Posted by pstromer on 01/04/06 07:08

At least to my ears, anyway. I notice a big improvement over 192 CBR
on modern recordings such as St. Anger. Using Winamp, I can see when
it jumps up to 256 or 320 on the more complex portions. I rip my CDs
using dBpoweramp Lame 3.96.1.

I also like the space saving on simpler music, some of my older music
(Sinatra, Bird) which I re-encoded (from the original CDs, I never
transcode from lossy to lossy formats). The VBR drops all the way down
to 128 for most of this mono material from the 1950s, with no (at least
to my ears) loss of audio quality.

I've always heard that 192 CBR was the recognized "gold standard," but
I think it's a big waste of space compared to 128 CBR. The really
complex pieces need to go over 192 anyway, so if space saving is
paramount, you may as well go for 128. If sound quality is paramount,
go for Alt Preset Standard.

My only question: Has anyone used Alt Preset Standard, and been
dissatisfied with it? I have about 1,000 CDs to re-rip, so I'm seeking
input before going all out on this project.

Thanks for any responses.

--
Philip

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