If im importing from my cd's to my ps3 hardrive whats the best quality aac at 320, atrac at 320 or mp3 at 320? thanks guys.

ok...from experimenting with this, i would recommend MP3 and I will tell you why.

Although AAC is an uncompressed format, and MP3 is compressed, you will run into problems if you ever want to copy from the PS3 to a PC via a USB thumbdrive (or other external media).

The problem you encounter is that AAC files will show up in a .3gp container which makes them difficult to play in WMP. You can find a plugin (orban for instance) but its a bit of trouble. My recommendation, to ensure universal playability, would be to go with MP3 at 320 kbps. Obviously, the higher the bit rate, the more space, but I have imported everything at 320 and love it.

ok...from experimenting with this, i would recommend MP3 and I will tell you why.

Although AAC is an uncompressed format, and MP3 is compressed, you will run into problems if you ever want to copy from the PS3 to a PC via a USB thumbdrive (or other external media).

The problem you encounter is that AAC files will show up in a .3gp container which makes them difficult to play in WMP. You can find a plugin (orban for instance) but its a bit of trouble. My recommendation, to ensure universal playability, would be to go with MP3 at 320 kbps. Obviously, the higher the bit rate, the more space, but I have imported everything at 320 and love it.

do you recommend this even if the songs wont leave my ps3? I have a built in harddrive in my cars in dash dvd. So all my songs are automatically stored on it. Then i store them on my ps3 and thats the only place i listen to music is off the ps3 or in my car. thanks for the help.

The AAC files will be smaller than MP3s. But as bdwright77 says, MP3s are much more widely supported.

Wow. Okay, which answer to the question to fix first? :)

"Although AAC is an uncompressed format, and MP3 is compressed"

AAC at 320kbps is not uncompressed. It isn't even lossless compression. It is compressing a 1400kbps stream down to 320kbps, using a pretty efficient, but lossy, codec.

"The AAC files will be smaller than MP3s."

An AAC and an MP3 at 320kbps will be the same size. Bitrate is bitrate, it doesn't matter which codec is being used.

Now, the real answer! :) Pick one. Using either of these codecs, they will sound great at 320kbps. MP3 is the most flexible, being that you can move it around to whatever device you want, and AAC is the most efficient, meaning you can use a lower bitrate for the same quality. If the songs will never leave your PS3, and you have the space to burn on 320kbps tracks, it doesn't really matter which one you pick. MP3 does give you the greatest flexibility down the road if you do change your mind about the tracks staying on the PS3, though.

An AAC and an MP3 at 320kbps will be the same size. Bitrate is bitrate, it doesn't matter which codec is being used.
But the important thing is not to have equal bit rates but to get great sound for a small filesize. Being more efficient, AAC will produce similar results to MP3 while saving disc space.

But if you encode at a high bitrate like 320kbps, you won't notice any difference. But if your goal is to save space, AAC will come out ahead.

If you chose AAC, you could get very good results at 128 or 160kbps, cutting down your filesize a great deal over a 320kbps MP3.

cool thanks for the in depth responses guys really appreciate it. Also what is atrac? Is this not as good because i never hear anybody say anything about it? thanks again for the help.

That's Sony's goofy format.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrac

whoa whoa whoa.

AAC IS a LOSSY format. just like MP3. AAC is generally considered superior, but a little less common.

Apple Lossless (ALAC) and FLAC are the two most common lossless formats.

I'd rip em AAC if i were you.

ooops...my bad. misinformed I guess. I stand corrected.

ooops...my bad. misinformed I guess. I stand corrected.

I told you that yesterday.. in this thread.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1040608&page=2

thanks for pointing that out again...jerk ;). I didnt revisit the thread.

Does the ps3 support flac files?

thanks for pointing that out again...jerk ;). I didnt revisit the thread.
:eek:

Does the ps3 support flac files?

No not unless you are running Linux. Apple and windows Lossless and FLAC dont work with the PS3. And Some have had some "luck" with .wav (the original lossless format) :D But .wav playback is buggy at best.

While on this audio on the PS3 discussion... I have a question.

I downloaded Nine Inch Nail's new album (it's free) as Wave 96-24 hi-res audio. The PS3 won't play it. How can I play these files (on the PS3 or anywhere) and keep the super high resolution?

hrmm DVD-Audio can be 24/96. maybe you can figure out a way to burn it as a DVDA

While on this audio on the PS3 discussion... I have a question.

I downloaded Nine Inch Nail's new album (it's free) as Wave 96-24 hi-res audio. The PS3 won't play it. How can I play these files (on the PS3 or anywhere) and keep the super high resolution?

Like I stated. Wave playback on the PS3 is buggy at best, some have a had a lil luck, but most have not. You best bet to play them would be Toslink from your PC to and AVR.

hrmm DVD-Audio can be 24/96. maybe you can figure out a way to burn it as a DVDA

Good Idea but (im sure you know) it wont work on the PS3 as the Optical drive in the PS3 does not support DVD-A. There is software out there that will allow you to rip a .wav file to the DVD-A format. But that of course assumes he has a DVD-A player.

Unfortunately about the only way to get High Res audio out of the PS3 seems to be SACD (for those with 20/60 launch models or 80gig PS3) Or audio tracks off of Bluray movies.

You could convert to a 96/24 dts track, combine with the still art from the album, and burn as regular DVD-Video.