[Barney]

Probably a simple answer to this & I should just Google the question; but when importing CDs with i-tunes you get the option to chose the 'Sample Rate' (whatever that is??) and the ranges are 8 kHz up to 48kHz ('auto' is set as the default, which must be 44.1kHz looking at what all of my previously imported CDs are). Not sure if I should just be using the i-tunes default setting for this as this is 128KBPS for the bit-rate. Any words of wisdom on this (hoping the answer is just don't worry about it).

[Starcat]

Originally Posted by Barney

Probably a simple answer to this & I should just Google the question; but when importing CDs with i-tunes you get the option to chose the 'Sample Rate' (whatever that is??) and the ranges are 8 kHz up to 48kHz ('auto' is set as the default, which must be 44.1kHz looking at what all of my previously imported CDs are). Not sure if I should just be using the i-tunes default setting for this as this is 128KBPS for the bit-rate. Any words of wisdom on this (hoping the answer is just don't worry about it).

The CD standard is 44.1 kHz, so I don't know why you would need to adjust that setting (either up or down), when importing CD's.
I'm sure one of our more technically minded members will be along soon to give a proper explanation.

[ashlgara]

Also the 44.1 is the sample rate, which as starcat says is standard @ 44.1, the bit-rate is what most people are talking about, generally the higher the bit rate the better quality of the track. There is much discussion as to what is the ideal bit-rate (where is the cut off for telling the difference). I personally do all my compression at 256 vbr, which for me is a good balance for sound quality and file size. Ideally though you'd probably want to encode with one of the lossless formats for an archive file and then re-encode at whatever bit rate your comfortable with. That way you've always got the lossless file.

[RedSmurf]

Originally Posted by Barney

Probably a simple answer to this & I should just Google the question; but when importing CDs with i-tunes you get the option to chose the 'Sample Rate' (whatever that is??) and the ranges are 8 kHz up to 48kHz ('auto' is set as the default, which must be 44.1kHz looking at what all of my previously imported CDs are). Not sure if I should just be using the i-tunes default setting for this as this is 128KBPS for the bit-rate. Any words of wisdom on this (hoping the answer is just don't worry about it).

Sample rate is the amount of digital audio samples taken per second. For CD audio, that's 44.1kHz, which allows to reproduce sounds up to 22.05kHz (the maximum frequency for a given sample rate is always half the sample rate, according to Nyquist's theorem). There is no point in changing the sample rate while ripping CDs, so just leave it at 'Auto', which will always use the same sample rate as the original source.

Some people are tempted to upsample the audio to 48kHz (the rate traditionally used in 'professional' audio equipment), but that's pointless. Likewise to transcoding to a higher bitrate, you won't gain any audio quality by doing that, on the contrary. Resampling digital audio correctly, especially between those two sampling rates, is difficult and will degrade the audio if not done properly.

[Starcat]

As far as bitrates are concerned, am I correct in thinking that CD bitrate is 1411 kbps?
If so, if 320 or 384 is supposedly "CD quality", that still leaves a huge difference between them and true CD bitrates (more than 1000 kbps).
Why the big discrepancy?

[tomhr]

Originally Posted by Starcat

As far as bitrates are concerned, am I correct in thinking that CD bitrate is 1411 kbps?
If so, if 320 or 384 is supposedly "CD quality", that still leaves a huge difference between them and true CD bitrates (more than 1000 kbps).
Why the big discrepancy?

I presume that the limitations of human hearing are what make 320 kbps "CD quality." By analogy, my computer monitor is capable of showing 256 shades of gray, but my eyeballs can only distinguish 64 shades.

[rolly]

but my eyeballs can only distinguish 64 shades.

I would of said my eyes can only distinguish,but what the heck.
Never mind me,I just found that funny.

[vikulenka]

Originally Posted by rolly

I would of said my eyes can only distinguish,but what the heck.
Never mind me,I just found that funny.

Until you pointed it out, the two were indistinguishable from one another

[gluteus maximus]

Originally Posted by Starcat

As far as bitrates are concerned, am I correct in thinking that CD bitrate is 1411 kbps?
If so, if 320 or 384 is supposedly "CD quality", that still leaves a huge difference between them and true CD bitrates (more than 1000 kbps).
Why the big discrepancy?

Hi Starcat

Just a by-the-way: many (most?) media players can't play 384kbps mp3s, so it's best to stick with 320.

gm

[Starcat]

Originally Posted by gluteus maximus

Hi Starcat

Just a by-the-way: many (most?) media players can't play 384kbps mp3s, so it's best to stick with 320.

gm

Hi gm,

Yes, I was aware of that, but I appreciate you pointing it out anyway.