Flac FrontEnd
stevie555 said:
Whats the best-sounding format I should use to convert my CDs/MP3s into, that's also 5.1 compatible? According to WMP, its the .wma format. I've heard others say the .ape format is the highest sounding quality, and some argue for the dobly digital format. Anyone have comments/recommendations?
Mp3s are lossy to start with, so if you try and upgrade your mp3 to a lossless format all you will have is a lossless file that sounds like an mp3.
any format is 5.1 compatible inthat it will play , it just wont be encoded to the actual 5.1 format.
to make your files 5.1 compatible you need to use a hiigh end audio editing program with the capabilities to encode info to the 5.1 format.
aside from that anything you play on your system will sound fine it just wont be encoded in the 5.1 format specifically.
IMHO the best Lossless Format is FLAC.
I use Flac Frontend Lossless Codec.
found here:
http://mikewren.com/page.php?2
it is the easiest encoder/decoder I know of.
the files are seekable , and just about any player will play them.
it also has several levels of compression 1-8 allowing you to choose the size of the file. level 8 making the smallest file without becoming lossy.
Installing Flac Frontend will install a plugin for winamp/foobar so you can play flac files and it will install another plugin for nero which allows you to burn Flac files right to disk without decoding to wav before hand.
also another handy program for ripping your cds exactly is EAC
EAC stands for Exact Audio Copy.
found here:
http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/eac6.html
the DL link is at the bottom.
this is the gold standard program the music trading community uses to rip cds as its the best at making an exact copy of the disc.
after ripping your discs with this prog use Flac Frontend to flac the wav files for permanent use on your computer.
hope that helps