I find that my ears are pleased with wma at moderate bit rate (160) for a great combination of file size and quality. WMA is quite pleasant compared against bare bones MP3. To match the quality, I need to run higher bit rates.
For the critical stuff, there’s FLAC, and this is great as the archival copy too.
Different codecs impart their own respective sound signature, much like repositioning your headphone does. In fact, the differences made in the physical realm, on the reproduction end, make a larger net difference than a new codec ever will.
I am far more concerned over marketing weenies reaching over the engineer’s shoulder, pushing that master gain slider up to “11”. Somewhere in the food chain, folks have forgotten about digital’s strongest attributes, namely, signal-to-noise ratio. I can turn up the volume myself, thank you.
Bob :smileyvery-happy:
