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Hellhog · 07-08-2010, 07:11 AM

I need helping figuring out what format I should rip my music to. I've done some research online for the differences between WMA, WMA Pro, WMA Lossless, MP3, and WAV but I want others' opinions. Before hand I had all my CDs ripped using WMA (192kbps). This was so that I could add them to my Zune (8GB). I do have some MP3s from both Amazon (256kbps) and Zune Marketplace (320kpbs) however I only buy MP3s online if I only want one song from an album or the album is digital only (like my Mass Effect 2 or Red Dead Redemption soundtracks). (I hate digital distribution with a passion by the way). I rescently was having issues with my computer and formatted my HDD doing a clean re-install of my OS (Vista 32bit). I backed up my MP3s (since they are DRM-free one time purchase only) but left my CD rips to be wiped away.

Now I need to go through and rip about 45 CDs again but I'm not sure which format to rip to. I think I want to archive my music now to backup so that I'll never have to rip my CDs again or for easy transport for when I get additional/new PC's. I only use two different softwares for my music. Windows Media Player (for pre-rip editing, ripping, checking bit rates & DRM, and rating) and Zune Software (for post-rip editing, combining multi-disc albums into one, and listening to the music). I listen to my music on my Xbox 360 as well through media streaming from either Media Player or Zune Software. If I understand it right, barely any hardware out supports all 3 formats of WMA but all Xbox 360s and Zunes do support it (which for me is good since I like generally use Microsoft products).

The trouble though is in which format I should rip to. I want top quality music but I don't want to have to rip each CD twice (1 for archiving and 1 for my Zune). I only have 8GB free space on my Zune and I often use about 0.5GB for Podcasts. Before hand I had everything ripped to WMA (192kbps) and that took roughly 4GBs of space. That being said, if I rip everything to WMA Lossless (470-940kbps) I will definetly not have the room for all my music on my Zune until I upgrade to a larger size which won't be happening anytime soon. I don't want to rip to WAV since it takes too much memory and isn't really hardware supported or MP3 (320kbps) since it also takes a lot of memory compared to WMA/WMA Pro.

So for those that have used these three different formats, what are your experiences with each? Can you tell any noticable differences between the three WMA formats? What are your prefereces? What is your recomendation for myself [rip to WMA (192kbps), WMA Pro (192kbps), or WMA Lossless. Or should I just take the time to archive WMA Lossless and rip one of the two 192kbps formats for my Zune]? Thank you for all and any help, sorry for the long post, I ramble.

07-08-2010, 07:11 AM	#1
Hellhog Member Member since:Sep 2009 Location:Illinois Blu-ray collection:1	WMA, WMA Pro, or WMA Lossless? I need helping figuring out what format I should rip my music to. I've done some research online for the differences between WMA, WMA Pro, WMA Lossless, MP3, and WAV but I want others' opinions. Before hand I had all my CDs ripped using WMA (192kbps). This was so that I could add them to my Zune (8GB). I do have some MP3s from both Amazon (256kbps) and Zune Marketplace (320kpbs) however I only buy MP3s online if I only want one song from an album or the album is digital only (like my Mass Effect 2 or Red Dead Redemption soundtracks). (I hate digital distribution with a passion by the way). I rescently was having issues with my computer and formatted my HDD doing a clean re-install of my OS (Vista 32bit). I backed up my MP3s (since they are DRM-free one time purchase only) but left my CD rips to be wiped away. Now I need to go through and rip about 45 CDs again but I'm not sure which format to rip to. I think I want to archive my music now to backup so that I'll never have to rip my CDs again or for easy transport for when I get additional/new PC's. I only use two different softwares for my music. Windows Media Player (for pre-rip editing, ripping, checking bit rates & DRM, and rating) and Zune Software (for post-rip editing, combining multi-disc albums into one, and listening to the music). I listen to my music on my Xbox 360 as well through media streaming from either Media Player or Zune Software. If I understand it right, barely any hardware out supports all 3 formats of WMA but all Xbox 360s and Zunes do support it (which for me is good since I like generally use Microsoft products). The trouble though is in which format I should rip to. I want top quality music but I don't want to have to rip each CD twice (1 for archiving and 1 for my Zune). I only have 8GB free space on my Zune and I often use about 0.5GB for Podcasts. Before hand I had everything ripped to WMA (192kbps) and that took roughly 4GBs of space. That being said, if I rip everything to WMA Lossless (470-940kbps) I will definetly not have the room for all my music on my Zune until I upgrade to a larger size which won't be happening anytime soon. I don't want to rip to WAV since it takes too much memory and isn't really hardware supported or MP3 (320kbps) since it also takes a lot of memory compared to WMA/WMA Pro. So for those that have used these three different formats, what are your experiences with each? Can you tell any noticable differences between the three WMA formats? What are your prefereces? What is your recomendation for myself [rip to WMA (192kbps), WMA Pro (192kbps), or WMA Lossless. Or should I just take the time to archive WMA Lossless and rip one of the two 192kbps formats for my Zune]? Thank you for all and any help, sorry for the long post, I ramble.