to me anythign over 192kb/s mp3 is over kill.

I use very high quality 192kb/s CBR mp3 files, encoded with lame. I prefer to encode my own files so that usually means buying CDs and ripping them myself. Very few places you can buy WAV files online, but if they have them I would buy them, but prefer CD for ripping.

.wav

post your site.

.wav

I would give the option of 192k and 320k CBR MP3s. Both are above the 128k minimum and can be converted to wav and back without noticable loss (for editing). You can charge a little more for 320k files (some other site does it... traxsource.com maybe?) I think it's a good idea to give people the choice. No one will download WAV files. Optimal quality, but it's not practical for downloading.

agreed, offer options. some don't have fast internet access, some do.

I'd offer all of them to be honest.

I'd say that a lot of people have high speed connections now so they may as well have the option of downloading the .wav. this can then be edited to their hearts content.

mp3's 192k CBR great for size and sound, i never heard much difference higher then 192, sometimes when mixing CBR and VBR some software can drift, not sure if that happens in SSL but in 2 other mixing apps i use it is an issue, So i just keep it constant.

To me, a 320k CBR MP3 is just as good as a WAV. I know the MP3 is compressed, but seriously... if someone uncompressed a 320k MP3 and converted it to a WAV, would you really notice?

Not to mention the overhead... can you imagine how much more disk space and bandwidth you'd need to allocate to host a rack of WAV files vs. high quality MP3s? It's not cost effective.

320K whenever possible. I usually end up converting my WAV's to 320K to save hardrive space. I try to stay away from 128k.

I used to use wavs but because it's raw audio it takes up too much damn room, so I have been converting all my files to mp3 minimum 192kbps just because it's cleaner them 128 and it's a hell of a lot smaller then wav

192 mp3

when I first started to DJ with mp3's it was 128 cbr,
switched to WAVE
now converting my WAVE into 256 mp3 cbr

The best advice though is to encode from original CD's.

I was wondering why not use a VBR? Ive been ripping my cds with 192 CBR, but if it would have a base of 192 and only get higher when needed i would like that.
are there any cons to CBR?

Just out of interest, i use Windows Media Player to rip my CDs into MP£ format, are they VBR or CBR?

@spirez: I don't think Windows Media Player supports VBR.

@gars: There are others here with more knowledge on this subject than me, but the way I understand it is having a VBR (not ABR) with a minimum of 192, you should get an overall higher quality file. The problem is (from what I've heard and learned along the way) is VBR files require a little more processing power and some MP3 players are not compatible with VBR files. I can play almost any file in Media Player, but for some reason when I encode my vinyl rips in WaveLab *some* of the VBR files could not be played in Media Player. Since then, I've encoded my vinyl rips to 320 CBR and I get rid of the WAV files once I verify they all *work* and are backed up. CD rips are usually done at 192k.

Some people notice a difference in higher quality files, but I read (a long time ago) that 128k is the bitrate for CDs. If this is true, what would a higher bitrate gain you? I've played some 128 files that sound great (even in the club). I do 192k for CD rips, because that's just what I do.

128k MP3 is supposed to be equivalent to CD quality audio. Some would disagree. I personally think 192k is minimum, and I use 320k mostly. I don't think I could tell the difference between 192k 320k and WAV.

MP3 (technically MPEG 1 layer 3) is lossy compression. Encoders use mathematics to remove the portions of the audio that humans cannot hear. The goal of removing these frequencies is to save hard disk space.

MP3 is also very old encoding technology. So, newer encoding techniques (AAC, WMA, OGG) can store more sound information in less space. In other words, a 128k AAC file can hold more audio information (sounds better) than a 128k MP3 file.

I would suggest reading this:
en.wikipedia.org

VBR refers to the method of changing the bit rate based on the content of the recording. So, a 128k VBR MP3 will have a smaller file size and (hopefully) the same audio quality than a regular 128k MP3 file.
For example, say the break of a song contains less complex audio than the chorus. A VBR encoder will encode the break at a lower bitrate.

WAV as a mailout feature.

320k CBR MP3 as the download....