MP3 vs. WMA

[Scab]

I recently got a cheap 2-gig Phillips MP3 player. (yes, I am late to the game) Thing said it would hold up to 460 songs (or something like that) I said, cool, I don't even like 460 songs so this is more than adequate. This thing came with Windows Media Player to rip the songs from my CD's and convert them to WMA. Lo and behold, 74 songs later, full. WTF? I do like more than 74 songs. So, here's the question: Are MP3 files smaller than WMA? Should I now find a program to convert my music to MP3 and then load onto the player?

 

[Rickster]

Are MP3 files smaller than WMA?

yes.

Should I now find a program to convert my music to MP3 and then load onto the player?

yes. many options... dbpoweramp for one. maybe not the best -- but it'll work..

 

[Scab]

Easy enough. Thanks.

 

[Leartech]

Windows Media player will also rip files to MP3's from CD's.

Bryan

 

[Rickster]

Try this...

never used it... but good reviews:

Clicky

free anyway... cnet reviewers liked it. YMMV

 

[Tropical FJR]

No - .wma files are not necessarily bigger than MP3s.

It all depends on the rate at which they were encoded. For the same encoding rate, wma sound better.

 

[Bounce]

You picked a compression ratio that left you with big files. Media player will rip to MP3 and WMA. Just pick something at 128Kbps compression and you'll get more songs.

Simple rule:

More compression=Smaller file sizes=More songs on the MP3 player=Lower audio quality

Less compression=Larger file sizes=Fewer songs on the MP3 player=Higher audio quality

When I play my 128k encoded MP3 through my home stereo I can definitely hear the lower quality. But for car, bike, work, and other noisy environments through ear buds, it ain't no thang!

 

[GunMD]

I've also had very good luck ripping to MP3 format with this software. I have an older version, but I'm sure this one is just as easy to use.

As far as WMA's you should note this...ripping to WMA will create an association to the computer on which you ripped the music. If you ever try to play that song on another computer you'll find that it doesn't work. Know I know you're backing up all of your music in-case you ever have a problem with your PC that causes you to lose data, right? CHECK! When you go to restore your data to your "new" PC you may find that none of those WMA files will play...you'll just get a pop-up alert telling you how Microsoft thinks you're a criminal. This sort of fiasco can be avoided by ripping to MP3.

 

[HaulinAshe]

I use Windows Media Player, mainly because it's free and also because the latest (this week's) version is a big improvement over last years.

When ripping files from CD you should consider the amount of hard disk space you have available. Media Player will allow you to set the default bit-rate and file type, among other things. If you use the Sync function to load from your Library to the player device, then you can also override the default bit-rate for the destination device.

My point is that I prefer to RIP files and Library them at a high bit-rate, then transfer or Sync to my MP3 player at a lower bit-rate of around 128-192 kbps so that I can Sync more songs to the device. I use a JumpDrive player and can easily place 8 hours of music on a 1GB module.