Best format for music

[CaseyKees]

I have read a bunch a threads and topics regarding music and Android this for the past several days and haven't exactly seen this answered. So if I missed it, I apologize.

My music collection is in ITunes on my computer. I don't know much about the different music formats etc... and when I ripped them all my CD's they are in MP4 format. I do know that what little music I bought from ITunes isn't in the format that doesn't let me play it anywhere else. Most of my music was just ripped from my CDs.

I know the Incredible will play the MP4's, so is it OK to leave them that way? I realize they will take up more space, but I'm not sure if I should convert them to MP3's. Also, with them being MP4's, can I still utilize the ringtone apps, or are those for use only with MP3's?

TIA, and sorry if this seems like a stupid question. I'm not a "techie"!

 

[Flaring Afro]

What headphones do you use? Im pretty sure mp3 cuts the quality a bit, but mp4 is already cut down quality and since there are no earbud headphones that are very good you won't tell the difference.

 

[CatsTide]

since there are no earbud headphones that are very good you won't tell the difference.

hmm...let the debate begin....

 

[Flaring Afro]

hmm...let the debate begin....

No audiophile actually thinks they are very good. The speakers are just too small to be able to get decent bass out of etc. Over the ears are far superior, though they look silly if you walk around with them.

 

[CatsTide]

No audiophile actually thinks they are very good. The speakers are just too small to be able to get decent bass out of etc. Over the ears are far superior, though they look silly if you walk around with them.

that's kinda like saying no smart phone has a good display when comparing them to the latest HD tv's. everything is relative ...but these are good,give em a try

shop v-moda - vibe ii w/ mic

 

[CaseyKees]

FWIW, I have a pair of Skullcandy's. I have a friend of mine that has a pair of Bose Ear Buds and swears by them. But, I can't justify $100 for a pair of earbuds. I don't use them very often. Only when I'm outside gardening or mowing the lawn and stuff.

Not really an "audiophile" I guess! LOL Didn't want to start a whole Ear Bud debate...just want to know if it would be necessary to convert my MP4's to MP3's, and if not doing so would result in me not being able to make custom ringtones

 

[CatsTide]

FWIW, I have a pair of Skullcandy's. I have a friend of mine that has a pair of Bose Ear Buds and swears by them. But, I can't justify $100 for a pair of earbuds. I don't use them very often. Only when I'm outside gardening or mowing the lawn and stuff.

Not really an "audiophile" I guess! LOL Didn't want to start a whole Ear Bud debate...just want to know if it would be necessary to convert my MP4's to MP3's, and if not doing so would result in me not being able to make custom ringtones

i think your fine on the ringtone thing. if not,you could just convert the ones you wanted to use instead of converting your whole library

 

[odiej34]

FWIW, I have a pair of Skullcandy's. I have a friend of mine that has a pair of Bose Ear Buds and swears by them. But, I can't justify $100 for a pair of earbuds. I don't use them very often. Only when I'm outside gardening or mowing the lawn and stuff.

Not really an "audiophile" I guess! LOL Didn't want to start a whole Ear Bud debate...just want to know if it would be necessary to convert my MP4's to MP3's, and if not doing so would result in me not being able to make custom ringtones

As long as your MP4's do not have drm protection (Itunes) you will be fine. Amazon does not and I have since swithced from Itunes.

 

[appleaj]

I have read a bunch a threads and topics regarding music and Android this for the past several days and haven't exactly seen this answered. So if I missed it, I apologize.

My music collection is in ITunes on my computer. I don't know much about the different music formats etc... and when I ripped them all my CD's they are in MP4 format. I do know that what little music I bought from ITunes isn't in the format that doesn't let me play it anywhere else. Most of my music was just ripped from my CDs.

I know the Incredible will play the MP4's, so is it OK to leave them that way? I realize they will take up more space, but I'm not sure if I should convert them to MP3's. Also, with them being MP4's, can I still utilize the ringtone apps, or are those for use only with MP3's?

TIA, and sorry if this seems like a stupid question. I'm not a "techie"!

