I purchased AudioCatalyst and have set it up to make VBR MP3's with the Highest quality settings. ... If I rip my collection like this, will I be pleased with the results on the empeg?If you set AudioCatalyst to do VBR with the highest quality settings, you will:
a) be unable to tell the difference between the source CD and the resulting .MP3, and
b) be wasting a lot of space on the hard disk.
For most material, the medium quality setting is fine, unless you're a total audiophile and can hear every last nuance of detail in the music.
I do everything at the medium quality setting except for a couple of albums which I want the extra high fidelity, then I do one of the two highest settings.
One thing to remember about AudioCatalyst:
Its CD-ripping engine (called "AudioGrabber") isn't, by default, set up to perform the safest rips. It defaults to the fastest rip method rather than the most reliable. Depending on your brand of CD-ROM drive, it might be OK or it might be getting bad rips. Listen closely to your ripped tracks with a good pair of headphones, and listen carefully for the following kinds of errors:
- Skips, pops, or dropouts.
- Sudden shifting of instruments between the left and right audio channels.
If those happen to you, go into its help system and read up on the "Troubleshooting ASPI errors" section.
On my computer, I can have it rip at the fastest speed, but I must leave the system alone and make sure the screen saver is turned off while it's ripping. If I don't do this, I will get occasional ripping errors in the music (usually the L/R shifting problem).
Tony FabrisEmpeg #144