Need Advice on My choice of Encoder and Encoding Frontend Options

[Stonecaper]

Hi audiophiles this Is My first post/topic at hydrogenaudio.I am quite a n00b when it comes to CD Ripping/Audio compression so please go easy with that Flaming
I require your wise advises/suggestions on CD Ripping and conversion of Audio files to a Lossy format so that i can fill my DAP with them
My Humble audio Setup includes a Sony walkman NWZ-S545 and an MEELEC M9
So here It goes -
1.Does one Need to use different encoder/encoding settings for Different genres of Music?
2.I chose foobar2k as my frontend (Setting Ripping security to paranoid),is it good?
3.i was fairly sure of My choice of encoder to be Lame (v0) until i heard about Apple aac true VBR
Now i am confused,tried abx too,couldn't decide, Please help me to choose the Best of the Two
My Settings for Lame v0 was - -V 0 --vbr-new --add-id3v2 --ignore-tag-errors --ta "%a" --tt "%t" --tg "%m" --tl "%g" --ty "%y" --tn "%n" %s %d (Still cant add the q0 switch )
and for Apple TVBR - --tvbr 100 --highest - %d (should i Increase the quality from 100 to 127?)
One Thing i noticed is that the file size was 20% Lower in Apple TVBR when Compared to Lame v0

TIA

This post has been edited by Stonecaper: May 15 2012, 06:46

[njf1979]

3.i was fairly sure of My choice of encoder to be Lame (v0) until i heard about Apple aac true VBR
Now i am confused,tried abx too,couldn't decide, Please help me to choose the Best of the Two

Only you can decide what sounds transparent to you with your equipment and ears.
What kind of ABX test did you do? Comparing two lossy files against eachother will give you no proper result (to me it sounds like that's what you did).

If your only listetning experience will be on the Sony walkman and earbuds you mentioned, you probably do not need the highest quality setting with the format you choose.
Perform a proper ABX test (like the one provided in foobar) where you compare a LOSSLESS file with a LOSSY file starting at a low setting (for example -V5 in lame) and work your way up until you can't tell the difference. You must use the same headphones or earbuds that you will be using with your portable device.

[twostar]

1. Some genres (metal, electronic) are known to be more prone to artifacts than others. Using different settings/encoders in my opinion requires too much effort.
2. See this thread comparing foobar2000 vs EAC and dBpoweramp. There shouldn't be any difference if your discs are in good condition.
3. Do a proper ABX test. You can also check the various tests posted on this site.

You might also want to check out lossless while you're at it.