Will Pandora Satisfy My Music Needs?

[impreziv]

Encode your audio in OGG. It's usually smaller than mp3 for equal quality and the difference between mp3 and FLAC really isn't that noticeable if you encode the mp3s properly. Also; FLAC is way over-rated; APE has much better compression and sounds the same.

i really do like OGG. i wish it was the industry standard. im sticking with MP3, only because of its compatibility. even if i got an MP3 player that can play OGG, i wouldnt convert my library to OGG, just because i know i would run into a situation where i wished they were MP3.

maybe for the Pandora, whatever Music i choose to put on a 16gb SDHC, ill convert that to OGG.

 

[Jeric]

Besides you'd be recompressing already compressed fies, which is at best unessicary and at worse you can lose even more of the waveform to the reencode.

Now FLAC to ogg I'd be on board for.

 

[AireTamStorm]

Besides you'd be recompressing already compressed fies, which is at best unessicary and at worse you can lose even more of the waveform to the reencode.

Now FLAC to ogg I'd be on board for.

Pretty sure he meant CD / other lossless audio source to OGG. Yes, encoding from one lossy format to another is a waste of time and further kills the quality of the song. I'd like to be able to rip my CDs one of two ways- OGG or FLAC. I wont convert lossy formats. I say we've been in mp3land for 10 years already, lets move on.

 

[P-J]

I could care less if the media player was only CLI- just give me all the format support in the world and I'll be happy.

I think you mean "couldn't"...

 

[chad78]

I could care less if the media player was only CLI- just give me all the format support in the world and I'll be happy.
I think you mean "couldn't"...People say it both ways, actually, to the point now I'm confused as to which is the right way of saying it, or if there is one.

The problem is, I'm pretty sure the original expression was longer, something like "I could care less if I tried harder..." or "I couldn't care less even if I tried...." or "I could care less, but I don't care to try that hard." (Which is my personal favorite, because of its recursive use of the word "care".) But anyway.... Whether it was a typo, he said it correctly, he said it incorrectly, or whatever - I'm pretty sure everyone knew what he meant. Even though they sound like they should have opposite meanings, both phrases convey the same message. Kinda like Flammable and Inflammable. I hate that one, too.

 

[quadomatic]

Encode your audio in OGG. It's usually smaller than mp3 for equal quality and the difference between mp3 and FLAC really isn't that noticeable if you encode the mp3s properly. Also; FLAC is way over-rated; APE has much better compression and sounds the same.

I wish I could put my music into ogg format, but there are a couple barriers:

1. I have an iPod, so I need it in MP3 (this won't be a problem after I get Pandora though, since I won't be using it anymore afterwards)

2. I have about 25GB of music, so encoding all of it to ogg would take a while.

 

[dblank]

I could care less if the media player was only CLI- just give me all the format support in the world and I'll be happy.
I think you mean "couldn't"...People say it both ways, actually, to the point now I'm confused as to which is the right way of saying it, or if there is one.

I think it's only people from the United States who say it the wrong way.

 

[Tom`]

I wish I could put my music into ogg format, but there are a couple barriers:

1. I have an iPod, so I need it in MP3 (this won't be a problem after I get Pandora though, since I won't be using it anymore afterwards)

is your iPod a 5.5G or lower? for that, there's http://rockbox.org ... doesn't work on classic or 2/3g nano, but anything else should be good.

 

[sindbad]

If you couldn't care less, then you care the least possible, thus you do not care at all.

 

[CyruzDraxs]

Besides you'd be recompressing already compressed fies, which is at best unessicary and at worse you can lose even more of the waveform to the reencode.

Now FLAC to ogg I'd be on board for.

Pretty sure he meant CD / other lossless audio source to OGG.

Yes, that's what I meant; rip your CDs to OGG. Transcoding lossy formats will just kill the quality--never do it. >.>

 

[javaJake]

Encode your audio in OGG. It's usually smaller than mp3 for equal quality and the difference between mp3 and FLAC really isn't that noticeable if you encode the mp3s properly. Also; FLAC is way over-rated; APE has much better compression and sounds the same.

Mind sharing what settings you encode OGG at? Whenever I've tried to encode CD's in OGG, it comes out much bigger than MP3.

