Transcoding all my Musepack MPC files, [Moved from General Audio] Options

[12345]

Hi.
I have about 400 records in Musepack --insane --xlevel that I encoded back in 2002. I wonder how I should go about with these files. I'm mostly on OS X and Songbird these days, and the Musepack support is not great.

I think that I want to transcode the files to a (lossy?) format. Re-ripping would be too much of an effort. Do you think the result will be OK? Is musepack --insane an ok starting point for transcoding? My instinct is to go with something like LAME -V 0, but I'm also considering converting them to FLAC, which in some ways seem insane, to not lose quality in the transcoding process and to be prepared for further transcoding to other lossy formats that will be more popular than MP3 in the future. Though I wonder if that time will ever come during my lifetime. It's still the most popular lossy format 10 years after I encoded my Musepack files, though AAC has won some ground via Flash Player MPEG-4 support and iTunes.

Thing is, my hearing isn't what it has been (genetic hearing disorder). So I will probably never hear the difference or be able to judge what's close to transparent myself. I want my friends and family to be able to enjoy the music in its full effect though.

Ideas?

This post has been edited by 12345: Apr 23 2012, 07:33

[Kohlrabi]

Stick to LAME VBR, and be happy with the music. I cannot really tell you which setting to use, you can just still conduct an ABX test of your MP3s vs. the Musepack sources to tell if you can regularly find differences in those encodes. Though VBR -V0 is a "safe" route. Just keep in mind that you cannot restore any lost information. Ultimately it's about whether you're content with your encodes, and which solution is most practical to you. Encoding to FLAC from Musepack is a waste of space, though. If you're really worried about quality, consider re-ripping maybe one at a time if you have the time, but like you said that's a huge effort (though in the end you can save everything as FLAC/ALAC).

This post has been edited by Kohlrabi: Apr 23 2012, 08:28