Can Anyone Please Walk Me Through This?

Perhaps I'm dense, but I'm not twigging here on the issue... Why not just rip to WAV files using EAC and transfer those to the iPod if you are that worried about audio quality, or is the issue there that WAV files don't have ID tags and therefore you can't use the artist/album, etc. indexes? Could you rip to WAVs and just build custom playlists using MusicMatch or whatever jukebox software comes on your WinBox? The Win iPod should be .m3u compatible, so playlists should transfer.

BTW, 320kbps VBR makes no sense to me. VBR = *V*ariable *B*it *R*ate. Because 320kbps is a bit rate, 320 kbps CBR (C=Constant) makes sense, but not VBR. I use the alt preset settings--"-alt preset extreme" to be specific. It is a VBR scheme. You should realize that LAME, and mp3 compression generally, has a huge number of variables that you can play with besides simply bit rate. The "alt presets" are the coding communities' best effort to maximize audio quality for a given average compression ratio.

My recollection is that with alt preset extreme, I get compression on the same order as higher quality 128 kbps CBRs--about 10:1, about a MB/min. If you are compressing at 320kpbs, you ought to get 4:1 or so. At that point, I think I might just go with the WAVs. Or, try the "-alt preset insane" setting.

I don't think anyone is, or should, argue that mp3s are the equal of WAV files when it comes to quality. The point I would make is that some mp3s aren't equal to other mp3s when it comes to quality. Even my non-audiophile mother is going to be able to tell the difference between a WAV and 32 kbps CBR with the command line "-q 9 -m m". For a look at the command line options, see:

http://lame.sourceforge.net/doc/html/switchs.html

Face it, unless you wish to remain pure and stick with WAVs, you are going to get compromised audio. The *only* way of deciding what is appropriate for you--how much of a hit you are willing to take in terms of audio quality based upon the playback medium you are recording mp3s for--is to try some of the formats and see. This is totally a value judgment--am I willing to listen to -alt preset insane and get 20 albums only on my iPod, or -alt preset extreme and get 100, or -alt preset standard and get 500?

UV, we may be in violent agreement. I seriously doubt Dibrom was opining to people in the same category, in terms of critical listening and in terms of marginal value, as most of the people in this forum. You are talking to an audience that feels they can tell the difference between brass cones and mahogany cones under their CD player. That would not be me.

And, I have listened. I don't recommend alt preset insane, for example, b/c it doesn't make sense to me based on my hearing and the cost/benefit I see out of digital compressed audio. Before undertaking the not-so-small task of ripping over 1K CDs, I did some pretty extensive testing.

On the other hand, I'm probably not your average mp3 listener. Everything piped through my system is stuff I've ripped off of my CDs and run through LAME. In my study, my computer feeds a Theta Pro Basic IIIa through a Edirol USB to coax converter, from there it goes into an ARC LS-16 II, into an ARC D400 II into a pair of ProAc RS2s. In my main rig, the mp3s go from an Audiotron via coax to a Theta Casablanca into a pair of ARC VT100s into a pair of ProAc 3.8s. In those systems, I *can* hear the difference, and I can hear the difference between alt preset extreme and a real CDs--the mp3s are, in those systems, strictly for background music and convenience. I will admit, however, that in my garage, where an Audiotron feeds a little Henry Kloss table radio, and in my bedroom, where a cd30 feeds a little Nakamichi clock radio, and in my iPod, I manifestly *can't* tell the difference. Frankly, I might be able to tell the difference in the iPod with the ER6s, but those things make me nauseous. Haven't really spent much time trying to tell the difference in the stereo upstairs, which is somewhere between the extremes.

B'sides, UV, I wasn't trying to elevate or bash mp3s, alt preset whatever. The point I was trying to make was that its a compromise. Listen, and put the marker where you want in terms of sound quality versus file size. You raised a valid point that I hadn't thought about with respect to battery life and WAV files. I'm guessing, in fact, that you would have the same problems with alt preset insane for the same reason.

For me, the compromise happens to fit nicely at alt preset extreme. Even with my (now small) 20GB iPod, I've got more tunes on tap than I ever want to be forced to listen to on an airplane. Gives me sufficient choice until the batteries run out, and that is longer than I want to fly anyway. Frankly, if I was really freaky, I'd probably advocate fiddling with all the command line args to get exactly what you want. That is also my compromise--I don't want to fool with it, and I'll trust the coding community to give me as optimal audio quality under a specified set of parameters for compression under the alt presets.

YMMV.