MP3 Ripping, Which is better : Sonic stage or WMP11?

[Andrew Soebali]

Hai all,

just want to try to rip some old CD to MP3 for archiving. Since the files will use in many DAP players (including non walkman) i decided to choose MP3. I stumbled upon this choices : Sonic Stage and Windows Media Player 11.

Which is the best between the two? I red in "About Sonic Stage" stated that it use Fraunhofer MP3 codec. Isnt this the original expensive codec created by Fraunhofer? Anyone ever compare the output from the two?

Thanks

[ceres]

I think both use the Frauenhofer Professional codec which is nothing to write home about.

I´d highly recommend lame 3.97 with a graphical frontend of your choice such as db poweramp or cdex.

regards,

ceres

[Guest Stuge]

I don't think there will be any difference between the two .

I will recommend you to have a look at hydrogenaudio forums

[aob9]

I think both use the Frauenhofer Professional codec which is nothing to write home about.

I´d highly recommend lame 3.97 with a graphical frontend of your choice such as db poweramp or cdex.

regards,

ceres

What's wrong with the Frauenhofer Professional codec . I didn't realise there was another variable in the search for high sound quality. My understanding was high bitrate and a good playback device was sufficient.

Anthony

[ceres]

What's wrong with the Frauenhofer Professional codec . I didn't realise there was another variable in the search for high sound quality. My understanding was high bitrate and a good playback device was sufficient.

Anthony

Not quite, as lame mp3 has proven to be the superior alternative in countless listening tests. As mentioned above check out hydrogenaudio for in depth info.

[navsimpson]

To throw in my two cents - I had thought the whole EAC/LAME combo was all geek hype and that nothing topped ATRAC 352kbs. But I recently switched and I'm really amazed at how clean and crisp everything sounds. Highly recommend it, even despite the lack of user-friendliness.

-Nav

[DannyB37]

I'm another to recommend CDex with lame mp3 encoder.

You can easily update the CDex lame version to the latest too. Just Replace the Lame_enc.dll in the CDex directory with the latest stable one.