To which bitrate should I transcode 320 kbps MP3s? Will it be audible?, [was “Which audio format should I use?”] Options

[Akang]

Hi guys, considering that I have no CD's for my music, is there a way to take my music library of mostly 320 kbps MP3's (7.6gb) and make them smaller without a large decrease in sound quality?

I'm thinking of taking my all my music and consolidating it by converting them to 256 kbps or even 192 kbps MP3's, will there be a drastic change in sound quality? I'm not an audiophile but I have decent IEM's and I listen to music a lot.

Thanks

[Porcus]

is there a way to take my music library of mostly 320 kbps MP3's (7.6gb) and make them smaller without a large decrease in sound quality?

Transcoding MP3 to MP3 is likely not a good idea. 7.6 GB fits an 8 GB pen drive or mp3 player, how much would you even save to get down to a 4 GB one?

If just a small reduction in size is good enough for you, then mp3packer with the -z option repacks your mp3s without decoding/encoding. You can maybe get your 320's down to 300 completely losslessly (however, if they were created with dodgy encoders, you may lose non-conformal information ... sometimes gaplessness). http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?ti...er#WinMP3Packer