MP 4 files sound better / louder ???

[wellington]

pretty sure it's the bit rate that is making the songs sound bad.

higher bit rate sounds a lot cleaner and louder on the highs

[Baydestrian]

After listening to ALAC/FLAC and even 256kbps+ songs for so long, when I listen to songs that are less than 256 I can really hear some slight muddiness

[Fish Chris]

I hear you guys..... and the thing that sucks, is that even if a file shows that it is a 320bps, it could have actually been a 128bps file, converted and saved as 320bps.... which of course sounds no better than a 128bps file in the first place....

Probably wouldn't ever happen from a larger, more reputable music company though.....

Fish

[Baydestrian]

Yupp. That is why when I DL music, since most of the time its illegal lol, I go with a reputable album rip that is either Itunes or true 320kbps

[Colin - STAPUFT]

Usually when you get an MP4 file it's from iTunes so it's bit rate will be 256kbps and usually mp3s will be 128kbps both usually will have a 44.1kHz sampling rate. CD's are not mp4 they're converted to mp4 by default in itunes though.

Personally I use mp3s with 320kbps bit rate 44.1kHz sampling rate and I adjust the gain of them in software so they don't clip and they all have the same sound level.

BTW both MP3 and MP4 are lossy formats if you really want to have the best sound out of a digital format use a lossless format such as WAV, AIFF, or FLAC.

Exactly.

I'm the same way. For the car, nothing less than 256kbps and preferably 320 or greater. I use either MP3 Gain or Audacity or some such program to make sure there is no clipping- especially with something that I plan on wearing out. But just like you said- if you want to put on your golden ears, you had better use a lossless format.