zelig]

Can you really tell the difference between an mp3 and a OGG?

Yes, a vorbis file of the same quality will generally be smaller, it's quite easy to tell the difference in file size.

 

[blindside]

Yes, a vorbis file of the same quality will generally be smaller, it's quite easy to tell the difference in file size.

No I was wondering is there a significant difference in sound quality.

 

[Zelig]

No I was wondering is there a significant difference in sound quality.

For equal filesize yes, but both ogg vorbis and mp3s can be recorded at a bitrate high enough to be indistinguishable from the original source.