MP3 conversion

[KayJay85]

So I have been considering buying a hifi system and started a post on another forum here talking about whether its a worthwhile investment since all my music is on my laptop in MP3 format which obviously limits the upside from a hifi system. My question is what is the best conversion I can do so that my current files are improved in quality. Almost all my music has been downloaded so there are no CDs to rip into lossless.

Am I stuck with 128bits mps3 forever?!?

 

[Anonymous]

What is the source of your music? Do you own the CD / download it or borrow it?

 

[VoodooDoctor]

You can't put back what has been lost so the only way to improve what you have is to buy the CD's and rip them losslessly or buy lossless tracks over the net (currently not possible for most mainstream stuff).

 

[KayJay85]

Octopo like i said in my original post I do not own the CDs I have downloaded the music. Voodoo, what are the few online sources for lossless music? I want to see what they have to offer.

 

[Anonymous]

Like Voodoo said you can't rewrite what you've lost. Hopefully your collection wasn't too large however here's to a new leaf. If you're in the Manchester area you're welcome to borrow my collection to get you going again. Just a thought....

 

[KayJay85]

Really appreciate the thought Octopo but I am in London.

The biggest challenge for me will be to replace my electronic/house music which is hard to find on CD.

As a side note though:

As part of a digital hifi system I have seen repeated mention of using DACs. Is that only going to improve sound quality if I am using high quality audio files or can it help even my piddly files.

 

[Anonymous]

I know, it's a laborious process though now is a good time to start. Come ten years from now you'll wonder why on earth you were messing around with those silly little candy floss files.

 

[KayJay85]

Though I am curious as to how all the audiophiles i see here manage to keep all their music at hand. For me the biggest advantage of having my music on my laptop is that I dont need to keep getting up and changing CDs and can take my pick of music at any time.

Do most people keep CD racks or just rip their CDs losslessly and play them then?

 

[Anonymous]

I think "us audiophiles" generally rip the CD and then store it away, just as the general "person" would.ÿ

If you rip the CD in perfect quality to you hard drive it means that you have two identical copies of the same data already, It's then up to you if you want to back that data up.

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Yep. I have a store cupboard filled with CDs, but the 50% that I listen to most frequently are stored on my PC and iPod Classic in lossless format. If I want to listen to a CD that isn't ripped yet, I'll then rip it there and then. And back to the cupboard it goes!

 

[KayJay85]

Looks like I shall have to begin building a mighty CD collection!

Thanks everyone

 

[idc]

KayJay85:

Though I am curious as to how all the audiophiles i see here manage to keep all their music at hand. For me the biggest advantage of having my music on my laptop is that I dont need to keep getting up and changing CDs and can take my pick of music at any time.

Do most people keep CD racks or just rip their CDs losslessly and play them then?

Are you saying 'audiophiles' because of the knowledge, love and passion for hifi and music, or because of the piles of CDs stored on racks or in cupboards?!

 

[KayJay85]

I guess in this context it refers to how people who enjoy their music so much and have so many CDs piled away deal with having to swap CDs in and out of a CDP. Seems like best thing would be to rip them losslessly to a computer and have it all at your fingertips, which it seems is what people are starting to do

 

[Anonymous]

One could also store audio files on a hard-drive based music server

 

[idc]

I went all ipod a while back and imported all my CDs and have subsequently re-imported many at Apple Lossless rates as my knowledge of how this all works grew. Storing CDs and cassettes and house moves was a pain with a large hifi and collection.

I then had a run of buying only downloads, but I have stopped that now because;

1 - downloads are too expensive, especially as they have no second value. In effect what you buy is worthless.

2 - I was backing up my downloads by burning to discs, so I have to keep them like I keep the CDs as back up. Boxes in the loft.

3 - I got annoyed with itunes when I went to make a large purchase on gift vouchers, and the system crashed and my account was charged instead. Then I decided to upgrade to plus, had to get a whole lot upgraded, even stuff I no longer had, and then a week later Apple changed to allow upgrading idividual tracks. Finally, my favourite music shop Fopp reopened after having gone into administration, so loads of CDs for less than itunes download prices.

I cannot see myself parting with my ipod as I really like the sound of it. It is very convenient. Any computer reliability worries are the same as with my old system; I have had to replace Denon and Arcam kit that either did not work or broke down and my Rega had build quality issues. An ipod and a decent computer is going to be less than what is generally regarded as mid range hifi.

Getting CDs means lossless downloads and you still have value in what you have bought.

 

[KayJay85]

Yep

Looks like I am going to start building a CD collection to rip to my laptop losslessly. In the meantime will still get myself a new kit though