[Ti] [OT] iTunes 4 mp3 encoding question

[Bill Reburn]

On 5/14/03 3:27 AM, "Tarik Bilgin" <tarik at opalblue.com> wrote:
> 
> On Wednesday, May 14, 2003, at 04:39  am, Bill Reburn wrote:
> 
>> Just brought home two CD's and when I went to rip them into the computer for
>> the iPod I received a message stating that my chosen encoding rate (48khz)
>> was not available. I changed it to 44khz and it went fine.
>
> You should always leave the sampling at "Auto" setting and let iTunes choose
> the correct rate.

HUH! really? Why is that? I hate leaving technology to make decisions for
me.. I guess I am thinking in the back of my mind that iTunes could variably
choose whatever rate and end up pooching the encoding for whatever reason..
I know there may be no basis in fact for my paranoia - but I prefer to set
things as high as possible regardless of what pre-set numbers are provided.
I can easily often tell the difference between vinyl and CD audio quality..
Hearing an mp3 encoded too low just kills me.

I usually see "dumb" when I see a device that has an "auto" anything, but
you recommend it eh?

> Did you know that to rip audio from a CD you should be at 44.1 Khz?
> 
> Previously if you forced it to use 48, it would introduce an extra
> resampling phase between 44.1 and 48, for no good reason, and at
> possible loss of fidelity.

Interesting.. I have yet to come across a healthy enough resource to set my
mind at ease in this area.. Thusly I had set everything to encode high,
high, high. HD's are cheap - space is not a consideration. But if I could
find the info to let me rip at ease without ever worrying aboot it - I would
do it.

What aboot Joint Stereo, VBR and Smart Encoding Adjustment? Don't even tell
me I should be using the "filter freq below 1-Hz" setting too!

Should I be switching to AAC yet?

What's your suggestion for bestest-highest quality-sure to never run into
any sound deficiency setting? With no consideration to HD real estate. I
know a bunch of this was shared recently here, but I have been uber-busy
with a big move and new career, I haven't been able to read all that comes
through the Ti InBox.

Thank you for the information Tarik.


Bill Reburn
Associate Member of the
Society of Graphic Designers of Canada