Music File Confusion - Guru Advice Sought

[Jaguandy]

I use Audacity to change the format of already ripped music files. For example my WAV files to MP3 just for my car ipod. Might save you some time if it will convert to what you need?

[Lunar]

Thanks for the recommendation.

Since going from iTunes to Apple Music I’ve lost a lot of files along the way so I'm ripping my collection from scratch.

As mentioned, I don’t really want to be messing about with differing file types and duplicate files, so am happy with a common file type somewhere between .wav and .mp3.

…assuming that everything works as planned, thanks to good advice from everyone

[scm]

If you're listening in the car, I'd suggest you won't get any extra benefit from going better than the best quality mp3 format.

[Lunar]

True, but as mentioned I want to use the same ripped files on my Arcam + Totem Acoustic home stereo.

[pirateprentice]

Nice bi-amping! Some might be horrified by your intention to listen to lossy compressed music on a nice stereo like that.
But modern encoders set to the highest quality - around 300kb/s - lose very little. I can't tell the difference (although younger ears might).

[Lunar]

Thank you!

Yes, I picked it all up relatively cheaply when everyone was going to the multi-room mono stuff like Bose and Sonos.

It’s all their top end FMJ Full Metal Jacket units - pre-amp, 2x power amps, DAB tuner and HDCD with the Ring DAC - I used to have an irDoc linked to it too, but it expired.

Each power amp has 2 channels so I have fully separated LH and RH amplification, using a double wire for the mid-bass speaker and single for the tweeter.

It pairs really well with the Totem Acoustic Hawk speakers and there’s no equaliser, bass, or treble control - it just plays exactly what’s on the CD.


…having said all that I have some mid-range hearing loss and fairly strong constant tinnitus - think open fridge door alarm.

This makes it all rather irrelevant but hey, it’s the principle isn’t it!

[WhoKnows]

Looks good, but sounds a bit like me, upgrading my tv to 4k then remembering my eyesight means I can no longer tell the difference!

[scm]

It pairs really well with the Totem Acoustic Hawk speakers and there’s no equaliser, bass, or treble control - it just plays exactly what’s on the CD.

I thought equalisers are to tune the room, not the CD's contents.

[Lunar]

I’ll try plugging an equaliser into a wall socket and see if I can tune my room

…I do get what you mean though.

[Lunar]

300+ CDs now ripped to .m4a - and half a dozed embarrassingly naff ones ditched!

41 of my favourite albums copied to the SD card and it seems to play fine in the car, with the album art too.

With the change of format I’ve tweaked the balance between each of the 3 pairs of speakers (dash corner tweeter, door mid-bass, footwell bass) and I'm very happy with the result.

When I first bought the car I was less than impressed with the audio quality, however I don’t think the original owner ever turned the stereo on, as the speakers definitely seem to be responding better now they have a good few hours use on them

I was also non-plussed to find that there were no rear speakers behind the seats on the base audio and the aluminium grilles are just for show - I did wonder why the fader control was greyed out! Further investigation proved that the rear audio wiring harness is also not installed, so if I wanted to upgrade it was going to need some serious investment. Having constant tinnitus and some hearing loss it would be pointless to throw a few thousand pounds at say an active upgrade on a roadster.

Again I’m happy with the front facing sound now, and after all, when do some of the band stand behind you to play?!

As with most things in life it’s a subjective topic, but I’m very pleased to be hearing some good sounds.

Thanks to guru pirateprentice for the invaluable advice - and I’ve replied to your DM re. my bi-amped home set up