Would there be any real disadvantages to using the command line: -b 320 --add-id3v2 --pad-id3v2 --ta "%a" --tt "%t" --tl "%g" --ty "%y" --tn "%n" %s %d when ripping songs from my cds to put on my iaudio x5? I heard that larger file sizes can cause the hard drive to work harder. how "bad" would it be to put these larger files on my mp3 player? thanks.

Disadvantages include shorter battery life and wear on your hard drive, since it has to read more data. I doubt that the latter is much of an issue, since your battery is almost guaranteed to fail before your hard drive.

That being said, I'd strongly recommend using -V 2 instead (read about recommended LAME settings), unless you're able to ABX at that level and the artifacts actually bother you during normal listening.

I don't know about the hard drive working harder but the "bad" thing that would happen is wasted space. The concesus around here is that using -b 320 is a bad idea considering the efficiency of Lame's VBR modes. Using Lame VBR at -V 2 --vbr-new or -V 3 --vbr-new will produce very high quality files and save space, allowing you to carry more music with you.

thanks for the replies, guys.

If your iAudio supports Ogg Vorbis (it does, doesn't it... ?) you should really consider using Vorbis instead of MP3. Using the quality setting -q4 will give you .OGG's well tailored for portables like the iAudio.

You could take quas's suggestion even further and go with -V 5 --vbr-new because you're going to listen to your music on a portable. Try doing an ABX of -V 2 --vbr-new and -V 5 --vbr-new on a couple of your songs and see if you can differentiate between the two. If you can't, then go for the -V 5 setting; otherwise, go for the -V 2 setting. But in either case, using a flat 320 kbps bitrate is just too wasteful of space, IMO.

i tried ogg vorbis. not sure which version, but i don't think i liked the sound that much. maybe i'll try it again though. can somebody recommend a good codec version, and a link perhaps? thanks.