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Nomad 3 - Best Format to Encode for Good, Compact Music? AAC & Ogg supported?
Now, with luck, some wise soul out there will have the answers to the following queries, and be kind enough to supply them too :-)
Firstly, does the Creative Nomad 3 support any of the new ‘modern’ music formats – Ogg Vorbis, Mp+, MP4 / AAC, Real Audio etc.?
If not then, not to put too fine a point on it, why not?
Am I the only one who remembers press releases and web pages etc. making some credit to Creative and a selling point of the device that they had cleverly designed it in an open-ended fashion such that it would never be rendered obsolete or incompatible with popular formats? It was said the firmware upgrades would include functionality for these new formats.
I know there have been firmware upgrades changing menu functions on other things but has there yet been 1 that adds a new format to the device’s capabilities?
I think I’m right that the world famous Ipod (how many other people have explained to curious strangers what their Nomad 3 is only to meet with – “Oh right, it’s like a large shaped Ipod then?” ! ) does handle AAC and consequently can store a great deal more music at the same quality per GB. Is that correct?
If so, surely Creative is most eager to do something about that perceived disadvantage and because they so cleverly designed the system to upgradable with firmware downloads then I can only assume a team of software engineers is, even as I type, working furiously on an upgrade so our Nomads can match & better yet exceed the Ipod’s range of formats.
I mean after all although Creative may already have our money and commitment to their device over Ipod I can’t be the only person whose friends express an interest in the Nomad, want to know about it but are always very keen on the shiny, little Ipod. I’d love to be able to give a convincing pro-Nomad answer to all the Ipod junkies out there – so, Creative, an AAC / MP4 upgrade for April 2004 or have you already released it?
Again, I’m not 100% sure but I think AAC at least is open code so it’s not like Creative has to negotiate with a rights holder or pay anything, just a matter of writing the code, no?
- - - - - - -
Assuming, just for the next month or so, that the Nomad TEMPORARILY can’t support MP4, Ogg V, etc. etc. then what is the consensus out there on the best format for encoding one’s entire CD collection for portable use but at good quality?
Just to clarify – I’m not a 100% audio nut by any means. I will not anytime soon be cutting the top right corners of all my books near the stereo, compelling people to sit in the one listening centred chair, spending £5000 on cables alone etc.
On a good system based around an Arcam AV50 amp I could never reliably walk into the room & identify correctly every time the difference (on the same track) between the Marantz CD player vs. an optically recorded Mini-Disc version. Nor for that matter could any of my audiophile & DJ friends – you have to listen VERY closely I reckon; anyone who could spot it 90%+ of the time, without comparison, would seriously impress me.
So, I know I cannot get true CD quality and save as much file size as I wish.
I like my music to sound good, noticeable distortions, odd twanging & reverb effects do not enhance my enjoyment of my favourite tracks.
I want to have my Nomad 3’s music encoded in such a way that to a normal kind of discerning listener it sounds good.
I mean, you might be able to spot it reliably as marginally inferior in controlled lab style listening tests, but in all honesty if someone plonked a pair of reasonable quality £80 headphones on your head and said “What do you think of this new mix?” or you walked into a room where the Nomad was hooked up to a nice, high end stereo set-up (Bang & O, Arcam, £5000 - £10000 what almost anyone who wasn’t a soun d engineer or lottery winner would be very happy to own kit) and someone said “Do you like this singer?” then your first thought wouldn’t be I wish it wasn’t a slightly dodgy recording so I’d have a better idea.
OK, I think that gets as close as I can to nailing the kind of sound quality vs. size position I coming from; I want to pack the absolute maximum I can onto my Nomad in a format where it can stand up to good headphones or a nice stereo and not sound noticeably somewhat below par vs. MD or CD etc. to a discerning lay listener.
Does anyone out there know what codec will really do the job for that specification?
Currently I am using:
dBPowerAmp to encode MP3s
with Lame 3.93
Variable Bit Rate
44.1khz
32kbps – 192kbps (Most files end up averaging 180 – 186kbps)
Stereo
1) Am I being a total idiot because there is a vastly superior solution out there that will sound as good or better with much smaller file sizes?
2) Is a week or two spent re-encoding my entire collection with Lame 3.95 going
to reap sufficient rewards to make it worth while?
3) I now regret I didn’t think to encode all my files the same way except with JOINT-STEREO instead of genuine twice the data stereo. I regret it because reading the principle behind Joint-Stereo it appears valid and I imagine it would produce nearly identical sounding results but lop significant chunks out of the file size – Would I be right or a foolish newbie to think that? ;-)
Well anyone who can give me some helpful encoding hints and/or answers to the questions above will be seriously appreciated.
