Re: [ARSCLIST] Lossy compression losing quality (was Re: [ARSCLIST] Pristine Audio and the Milllennials . . .)

["Richard L. Hess" <arclists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 10:22 AM 2007-12-11, Howard Friedman wrote:

> Windows Media Player provides 6 possible formats for ripping audio 
> CD tracks.  The Windows Media Audio (WMA) is stated to be lossless, 
> yet these files are about one-third as large as the corresponding 
> WAV files.  Are they equal in quality to WAV?  In other words, for 
> the BEST conversion, which format should one use to RIP audio tracks 
> from a CD to a hard drive?  Also, there is a slight, usually 1 
> second, difference in timing of these various formats per track.

Howard,

I see Mike answered your question to me very well. To answer your 
current question. RIP TO WAV 44.1/16 IF you want no quality loss from 
the CD AND you want a format that will be the most likely to be 
easily readable far into the future.

I know it takes up more space, but space is cheap these days. Also, 
speaking of cheap, get two hard drives and update the backup one from 
the main one. I saw a 400 GB USB drive for I think $140 at Staples 
here in Canada.

Windows Media also offers lossy options.

cheers,

Richard


Richard L. Hess                   email: richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aurora, Ontario, Canada       (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.