mp3 or wma? Help please..which is better?

by SnakesInTheTower 11 Replies latest jw friends

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  SnakesInTheTower

  i dont do so well on the technical stuff these days... i am computer literate...but not music player literate...

  I have a sandisk music player... i figured out how to convert some of my CD's on the computer (with windows media player) and then upload them to the player...

  all good right? no.

  I have a 4GB player and its filling fast and I havent uploaded that many albums yet...

  question...which takes up less room....mp3 or wma.... and how do i get the songs converted to mp3 if those are smaller files... whats the difference?

  any help is appreciated..

  Snakes ()
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  musky

  Snakes, I am not very familiar with the difference in formats either. There may be more than one type of MP3 or WMA compression settings,which make the quality better. Maybe there is a file converter on the installation disk that came with the player? Sorry I couldn't be any more help.
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  5go

  MP3 short for MPeg 3 which is short for blah blah and Windows Media Audio

  Neither, honestly there is only a slight difference and most players play both.

  iTunes is where there is a big difference. They use there own thing which is why you have to get an iPod to play there files.
• 

  shamus100

  Buy a Zune.

  I love it! And you don't need that itunes nonsense... I've heard there are quite a few problems with formatting to ipods.
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  5go

  I've heard there are quite a few problems with formatting to ipods.

  I swear by them easiest to use by far. I guess it was because I have used Macs before.
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  SnakesInTheTower

  I guess my question is...which format takes up more room on the player (or computer)? computer storage is not the problem... 250GB HD...but the player is a "mere" 4GB...

  Snakes ()
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  leavingwt

  Go with MP3s, encoded at a bitrate of 160 or above.

  The WMA files are a Microsoft creation. There is nothing wrong with them, but iPods will not play them. The MP3 format is more universal. You can play it on most any portable player. Macs and Linux can play them natively.
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  Poztate

  I have a 4GB player and its filling fast and I haven't uploaded that many albums yet...

  I have a Sandisk player but it has an option to add extra memory through a Micro SD card. In Canada right know I can add a 4GB slide in memory card for $20.00

  That might be the cheapest solution.
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  Big Tex

  Go with MP3s, encoded at a bitrate of 160 or above

  Agreed. In an anal audiophile world, .wma files encoded at their highest level equal CD quality.

  However to my poor ear, I cannot tell the difference. And the file size is extraordinarily different. mp3 always requires less storage space.

  I don't have iTunes, and I never will. I think iTunes is a ripoff to the nth degree. However my limited understanding is that mp3 is compatible with iTunes whilst .wma is not.

  Chris
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  Homerovah the Almighty

  Go with MP3s, encoded at a bitrate of 160 or above.

  Yep that should make only a 4 or 5 meg. file for most songs and as stated mp3. or more universal

  There is only a slight difference in file size between the two depending on bit rate you compress with, the higher the bit rate the lower of

  compression there is, but it also creates a bigger file