WAV versus WMA

[Guest]

I asking this question in the General Discussion forum, because it has
more activity.
I have been saving files to my Hard Drive under the File Extension of
Wav. I did this beleiving I wanted the fullest and most accurate form of the
file on my drive and if I needed to copy them to a CD, I would then decide to
use a compress format.
I not not that Windows Media does NOT allow me to Rip in Wav any longer
and only gives me choices of WMA.
I need a Knowledgeable Geek to help me here. Is Wav still not the best
Format / Codecs? at 128 cps. If I start to use WMA format, one of the Three
Choices will it be as accurate andbe able to be compied to a CD and be able
to be played in Most CD Players and or computers?
I have done some searching and have found very little reference to my
question. It seems that there was a conversion to WMA and WAV is now being
ignored. I must have fallen asleep during that Glass.
Any help would be very much appreciated. I have copied over 4000 songs
from my LPs, 10" Reel to Reels, VHS-HiFi and CD collection to my secondary
hard Drive, I really do not want to start with a new format, again.
4-track
8 track
Reel to Reel
45 rpm
33 1/3 rpm
Cassette
Beta one
Beta two and three
ElCassette
VHS
8 mm
C
and now has WAV gone by the wayside as well?
Thanks

 

[Jack Handey]

I'll just say upfront i'm more of a fan of mp3 than wma. I think it sounds
much better. Also there's a free add in available at winamps website called
'enhancer' that will make mp3's sound MUCH better than any wma played though
media player.

Now, that said, the truth is wma and mp3 are both 'lossy' codecs. Any time
you convert music to these formats it loses some of the unneeded bits. What
those bits are differs between the two. I personally convert all my cd's
into mp3 at a bitrate of 256bps and have noticed no decrease in quality that
my ears can differentiate. There's even a higher setting for studio quality
sound.

I think if you go and look at portable music players you will find more of
them play mp3 than wma. Wma is closing the gap but it's still not as big. So
if you ever plan on using these on a portable device you might want to take
a look at the market options.

Wav is the best option as far as sound quality but it's at a tremendous
trade off of space.

Since only you can decide which you are going to be happy with just do a
simple test. Take two or three songs. I would suggest one that has some high
pitched notes and one that has a lot of low bass sounds. Then convert them
into both wma and mp3 at the highest bits per second you can and listen to
which one sounds the best to your ears. Then convert them at a lower bits
per second and listen. Gradually as you lower the conversion rate you will
start to notice a lot of the sound quality decreasing (all of the sudden the
trumpets just sound horrible). Pick which format and conversion rate you
like the best.

As far as converting back to the original cd format, well, the higher bps
you start with the better it will sound when converted no matter which way
you go. Starting off with 128 i notice it's not quite as good as the
original cd. But if i convert an mp3 from 256 to wav I can't tell a loss.

 

[Ghostrider]

I asking this question in the General Discussion forum, because it has
more activity.
I have been saving files to my Hard Drive under the File Extension of
Wav. I did this beleiving I wanted the fullest and most accurate form of the
file on my drive and if I needed to copy them to a CD, I would then decide to
use a compress format.
I not not that Windows Media does NOT allow me to Rip in Wav any longer
and only gives me choices of WMA.
I need a Knowledgeable Geek to help me here. Is Wav still not the best
Format / Codecs? at 128 cps. If I start to use WMA format, one of the Three
Choices will it be as accurate andbe able to be compied to a CD and be able
to be played in Most CD Players and or computers?
I have done some searching and have found very little reference to my
question. It seems that there was a conversion to WMA and WAV is now being
ignored. I must have fallen asleep during that Glass.
Any help would be very much appreciated. I have copied over 4000 songs
from my LPs, 10" Reel to Reels, VHS-HiFi and CD collection to my secondary
hard Drive, I really do not want to start with a new format, again.
4-track
8 track
Reel to Reel
45 rpm
33 1/3 rpm
Cassette
Beta one
Beta two and three
ElCassette
VHS
8 mm
C
and now has WAV gone by the wayside as well?
Thanks

AFAIK, the PCM *.wav file at 44.1 KHz is still the standard
for digital stereo recording. But it really doesn't matter as
standards change on a regular basis. What becomes important
is the clean conversion from one standard format to another
standard format.

 

[kurttrail]

I asking this question in the General Discussion forum, because it
has more activity.
I have been saving files to my Hard Drive under the File Extension
of
Wav. I did this beleiving I wanted the fullest and most accurate form
of the file on my drive and if I needed to copy them to a CD, I would
then decide to use a compress format.
I not not that Windows Media does NOT allow me to Rip in Wav any
longer and only gives me choices of WMA.
I need a Knowledgeable Geek to help me here. Is Wav still not the
best Format / Codecs? at 128 cps. If I start to use WMA format, one
of the Three Choices will it be as accurate andbe able to be compied
to a CD and be able to be played in Most CD Players and or computers?
I have done some searching and have found very little reference to
my question. It seems that there was a conversion to WMA and WAV is
now being ignored. I must have fallen asleep during that Glass.
Any help would be very much appreciated. I have copied over 4000
songs from my LPs, 10" Reel to Reels, VHS-HiFi and CD collection to
my secondary hard Drive, I really do not want to start with a new
format, again. 4-track
8 track
Reel to Reel
45 rpm
33 1/3 rpm
Cassette
Beta one
Beta two and three
ElCassette
VHS
8 mm
C
and now has WAV gone by the wayside as well?
Thanks

WAV good.

WMA bad.

Now what is your problem?

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[Winux P]

Get yourself Winamp, it will rip *.WAV for your pleasure. Don't start
ripping *.WMA.

http://www.winamp.com/

*.WAV - High fidelity sound.
*.WMA - Nowhere near it (Some PC magazines reckon it's a good compression,
but so what).
*.MP3 - >= 192kbs for CD quality, go for 320kbs, very portable across many
players and devices (so is *.wav), just a side note.

- Winux P