It's not really going to make a big difference on such low quality speakers. I'd be very impressed if someone could hear the difference between files at 320 kbs vs. 128 kbs. So as long as the format is accepted, then it should be fine. But a pro to using lower bitrate is that you'll take up less memory.

Even if you're using nice headphones, I'm not so sure it'll make much of a difference coming from a phone.

 

[jwm2]

I just bought a set of Klipsch S4 earbuds, they've got great reviews and won best under $100 on cnet this last year. They were about $80 shipped, which isn't too bad if you plan on having them for quite awhile. Skullcandys are good as well, i've gone through about a dozen pairs of them cuz my dogs keep finding them and chewing them up, heh.

 

[CaseyKees]

As long as your MP4's do not have drm protection (Itunes) you will be fine. Amazon does not and I have since swithced from Itunes.

I have only bought like 2 albums directly from ITunes and they do not have drm protection. All my other music was just ripped from my CD collection into ITunes.

I guess for now I will leave them as MP4's. Thanks! I will also check out Amazon, since I think I read somewhere that the Incredible will have an app/widget for it!

Thanks!

 

[CaseyKees]

I just bought a set of Klipsch S4 earbuds, they've got great reviews and won best under $100 on cnet this last year. They were about $80 shipped, which isn't too bad if you plan on having them for quite awhile. Skullcandys are good as well, i've gone through about a dozen pairs of them cuz my dogs keep finding them and chewing them up, heh.

The skullcandy's I got at BB and only paid $5 for them because we had a reward certificate. They were much better than my $5 sony ones that I got at KMart. I don't know if I noticed a sound difference, but they just fit in my ears a whole lot better. My ears are kind of small, so I use the smallest set of the three that came with them. The sony's always felt like they were falling out.

 

[seoultrain]

It's not really going to make a big difference on such low quality speakers. I'd be very impressed if someone could hear the difference between files at 320 kbs vs. 128 kbs. So as long as the format is accepted, then it should be fine. But a pro to using lower bitrate is that you'll take up less memory.

Even if you're using nice headphones, I'm not so sure it'll make much of a difference coming from a phone.

When using even cheapo $10 JVC Marshmallows, there is a difference between 196Kbps and 128Kbps. It is definitely dependent on what type of music you're listening to, as well. Heavy metal is a lot more forgiving with lower quality than classical.

 

[appleaj]

When using even cheapo $10 JVC Marshmallows, there is a difference between 196Kbps and 128Kbps. It is definitely dependent on what type of music you're listening to, as well. Heavy metal is a lot more forgiving with lower quality than classical.

Ah I see, I haven't used headphones like that in awhile, I use Audio-Technica ATH-A700s, which are by no means cheap. : )

So disregard my last paragraph!

 

[Kappen]

I'm a big fan of Sennheiser. I've never had a set that I was disappointed in. they are built well and sound great. If I had to pick one negative thing it would be some of their earbuds are kinda big for some peoples ears. The price is right too

Sennheiser USA - Headphones and Headsets - Microphones

 

[jasonb1985]

He-aac at 64mbps is the way to go. Small files, and they sound cd quality to me.

 

[Iam918]

I just bought a set of Klipsch S4 earbuds, they've got great reviews and won best under $100 on cnet this last year. They were about $80 shipped, which isn't too bad if you plan on having them for quite awhile. Skullcandys are good as well, i've gone through about a dozen pairs of them cuz my dogs keep finding them and chewing them up, heh.

Hope you keep these new ones hidden better else you're going to have a $80 pet toy.

I have only bought like 2 albums directly from ITunes and they do not have drm protection. All my other music was just ripped from my CD collection into ITunes.

I guess for now I will leave them as MP4's. Thanks! I will also check out Amazon, since I think I read somewhere that the Incredible will have an app/widget for it!

Thanks!

Did you burn the mp4's (mpa?) to a cd and then back to your computer, thereby removing the DRM?

