MP3 vs WMA

[Shannon]

According to Microsoft, the WMA format (Windows Media Audio) achieves the same sound quality at 64kbps as an MP3 file at 128kbps. Before WMA 8 format, users were saying "yeah, right". However, boasting a 30% quality increase over prior WMA formats, WMA 8 is a contender for the best audio quality at lower bit rates.

We have decided to provide WMA converter tools for WMA enthusiasts and those who are curious about the format. The main drawback of WMA is it is a Microsoft proprietary format rather than the non-corporate format of MP3....the bottom line is control and some people don't like proprietary formats that are controlled by one company, not a bad concern. However, give WMA a run, even for technology comparison sake.

Discuss.

 

[halfracedrift]

IMO, right now, WMA is not mobile. You can't burn it onto a CD (or MD) and carry it around to listen. MP3 shines in this area. However, if all factors remain the same, and WMA becomes mobile, it will be slightly better than MP3. But! Since MP3 DOES have a larger audience, WMA will need to "advertise" more

 

[sn00pie]

And what about file sizes?

 

[epic]

I think the file sizes are about the same. For higher quality atleast. A 320kbps wma file is around 100k less than a 320kbps mp3 file i've found.. as far as burning wma files, you can burn them in ezcd creator 5.. just not to a MP3 cd..only data cd and music cds

 

[Tom M]

It doesn't really matter, they will never replace MP3's (to embedded into our society now) with a corporate owned format. Nobody really wants MS to control yet another industry anyway...

 

[Spock]

Acttulay you can burn .WMA files on to a cd for listining to on a wma compattable cd player. but the quality is absolute crap, they sound hollowed out they constantly skip. but thats just my oppinion

 

[rjensen11]

I like .wav files more, I don't care about file sizes. I just like being able to copy my own cd's and have tracks list without enabling CD Text(I put both disks of The Wall{Pink Floyd} on one disk(82 minutes or so on an 80 minute disk) and WinAmp showed the disk as The Wall - Complete, so I like having the preserved quality over filesize, maybe that's just because I have over 300GB of combined storage capacity....

 

[Shannon]

Originally posted by halfracedrift
IMO, right now, WMA is not mobile. You can't burn it onto a CD (or MD) and carry it around to listen. MP3 shines in this area. However, if all factors remain the same, and WMA becomes mobile, it will be slightly better than MP3. But! Since MP3 DOES have a larger audience, WMA will need to "advertise" more

You can't burn an MP3 straight to a CD and play it on a CD player unless it is MP3 compatible. To play an MP3 on a normal CD player you need to convert your MP3s to a WAV and then burn them. The same applies for WMA, you need to convert them to WAV before you can play them on a normal CD player. I'm not sure if there is WMA > WAV converters though, but there is WMA > MP3 converters. Once converted, you could then use an MP3 burning program to burn them to a CD as WAVs.

Originally posted by Tom M
It doesn't really matter, they will never replace MP3's (to embedded into our society now) with a corporate owned format. Nobody really wants MS to control yet another industry anyway...

I suppose you have a point there. Microsoft is already a common name in the electronics industry, no need to make it even more known.

Originally posted by spock
Acttulay you can burn .WMA files on to a cd for listining to on a wma compattable cd player. but the quality is absolute crap, they sound hollowed out they constantly skip. but thats just my oppinion

It'd probably be better to convert the WMA to MP3 to WAV and burn them that way.

 

[VIPFREAK]

I'm bumping this thread to see what everyone thinks of .WMA vs. .MP3 now since it's been awhile. I just recently started getting interested in .wma format mostly for how small the file size is. My concern is in the quality of the .wma since it is smaller. Thanks for your help.

Nick

 

[emad]

AAC is better by far - especially because iTunes allows you to AAC from your cdrs with no problems. Currently, there isn't any good program to convert cdr to wma and do it with the type of quality you are talking about. The only way you'll get wmas like that are from online music stores. But since I'm an Apple fanboy, I'll stick with my iPod and iTunes

 

[VIPFREAK]

Well.. Mp3s it is... sounds like less of a headache. I ain't buying an ipod... --> Neuros

Nick