MP3, iPod, Classical Music

[bnatural]

Just got an iPod today.

What's the best compromise between good quality compressed music file and file size?

Is MP3 a good format?  or Apple Lossless?

What bit rate would you use to achieve good quality sound for classical music and manageable file size?

[Saturn]

MP3 is not very good.

I don't have much experience with apple lossless.  Being that it is lossless encoding, the file size will be a good deal larger than with any other format.  Exactly how much bigger depends on what it is you're encoding.  The format is also completely proprietary.

For a good balance between size and quality, I usually use AAC/M4A.

[bnatural]

MP3 is not very good.

I don't have much experience with apple lossless.  Being that it is lossless encoding, the file size will be a good deal larger than with any other format.  Exactly how much bigger depends on what it is you're encoding.  The format is also completely proprietary.

For a good balance between size and quality, I usually use AAC/M4A.

Is AAC and M4A the same thing?

For the same bit rate, which kind of file has smaller size?

For good quality classical music listening, what bit rate for AAC would you recommend?

Thank you.

[xvimbi]

Apple Lossless reduces the size by about 50% and will preserve the original resolution. Concerning MP3s, it is misleading to say they are of low quality. Yes, it is a lossy format, but one can choose any bitrate. Therefore, one can make near CD-quality encodings just as one can make extremely crappy ones. Unless you carry around highest-quality headphones or connect the iPod to a high-quality stereo system, AAC is perfectly fine. We are not talking about extreme audiophily here. If you choose MP3, you should go with at least 128 bits with variable bitrate encoding.

The iPod is fantastic. My only beef is with the cataloging of classical music. It is not (yet) straightforward to easily navigate around a large collection.

[xvimbi]

For the same bit rate, which kind of file has smaller size?

They are different encoding algorithms. AAC usually results in smaller file sizes, but it can be the other way around. Do some tests.

For good quality classical music listening, what bit rate for AAC would you recommend?

The same here: you are the only judge. Encode the same complex piece with different bitrates and decide for yourself. I am happy with the defaults.

[bnatural]

For the same bit rate, which kind of file has smaller size?

quote]
The same here: you are the only judge. Encode the same complex piece with different bitrates and decide for yourself. I am happy with the defaults.

Are you using AAC 128 bitrate for classical music?  I tried AAC160.  Still not perfect for opera pieces.