 

[Tom`]

Also; FLAC is way over-rated; APE has much better compression and sounds the same.

Monkey's Audio can compress better than FLAC, but it's much, much more CPU-intensive to play. Pandora could handle it, but it would completely kill battery life as compared to FLAC.

Anyway, I seriously doubt that anyone can hear the difference between 320 kbps MP3 and lossless, given the latest encoders. Certainly not on a portable device - maybe some of the Head-Fi regulars with their $1000+ DACs and even more expensive amps into balanced Denon L3000s or whatever, but even then (one could say, especially then) no one ever does proper ABX testing - in fact, all discussion of double-blind testing is explicitly forbidden on Head-Fi - and it's quite essential to support such claims...

@javaJake: I suggest using the ABX feature of Foobar2000 to find the lowest bitrate at which you can't tell the OGG version from the lossless original. This will probably differ from person to person, depending on your equipment.

 

[AireTamStorm]

Anyway, I seriously doubt that anyone can hear the difference between 320 kbps MP3 and lossless, given the latest encoders. Certainly not on a portable device
...

Several people, including myself, have stated that they can. If you know what to look for it is quite easy to hear the differences. $30 headphones and a PSP, I can tell you if it is playing MP3, AAC, or ATRAC (PSP cannot play lossless formats out of the box). I could tell you if the PSP was running off the battery, plugged into the wall, or into a car by listening through the headphones.

I'm one of those people that cannot use noise canceling technology due to the super high pitch whine that seemingly nobody else can hear. One of those people that walks into an empty room and can hear the sound of the TV tube three floors down. At certain malls, there are anti-bird devices that throw ear piercing high pitched sounds at the entrances to keep them from building nests. 40 people will walk through the doors oblivious, I'll walk through covering my ears.

Some people can, some people cannot, tell and appreciate the difference between a lossy codec with a jacked up bitrate and a lossless codec.

 

[Prometheus]

I'm one of those people also, AireTamStorm (the noise from some televisions can be incredibly annoying :lol: ). Some people grow out of being able to hear certain frequences, whilst others don't. (For those who are curious about their own range of hearing, this is a fun, albeit informal, "test" of it. )

 

[conso]

At certain malls, there are anti-bird devices that throw ear piercing high pitched sounds at the entrances to keep them from building nests.

I've heard their were quite a lot of tests on this and nothing is more effective to keep birds away, then music by Tina Turner. Some german airports use it therefor on their rolling-fields.


BTW: Test result:
You are a dog
Or maybe you are a mosquito, you certainly can't be human.

The highest pitched ultrasonic mosquito ringtone that I can hear is 21.1kHz


Well I went of a lab because I couldn't stand the ultracentrifuge running next to me. Everybody joked about me

 

[kingbuzzo]

I'm really excited for the Pandora as a DAP. It's got a Ray Burr DAC which should be outstanding and line out was added recently, which is huge for me. I've got a solid portable amp already, which I'll use at home even if the onboard amp is great.

I was researching DAPS & PMP's at the same time as the Pandora, and I had the following requirements which only the Pandora fully meets: Possibility for Album Art, Removable Memory, Line Out, TV Out, video formats with AC3, Touchscreen, Stereo Bluetooth.

I guess we won't know until we listen, but I'm excited for the possibilities.

I'm also looking for a long term replacement for the Cowon X5L. I guarantee the headphones listed above don't do the X5L justice and you're missin A LOT of the X5L's beautiful sound quality. I have a pair of Grado Sr60's for $69, a pair of Crossroads Mylarone X3i's for $57, and recently added Sennheiser CX500's for $64 on sale. When I first upgraded to the Grados from $10 earbuds, I was amazed by the amount of notes I'd never picked up on in my favorite music. The clarity is shocking when compared to cheap headphones. While audiophiles can tell the difference between DAP sound quality - I think most all would agree that upgrading from cheap or included earbuds makes for the most effective and inexpensive improvement. Beyond the midrange, you see less improvement for your buck.

ZOMG, PROPER LINE OUT!? I am a very happy man now. I can't miss this device. Gonna rock this thing on the headphone amp for sure.