'Cuz unless things have changed, It was my impression that all music bought thru Itunes had drm? I've never bought thru them due to the DRM, I believe I should be able to play my media anywhere and on anything I want.


*edit
Oh, and I always use mp3 @ 128 or 196 for use in my ipod / devices for portable music to help keep the file sizes down. I do have a few of the good songs higher but I definitely won't go lower than that.

 

[Iam918]

The skullcandy's I got at BB and only paid $5 for them because we had a reward certificate. They were much better than my $5 sony ones that I got at KMart. I don't know if I noticed a sound difference, but they just fit in my ears a whole lot better. My ears are kind of small, so I use the smallest set of the three that came with them. The sony's always felt like they were falling out.

I used to have Skullcandy bud's but even w/ the smallest ones they didn't stay in. Buds have never felt comfortable to me no matter the brand. I picked up some of the skullcandy chops and they work great.

 

[jonhapimp]

No audiophile actually thinks they are very good. The speakers are just too small to be able to get decent bass out of etc. Over the ears are far superior, though they look silly if you walk around with them.

your the worst audiophile i've ever met if you think that
if your going to ask about music quality and headphone/iem questions go here
http://www.head-fi.com

 

[gleek]

Did you burn the mp4's (mpa?) to a cd and then back to your computer, thereby removing the DRM?

'Cuz unless things have changed, It was my impression that all music bought thru Itunes had drm? I've never bought thru them due to the DRM, I believe I should be able to play my media anywhere and on anything I want.

Apple dropped DRM on most of their catalog about a year ago

 

[Markiz]

How the hell did you end up with audio files in mp4?! I have seriously never ever come across that..

To answer your question, try Bonkenc. Its fast and reliable little windows application for converting audio files. Convert in mp3. No need to experiment.
The BonkEnc Project - BonkEnc Home

 

[rfreschner]

How the hell did you end up with audio files in mp4?! I have seriously never ever come across that..

Apple developed a codec for lossless compression of digital music which is stored in a MP4 container and has an extension of .m4a. IIRC, all music purchased from the iTunes store was only available in this format. I haven't bought anything from the iTunes Store in years so I'm not positive.

My entire iTunes library is in this format and I just ordered an HTC Incredible so I'm also interested in how I'm going to be able to play my music on it.

 

[CaseyKees]

How the hell did you end up with audio files in mp4?! I have seriously never ever come across that..

To answer your question, try Bonkenc. Its fast and reliable little windows application for converting audio files. Convert in mp3. No need to experiment.
The BonkEnc Project - BonkEnc Home

I don't know, and I'm not too knowledgeable about the whole thing.

I can say this...in ITunes, under kind of music, they are listed as AAC Audio Files under "kind of file".

But in my ITunes file on my hard drive, they are listed as MPEG-4 Audio Files.

How this happened...have no clue.

I learn as I go, and sometimes I wish I had kids...because this stuff is right up their alley! LOL

 

[jwm2]

Hope you keep these new ones hidden better else you're going to have a $80 pet toy.


Did you burn the mp4's (mpa?) to a cd and then back to your computer, thereby removing the DRM?

'Cuz unless things have changed, It was my impression that all music bought thru Itunes had drm? I've never bought thru them due to the DRM, I believe I should be able to play my media anywhere and on anything I want.


*edit
Oh, and I always use mp3 @ 128 or 196 for use in my ipod / devices for portable music to help keep the file sizes down. I do have a few of the good songs higher but I definitely won't go lower than that.

Yeah actually its my wife who has her earphones eaten all the time, thats why i kept buying her cheapos, but the skullcandys were decent. I just bought another set not too long ago but they kept falling out of my ears so i gave them to her to use. These new klipsch earphones i hope will do much better, i've found alot of good reviews on them online and even if i don't like them i'll just sell em on ebay for a $10 loss, no biggie.

 

[greenrolaids]

i spent $200 on my ultimate ears last year. Well $170 on sale.

super fi5eb pro's

Dual drivers per ear.

Definitely worth the price.

Now i can hear all the defects in badly ripped songs.

320kb or higher for me now