So I just ripped a cd to AAC 320 and....

[admin_exported]

Having been quite unimpressed with the quality of cd playback on the ps3, i gotta say that at this encoding there is very little to tell the difference between my seperates cd players and the ps3.

Anyone else also experienced that?

 

[John Duncan]

hi fi newbie:

Having been quite unimpressed with the quality of cd playback on the ps3, i gotta say that at this encoding there is very little to tell the difference between my seperates cd players and the ps3.

Anyone else also experienced that?

As in hard-drive files sound as good as your CD player? Almost makes sense to me, even at 320..........

 

[Ajani]

hi fi newbie:

Having been quite unimpressed with the quality of cd playback on the ps3, i gotta say that at this encoding there is very little to tell the difference between my seperates cd players and the ps3.

Anyone else also experienced that?

An article in Stereophile not too long ago, explored different compressions versus lossless files... standard 128 mp3 was poor quality (anything lower was rubbish), 128 AAC was much better & 320 AAC was fairly close to lossless quality (so if you have to use compression, then stick with that)... so if you were using MP3 at less than 128, that could explain why you notice such an improvement with 320 AAC...

If, what you are saying is that a standard CD played through the PS3 sounds like rubbish, but AAC 320 files sounds pretty good, then the issue is probably that the PS3 is not good at reading discs on the fly (poor CD Transport)..

 

[Anonymous]

It's a pleasant surprise to find that it basically equals my cd player and perhaps with extended listening i might think even more favourably. One thing is for sure, it's a massive step up from mp3 320 but the downside is it uses over 40mb a song at that bit rate i am ripping it, seems like i better invest in an external hdd

 

[Anonymous]

hi fi newbie:
ÿ40mb a song

Are you ripping in lossless or MP3?ÿ

ÿ

 

[Alec]

hi fi newbie:One thing is for sure, it's a massive step up from mp3 320

And yet its a struggle to see how this should be. a LAME encoded mp3 at 320kbps ought to sound very good indeed, even compared to lossless.

 

[Anonymous]

AAC 320 bitrate

 

[professorhat]

hi fi newbie:but the downside is it uses over 40mb a song at that bit rate i am ripping it, seems like i better invest in an external hdd

Just a tip - you can't add songs held on external HDDs to playlists using the PS3 - it has to be on the internal drive.

(shamless plug alert) You could of course use my handy guide in my sig to upgrade the internal drive

 

[Anonymous]

AAC is recognised as being a much improved model than mp3 for encoding, i didn't mean it didn't sound good but it was just more alive with the AAC.

 

[Alec]

hi fi newbie:

AAC is recognised as being a much improved model than mp3 for encoding, i didn't mean it didn't sound good but it was just more alive with the AAC.

which makes you wonder what it has that mp3 doesnt...

 

[Anonymous]

Mp3 compresses the file into a much smaller file AAC at 320 doesn't

 

[Anonymous]

The PS3 does a good job of streaming audio (and video) from your computer. If space on the PS3 is an issue I would set up the network functions and store the music on your computer.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes I have been saying this for some time now, CD's transfered losslessly to a hard drive sound identical to playing the CD itself!

Two options for you :-
Do as the Prof says and buy a bigger HD and fit it into the PS3 (I prefer to use mine for Digital Pics to view on the TV with a few CD's on it), or buy a Sony 995RDR (250g HD) for £210 now.
It's a good DVD player/recorder, up scales to full HD SB TV, records, freeze TV and is as good on music playback off its HD as a top quality CD player.

 

[Anonymous]

Alrighty I was a bit eager here it seems, seperation is very good as is detail, it's not lacking in upfront sound and attack but there is a notable difference in the weight of bass and in depth of some notes but i am still pleasantly surprised.

 

[manicm]

al7478:hi fi newbie:

AAC is recognised as being a much improved model than mp3 for encoding, i didn't mean it didn't sound good but it was just more alive with the AAC.

which makes you wonder what it has that mp3 doesnt...

AACs at the same bitrate sound a bit smoother? I find MP3s a bit sibilant even at 320k. But that's just my ears...

 

[Anonymous]

trevor79:Yes I have been saying this for some time now, CD's transfered losslessly to a hard drive sound identical to playing the CD itself! Two options for you :- Do as the Prof says and buy a bigger HD and fit it into the PS3 (I prefer to use mine for Digital Pics to view on the TV with a few CD's on it), or buy a Sony 995RDR (250g HD) for £210 now. It's a good DVD player/recorder, up scales to full HD SB TV, records, freeze TV and is as good on music playback off its HD as a top quality CD player.

Yes, putting a larger hard drive into the ps3 is easy and fairly cheap to do. You can add about a 320gb/500gb for close to 80 pound if you look on ebay enough for a new one. I was going to do this but realised i missed taking the cd off the shelf and looking at an album before choosing to play it, so ive now started buying all my downloads in hard copy via hmv sales lol. You do have one more option, if you have ripped a cd it means you have a pc or laptop right? if you have a pc why not add a decent sound card (optical or analogue) and play straight to your amplifier? Maybe the most fuss free option for playing ripped cds.