AtRaCeR

mp3(128kbps fraunhofer,lame HQ=ON) handles better low frequencies. atrac3-132kbps(lp2) handles better high frequencies. I can't say which encoder clearly wins. All(most of them)the mp3 encoders except fraunhofer and lame sounds robotic. In my opinion the best audio encoder is AAC (Dolby Laboratories). AAC-128kbps sounds fantastic. The big disadvantage of AAC: PAINFULLY SLOW!!! (5x realtime-P4 2.3GHz) Make some tests with a lot of music tracks and a good pair of headphones and see what sounds better to you. Atrac v.1 sounds terrible(for 292kbps),Atrac v3.5/4/4.5/type-r sounds exceptional.The same with atrac3.Its a new codec and needs a lot of improvements. Imagine atrac3 type-r.... :shock:

I totaly agree with mystyler. LP2 produces a lot of artifacts specialy when encoding tracks with a lot of bass(30-50Hz). Try to encode some psychedelic-trance/techno tunes with lp2 compression and you'll notice the distortion and metallic sound specially in bass passages. If you interested i could send you via e-mail a portion of a music track(infected mushroom's B.P Empire-deep mix) to encode,and you'll see what i mean. The advantage of netMD:lp2 conversion is your computer's job,so a better encoder will solve this problem(hopefully)

i'm 22. MDS-JE510(1997)<---My first MD Player/Recorder(still works fine!) MZ-E25(1998)<---sold MZ-R900(2001)<---I gave it to my sister MZ-N1(2002)<---now charging! ---------------------------------------------------------- MDS-JB980<---waiting for availability :?: (I live in Greece)