WMA or MP3

[Dr Spaulding]

i've never really looked into Windows Media Audio but i recently downloaded an album that had 17 tracks on it that were in WMA (don't know what bit rate), the size of the folder was about 45MB, which was 3 times less than an MP3 folder of 17 songs that were in 128k MP3

can anyone tell me format would be better, thinking of buying an 80GB mp3 player further in the future, and wanna save as much space as possible when i get it.

[Money Fist]

hahahhahahahaa 80gb!!!!
why on earth are u worried about space

this is a topic about MP3 vs WMA
http://www.mp3-tech.org/tests/wma9/

[Dr Spaulding]

hahahhahahahaa 80gb!!!!
why on earth are u worried about space

this is a topic about MP3 vs WMA
http://www.mp3-tech.org/tests/wma9/

so not much diff then at 128k.
well i'll try and rip a cd nonight in both formats at the same bit rate and see the diff in size and quality myself.

[{I}{K}{E}]

you wanna buy an MP3 player in the future? then why question which format to use :huh:

MP3 players doesnt support WMA

[namzuf9]

MP3 players doesnt support WMA

I just bought one that does :P

[Snee]

Then it's not just an mp3 player, now is it?

[nsane]

nope, it would be called a multimedia player :P

but i read somewhere, with WMA you don't need to use 128k to achieve the same quality as an MP3. don't ask me how, but you can. so, WMA is better with smaller files at the same quality ;)

[Ariel_001]

MP3 is a sort of open source format.. If you want small size with good quality then you should make a VBR mp3 using LAME..

[nsane]

you could do a VBR WMA and it would be even smaller :P

but really, MP3 is the best all around format. as alot more media devices are compatible with it as compared to WMA. MP3-CD players are a good example, can't play WMAs on that. i think there maybe some that read WMAs, but it's just an example :P

i still use MP3, as i've used LAME for the longest and as the old saying goes "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" ;)

[Izagaia]

Of all the comparable devices, I have ever seen as of late... if it states that it supports the .mp3 format, then odds are likely that it will also support .wma. Pretty much anymore, they just go hand-in-hand. And if it does not, then the product is ancient and IMO, greatly out-dated.

I just purchased a Creative Labs 128mb MuVo player. It's tiny but it takes care of the essentials... .mp3 and .wma playback along with doubling as a flashdrive.

But regarding the issue of which format is actually superior over the other; I truely cannot detect any flaw over one format over the other. Other than .wma files having 33% less filling over regular .mp3's . Not enough really to make me change my own personal preferences in using .mp3 @192bitrate for my audio files. It's just sort of trivial, IMO. Right up there with the HP versus Compaq debates.