Well, I guess I should tell you guys my final decision. After testing out all the various formats available, and keep in mind that I'm a musician who has perfect pitch, I'd have to admit that the differences I heard were negligible. Personally, I don't see what the big deal is. I mean, do you people actually notice that much of a difference in sound quality that the lesser format would drive you crazy? Or all of this is just a big hype and followed along by people who don't want to admit that they actually couldn't tell the difference or even care?
Anyway, being a practical person, I settled on wma simply for the smaller file format. This may drive you guys crazy, but I also decided to rip all my music into 48 kbps just to save space. Yes, I did notice the difference between this lowest format and the higher quality formats. No, the differences don't change my experience with the music at all.
Since I haven't got much free time lately, I've only been able to rip a couple hundred songs. I've put random songs in 128 just to test myself to see if that would make a difference in my experience with the music. I'd have to say while I have noticed the difference I can't say I have much desire to start ripping my albums into higher bitrate than 48.
Edited by Taz, : No reason given.
I'm trying to see things your way, but I can't put my head that far up my ass.