2012 ripping/encoding general poll Options

[IgorC]

A traditional poll.
You can choose a few codecs. Like Codec A for mobile audio player and Codec B for PC or any other device.

Previous polls:

2011 ripping/encoding general poll
2009 ripping/encoding general poll

Happy New Year to All!

This post has been edited by IgorC: Jan 1 2012, 17:44

[db1989]

Disclaimer: Here comes a boring story that offers no definable answers to the poll! Hey, it was a lot longer before I pruned it. Posting in case someone might be vaguely entertained by it.

Way back when, I ripped to WavPack images with embedded cue sheets, transcoded (after tinkering with a few other formats) to LAME -V2 (what else? ), and eventually abandoned lossless. Then I got an iPod and ended up using AAC at 256 kbps (iTunes Plus) for new/other CDs. Concluding that CDs are mostly pointless in being ripped once then shelved forevermore (tenuous legality notwithstanding!), I moved to digital downloads: mostly on iTunes and thus AAC (256 or 128 kbps) again, eventually migrating towards Amazon MP3 once it finally reached the UK, and mixing in a few other MP3-based services (Play.com, some good small one whose name I can’t recall, etc.).

In retrospect, I don’t know why I moved to AAC there. Once I actually thought about it, I became concerned about compatibility with future DAPs. I’m not worried much nowadays, as it seems to be supported as standard by any decent device, but it would have made more sense to stick with MP3. If nothing else, I kinda liked the more DIY experience of ripping and encoding with LAME, y’know?

I very rarely buy music now. I’d like change that, but I don’t know in which form. Part of me might like to start picking up CDs again—albeit more discerningly!—but I have the same concerns. Standard inclusion of digital booklets with downloads would largely remove the question, but only a shrinking minority provide this. Still, a move back to physical media is unlikely. I’ll probably stick to buying MP3, at least until the advent of a store offering a large catalogue in lossless. As for lossless formats, I’m unconcerned about every last bit of compression, so I’d probably chooe FLAC due to its relative dominance in terms of hardware support (not that I’d rule out trying Rockbox). I might one day sort my library out and go back to a proper player like foobar2000 (after going back to Windows, for the software library / convenience).

[JJZolx]

As for lossless formats, I’m unconcerned about every last bit of compression, so I’d probably chooe FLAC due to its relative dominance in terms of hardware support (not that I’d rule out trying Rockbox).

Maybe I misunderstood the last part, but Rockbox supports FLAC on all of the platforms that I've run it on. Of course Rockbox is primarily intended for use on portable devices, so you're back to the storage space challenge, which tends to favor the use of lossy formats.

[db1989]

I meant the opposite: FLAC is much more widely supported than others amongst factory-set DAPs, although RockBox could enable other formats on a certain subset thereof.