Lossless I've decided to go with WMA instead of FLAC. My MP3 player
playes WMA but not FLAC; in fact, I dont see a single MP3 player that does.
However, I am still not sure whether to go with lossy WMA or MP3.
WMA 96kbps sounds the same as an MP3 at 128kbps, but is 20% smaller.
I could live with MP3 at 112kbps.
Does an MP3 made from a lossless WMA sound the same as made from WAV?
It takes 2x longer though.
I used CDex to rip to MP3 and WAV at the same time. However, WMA lossless is 10% smaller than using Winrar best-solid on WAVs, and it is playable. Thus, it seems it is best to rip to WMA lossless, and then to rip to MP3 from the CD again.
I recommend you rip and archive to a lossless format(e.g. flac, ALAC, WMAL, etc..This way you can always convert to any lossy format of your choice..And no you don't have to re-rip your CD's (again) to convert to mp3...What sounds best or the "same" when playing, converting etc. from one format to another is something that only you can determine, since none of us share ears or have identical equipment/setup.
I personally rip to flac and use my archived file(s) for transcoding/converting to other lossless or lossy formats...IMHE, with my ears/setup/ SW player(s), WAV, Flac, WMAL or ALAC sound the same(identical) to me..
Others will jump in with their preferences and help, soon enough..
