WMA at 192K and good headphones

Mephiston · 27th October 2004, 21:01

Well i'm in the Process of converting my CD Collection to WMA@192 so i can use it on my PDA.

I currently own just a cheap pair of Labtec's and no matter what codec i use they all sound fine at 192. Can't tell any difference, but i'm ordering some senheisers soon and someone at work told me WMA will sound like crap on a good pair of headphones compared to MP3 using the latest LAME encoder.

Anyone have this experience with WMA and a good pair of headphones, don't want to re-rip/encode 200 CD's again.

sethk · 28th October 2004, 05:49

Even though you may think so now, once you get down the slippery slope of 'audiophilia' you will find yourself spending more and doing more work to get high quality audio!

You don't mention any price ranges but for high quality headphones, here are my suggestions:

Price range - < $50
Slim pickings here, but either a used pair of Grado SR-60s or the Sennheiser PX-100s

Price Range 60-90
Sennheiser HD-497
Grado SR-60
Grado SR-80

Price Range 100-150
Sennheiser HD-580 (may have to search around to find a good price)
Stay away from the 590s

Price Range 160-250
Sennheiser HD-600 (may have to search around to find a good price)
AKG 501
Shure / Etymotics if you must get in-ears, but I think this is still worse than Grados/Senns.

I ended up ripping all my CDs in FLAC format for lossless encoding. I also have 320kbit MP3s of them for when I put them on a portable.

bond · 28th October 2004, 19:25

rjamorims latest double-blind codec comparison showed that lame @ 128kbps provides clearly better quality than wma9 @ 128kbps, so you might want to consider staying with mp3/lame

read more about the test yourself here

Mephiston · 29th October 2004, 06:40

I'm gonna use that Vorbis autov encoder.

I tried a few CD's and at Q6 i can't tell any difference between the ogg file and the original. My pda plays them quite well also, no glitches or anything with betaplayer.

Should be fine for portable use i hope.

Mephiston · 29th October 2004, 06:43

Quote:

Originally posted by sethk
Even though you may think so now, once you get down the slippery slope of 'audiophilia' you will find yourself spending more and doing more work to get high quality audio!

You don't mention any price ranges but for high quality headphones, here are my suggestions:

Price range - < $50
Slim pickings here, but either a used pair of Grado SR-60s or the Sennheiser PX-100s

Price Range 60-90
Sennheiser HD-497
Grado SR-60
Grado SR-80

Price Range 100-150
Sennheiser HD-580 (may have to search around to find a good price)
Stay away from the 590s

Price Range 160-250
Sennheiser HD-600 (may have to search around to find a good price)
AKG 501
Shure / Etymotics if you must get in-ears, but I think this is still worse than Grados/Senns.

I ended up ripping all my CDs in FLAC format for lossless encoding. I also have 320kbit MP3s of them for when I put them on a portable.

Thanks for the advice. I went with the HD-497's. Most reviews place them as the best sub 100$ pair of headphones available. Also easy to drive form a portable.

guada · 29th October 2004, 20:49

I don't know what thought you of the codec audio Nero mp4 digital HÉ-AAC, for my part I find it extraordinary, superior to the mpc, lame mp3 and even better than the famous Ogg..
It is just my opinion.

Me, I privilege the APE codec or the WMA9 to 768 kbps.
Sennheiser or Grado as headphone.

27th October 2004, 21:01	#1 \| Link
Mephiston Registered User Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 50	WMA at 192K and good headphones Well i'm in the Process of converting my CD Collection to WMA@192 so i can use it on my PDA. I currently own just a cheap pair of Labtec's and no matter what codec i use they all sound fine at 192. Can't tell any difference, but i'm ordering some senheisers soon and someone at work told me WMA will sound like crap on a good pair of headphones compared to MP3 using the latest LAME encoder. Anyone have this experience with WMA and a good pair of headphones, don't want to re-rip/encode 200 CD's again.

28th October 2004, 19:25	#3 \| Link
bond Registered User Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 9,770	rjamorims latest double-blind codec comparison showed that lame @ 128kbps provides clearly better quality than wma9 @ 128kbps, so you might want to consider staying with mp3/lame read more about the test yourself here __________________ Between the weak and the strong one it is the freedom which oppresses and the law that liberates (Jean Jacques Rousseau) I know, that I know nothing (Socrates) MPEG-4 ASP FAQ \| AVC/H.264 FAQ \| AAC FAQ \| MP4 FAQ \| MP4Menu stores DVD Menus in MP4 (guide) Ogg Theora \| Ogg Vorbis use WM9 today and get Micro$oft controlling the A/V market tomorrow for free

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28th October 2004, 05:49	#2 \| Link
sethk Registered User Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 20	Even though you may think so now, once you get down the slippery slope of 'audiophilia' you will find yourself spending more and doing more work to get high quality audio! You don't mention any price ranges but for high quality headphones, here are my suggestions: Price range - < $50 Slim pickings here, but either a used pair of Grado SR-60s or the Sennheiser PX-100s Price Range 60-90 Sennheiser HD-497 Grado SR-60 Grado SR-80 Price Range 100-150 Sennheiser HD-580 (may have to search around to find a good price) Stay away from the 590s Price Range 160-250 Sennheiser HD-600 (may have to search around to find a good price) AKG 501 Shure / Etymotics if you must get in-ears, but I think this is still worse than Grados/Senns. I ended up ripping all my CDs in FLAC format for lossless encoding. I also have 320kbit MP3s of them for when I put them on a portable.

29th October 2004, 06:40	#4 \| Link
Mephiston Registered User Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 50	I'm gonna use that Vorbis autov encoder. I tried a few CD's and at Q6 i can't tell any difference between the ogg file and the original. My pda plays them quite well also, no glitches or anything with betaplayer. Should be fine for portable use i hope.

29th October 2004, 20:49	#6 \| Link
guada Registered User Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 185	I don't know what thought you of the codec audio Nero mp4 digital HÉ-AAC, for my part I find it extraordinary, superior to the mpc, lame mp3 and even better than the famous Ogg.. It is just my opinion. Me, I privilege the APE codec or the WMA9 to 768 kbps. Sennheiser or Grado as headphone.