"Laurence Payne" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 13:58:44 -0000, "Keith G"
wrote:


I have just completed a swap round with my computers, involving a disk
upgrade and moving my soundcard, which raises a couple of questions (and
also leaves my recent emails, address book and Favourites stranded
'offline'
atm):

The soundcard has digital input and outputs and offers both 44.1 KHz and
48
KHz output sampling rates. Selecting either of these seems to sound fine
and
I can't say that I can tell the difference. (I cannot lay hands on the
spec
sheet for the DAC atm, but I suspect it's happy either way.) Which
output
should I select to be 'right' or 'best' for playing WAVs, MP3s and CDs
from
the computer?

What soundcard?


Trust 514DX Sound Expert Optical



Next, the hard disk upgrade (200Gb) means I am better able to record
music
and save it as WAVs which, I have to say, sound pretty convincing played
through the DAC. The question here is whether or not this the 'best'
thing
to do - I can play them or make CDRs from them and so on, but is there a
'better' way to save the music for any reason? High bitrate MP3s or
summat?

A compressed format isn't going to sound *better*. But a high bitrate
MP3 may sound imperceptibly worse, and save a LOT of disk space.


Yes, up 'til now I've saved over 45 Gig's worth of MP3s at 128K CBR which
can give up to 12 hours worth of 'better than Radio 2 quality' music from
just one disk. That's fine for the sort of music I have recorded so far -
almost all from CDs. (I do not download.) What I want to do now is record
whole LPs (typically 4-500 Mb each) and play them at the best possible
quality so's not to lose 'texture' and 'air' while getting the 'hands free'
convenience. (Saves on record and stylus wear when busy and only using the
music in the background - ie not listening 'properly'.)



I'd burn "audio" CDs. You get plenty on a disk, it's uncompressed
wav format (give or take a header or two:-) and doesn't restrict you
to computer playback.


The computer playback is possibly the most important aspect for me - instant
access to thousands of tracks and the facility to swipe and play many hours
of 'sonic wallpaper' at a stroke.