mp3 vs wav

[Chrono]

I searched the forums here and was surprised to not find any posts that squarely dealt with this issue.

I have been recording all of my old records and then selling them for some extra dough and am now faced with a decision: mp3 or wav. For one album the wav is 688mb and the mp3 is 58mb. Over 21 albums I have 8.48 gigs and realize that for my entire collection I will be using many, many dvdr's that will be cutting into my profit margin. Although these gems are my babies so i'd rather go wav then lose all my quality by going mp3. I searched the internet and came to a few answers about compression of audio and removing inaudible segments.. but what do you guys, an illgals, have to say?

heeeelllllpppp

 

[Kontents]

I would Say do it as MP3. Once they are sold or whatever, the person can convert it as Wav or Aiff and kinda restore the quality.

 

[trez260]

i'm no expert as to which files types are best in what senario. but for the sake of quality, you're gonna have to sacrifice file size. i think bit rate is also something to take into consideration and can also effect the otherall quality (not by a substantial difference, but a noticable difference). my advice, if you decide to save'em as mp3, make sure your bit rate is no less that 128kbs (preferably 192kbs)

 

[mercurywaters]

save them as 320k mp3's they'll be pretty close in quality to the original wav. converting it back to wav won't restore the original quality, but the mp3 at 320k is all the quality you'll need.

 

[Chrono]

I would Say do it as MP3. Once they are sold or whatever, the person can convert it as Wav or Aiff and kinda restore the quality.

thanks guys, and Kontents I'm not selling what im recording as wav or mp3. I'm selling the records after I make a copy of them for myself. For now, until I get a definitive answer, i'll be saving them as wav.

::edit::

"save them as 320k mp3's they'll be pretty close in quality to the original wav. converting it back to wav won't restore the original quality, but the mp3 at 320k is all the quality you'll need." Mercury Waters

Okay, thanks for the info it's very helpful! I think for my special jewels i'll save as wav and the misc. sample fodder will go with 320kps. thanks for the quick replies everyone

much love

 

[Kontents]

thanks guys, and Kontents I'm not selling what im recording as wav or mp3. I'm selling the records after I make a copy of them for myself. For now, until I get a definitive answer, i'll be saving them as wav.

much love fam

Ooooohh lol ok.

 

[Bakatraxx]

Why not using FLAC?

I'm probably too late with this, but FLAC is lossless just like WAV. But it's smaller then WAV.

http://flac.sourceforge.net/

 

[thedreampolice]

"kinda restore the quality."

once they are mp3 files you can not gain that quality back.

 

[LDB]

thanks guys, and Kontents I'm not selling what im recording as wav or mp3. I'm selling the records after I make a copy of them for myself. For now, until I get a definitive answer, i'll be saving them as wav.

::edit::

"save them as 320k mp3's they'll be pretty close in quality to the original wav. converting it back to wav won't restore the original quality, but the mp3 at 320k is all the quality you'll need." Mercury Waters

Okay, thanks for the info it's very helpful! I think for my special jewels i'll save as wav and the misc. sample fodder will go with 320kps. thanks for the quick replies everyone

much love

Do what Merc said! I promise you won't hear the difference with 320.....dudes may say you can but they're not telling the truth. 320 is so close to wav. that you can only tell be viewing the actual wave file.

 

[DJ Redrum]

I would rip everything first into Wav, then i would back those up on a DVD-R/RW and just re-rip them all again as mp3 just to keep on the computer. So that you still have the best quality possible backed up.

 

[Chrono]

Why not using FLAC?

I'm probably too late with this, but FLAC is lossless just like WAV. But it's smaller then WAV.

http://flac.sourceforge.net/

Do what Merc said! I promise you won't hear the difference with 320.....dudes may say you can but they're not telling the truth. 320 is so close to wav. that you can only tell be viewing the actual wave file.

I forgot about FLAC, I need to become more familiar with FLAC's compresson ratio compared to 320 mp3 and also how easy it will be for me to work with this type of compression.

An Redrum, im taking that advice.. most of these albums I listened to on my sony mdr-7506 headphones and really have picked up on alot that I never knew before concerning music production. Most of these will make it into the ipod.

By the way, who was it that was looking for 1980's Aerobic Workout Samples? I bought this great (funny) Aerobic Dancing album.. i'll hook you up with free samples from it.. but i forgot who it was.