Thanks, in advance, to anybody kind enough to help the eager new guy learn stuff and if I’ve said anything overwhelming dumb or incorrect in the foregoing then please correct me but don’t barbecue me; I openly admit I’m positing here to learn what I don’t know, not proclaim gospel well outside my area of expertise ;-)
Firstly, does the Creative Nomad 3 support any of the new ‘modern’ music formats – Ogg Vorbis, Mp+, MP4 / AAC, Real Audio etc.?
If not then, not to put too fine a point on it, why not?
Am I the only one who remembers press releases and web pages etc. making some credit to Creative and a selling point of the device that they had cleverly designed it in an open-ended fashion such that it would never be rendered obsolete or incompatible with popular formats? It was said the firmware upgrades would include functionality for these new formats.
I know there have been firmware upgrades changing menu functions on other things but has there yet been 1 that adds a new format to the device’s capabilities?
I think I’m right that the world famous Ipod (how many other people have explained to curious strangers what their Nomad 3 is only to meet with – “Oh right, it’s like a large shaped Ipod then?” ! ) does handle AAC and consequently can store a great deal more music at the same quality per GB. Is that correct?
If so, surely Creative is most eager to do something about that perceived disadvantage and because they so cleverly designed the system to upgradable with firmware downloads then I can only assume a team of software engineers is, even as I type, working furiously on an upgrade so our Nomads can match & better yet exceed the Ipod’s range of formats.
I mean after all although Creative may already have our money and commitment to their device over Ipod I can’t be the only person whose friends express an interest in the Nomad, want to know about it but are always very keen on the shiny, little Ipod. I’d love to be able to give a convincing pro-Nomad answer to all the Ipod junkies out there – so, Creative, an AAC / MP4 upgrade for April 2004 or have you already released it?
Again, I’m not 100% sure but I think AAC at least is open code so it’s not like Creative has to negotiate with a rights holder or pay anything, just a matter of writing the code, no?
- - - - - - -
Assuming, just for the next month or so, that the Nomad TEMPORARILY can’t support MP4, Ogg V, etc. etc. then what is the consensus out there on the best format for encoding one’s entire CD collection for portable use but at good quality?
Just to clarify – I’m not a 100% audio nut by any means. I will not anytime soon be cutting the top right corners of all my books near the stereo, compelling people to sit in the one listening centred chair, spending £5000 on cables alone etc.
On a good system based around an Arcam AV50 amp I could never reliably walk into the room & identify correctly every time the difference (on the same track) between the Marantz CD player vs. an optically recorded Mini-Disc version. Nor for that matter could any of my audiophile & DJ friends – you have to listen VERY closely I reckon; anyone who could spot it 90%+ of the time, without comparison, would seriously impress me.
So, I know I cannot get true CD quality and save as much file size as I wish.
I like my music to sound good, noticeable distortions, odd twanging & reverb effects do not enhance my enjoyment of my favourite tracks.
I want to have my Nomad 3’s music encoded in such a way that to a normal kind of discerning listener it sounds good.
I mean, you might be able to spot it reliably as marginally inferior in controlled lab style listening tests, but in all honesty if someone plonked a pair of reasonable quality £80 headphones on your head and said “What do you think of this new mix?” or you walked into a room where the Nomad was hooked up to a nice, high end stereo set-up (Bang & O, Arcam, £5000 - £10000 what almost anyone who wasn’t a soun d engineer or lottery winner would be very happy to own kit) and someone said “Do you like this singer?” then your first thought wouldn’t be I wish it wasn’t a slightly dodgy recording so I’d have a better idea.
OK, I think that gets as close as I can to nailing the kind of sound quality vs. size position I coming from; I want to pack the absolute maximum I can onto my Nomad in a format where it can stand up to good headphones or a nice stereo and not sound noticeably somewhat below par vs. MD or CD etc. to a discerning lay listener.
Does anyone out there know what codec will really do the job for that specification?
Currently I am using:
dBPowerAmp to encode MP3s
with Lame 3.93
Variable Bit Rate
44.1khz
32kbps – 192kbps (Most files end up averaging 180 – 186kbps)
Stereo
1) Am I being a total idiot because there is a vastly superior solution out there that will sound as good or better with much smaller file sizes?
2) Is a week or two spent re-encoding my entire collection with Lame 3.95 going
to reap sufficient rewards to make it worth while?
3) I now regret I didn’t think to encode all my files the same way except with JOINT-STEREO instead of genuine twice the data stereo. I regret it because reading the principle behind Joint-Stereo it appears valid and I imagine it would produce nearly identical sounding results but lop significant chunks out of the file size – Would I be right or a foolish newbie to think that? ;-)
Well anyone who can give me some helpful encoding hints and/or answers to the questions above will be seriously appreciated.
Thanks, in advance, to anybody kind enough to help the eager new guy learn stuff and if I’ve said anything overwhelming dumb or incorrect in the foregoing then please correct me but don’t barbecue me; I openly admit I’m positing here to learn what I don’t know, not proclaim gospel well outside my area of expertise ;-)
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