Hi, I am new at encoding large audio files [wav] into compressed audio format. I've always been using MP3 as my codecs but I've seen many other ones pop up lately and do not know which is which. Can anyone help me and explain which codec will yield the best audio quality if everything is on maximum setting? What I mean is that say if you have a WMA file at maximum setting versus an MP3 file at maximum setting (320kbps I think), how does each different codecs compare against one another? Thanks for all the help.

Lame with freeformat settings @640KBPS

@ara-fat32: We help people on this board not make fun of them.

If you care for the best quality no matter what the bitrate is try one of the lossless codecs, they have no quality loss (that is why the term lossless) compared to the original. That's the best you can get.

If you are willing to sacrifice some quality (which is usually inaudible) for a gain in space then check out the lossy codecs: MP3/Vorbis/MPC/AAC.
Very basically put:
MP3: The standard, best hardware support, older standard.
Vorbis: Free/Open codec as good as MP3. Less hardware support.
AAC: Successor to MP3 pushed by big corporations. High quality. Lossy format of the future.
MPC: Generally highest quality you can get at high bitrates. Very high encoding/decoding speed. Minimal hardware support (You can play on your PC though).

Try to do a search and do a bit of reading. The information is there.

Maby the FAQ would have some information that would intrest you.

At such high birates I doubt you'd be able to tell any of the lossy codecs apart. ABX'ing at that point is really really hard.

one factor in choosing between lossly and lossless can be the source and intended use of the resulting files. If CDs are the source then lossy may very well be fine; personally most of my work involves tape or vinyls and I use lossless (FLAC) to avoid having to repeat the transfer process in the future. Always a simple matter to transcode to whatever lossy codec of choice.

atici : 3rd paragr. 'lossless' -> 'lossy' ;)
(maybe are you making fun of us ?...)