Currently I am ripping using Plextools with Ogg Vorbis at Q8.

My question is: is there no point to ripping at Q8? Do most persons find Q7 sounds just as good, with lower file sizes?

Most people seem to find transparency at q5, or sometimes even lower, depending on the encoder build used, so you probably will not hear a difference between q7 and q8. There are numerous discussions on this in the Vorbis forum. Just browse around or do a search.

If you're ripping for yourself, not for other people, then it is YOU who must decide, whether Q7 (6/5/4/etc) is enough or not.

Through extensive ABX testing with difficult samples and oggenc 1.1.0, I found that at q5.65 telling the difference from the original started to become difficult. Anything below that was pretty easy. By q6.5 is was pretty much impossible. If I were to err on the side of caution, I would be perfectly happy with q7. Despite all that I use q4.25 for converting my lossless files for use on my Karma. This is a personal choice since I feel for me it's the sweet spot between file size, battery life, and artifacts.

Looks great, doesn't it? You have to realize though that this means little to nothing for anyone but myself. It's my ears and equipment after all. As the above poster said, you have to put it some effort and discover for yourself what is good for you.

Edit: Wanted to mention my Karma.

Q8 ??? I prefer FLAC compression level 8 for backups !

But for everyday use (and portability) i use Vorbis q4 or less... (depending on space)