Country Style

 Hi SouthernGal

 I subscribe to Israbox Music where almost all albums are downloadable in FLAC. This said I convert all my FLAC downloads to mp3 @ 320 because they take up far less hard-drive space than FLAC and my old ears don't recognise the difference between FLAC & mp3. I note recent comments regarding a Guy Clark release where you identified that an apparently FLAC album was in fact mp3 @ 128. I listened to my copy of that Guy Clark album (which I thought was @ 320 but I guess is the same copy as yours and is actually @ 128) and I thought the sound quality was good.

 I never check the accuracy of albums I download on Country Style (or from anywhere else). Most sites state that downloadable albums are @ 320 or  FLAC which may or not be accurate. I take the view that if the sound is good I'm not bothered if an album is @ 128, 192, 256 or 320. I'm happy to have hard to find albums in my collection (irrespective of the bit rate) and am grateful to everyone who posts so much brilliant music on Country Style (that allows me to add to my collection on a daily basis). I must also say, in a complimentary way, that I struggle to keep up with all the albums you're posting. It's a good problem to have so thank you for sharing so much music from your amazing collection.

I've posted over 1000 albums on my 'Lesser Known Country Albums' thread. I've described almost all of them as @ 320. I know those I've personally ripped are genuine @ 320. Others which I've downloaded from various on-line sites over the past 15-20 years are, hopefully, mainly genuine @ 320 but I don't know if this is the case. I don't know how to check if a bit rate is accurate and at my age (80 in a few months time) I have no interest in finding out how to do so. I recognise other Country Style members take a different view on bit rates. Should you download any of the albums I've posted and discover that they are not genuine @ 320 I can only say that i haven't set out to deceive anyone. I've just accepted that the bit rates on all the albums I've accumulated over the years are accurate.

Edward 84

 

Hi RubberDuck, I use Monochrome.tf to get my music in flac. They don't always have all that i want but most of what I want. Don't know if you have heard of this site but it's free and easy to download from.

I mean this is the kindest way and I hope you won't interpret it as a negative comment.

I sincerely hope that you didn't mean what you said literally.

Converting mp3's to flac does NOT improve the quality of sound.  If you convert mp3's to anything higher than what you already have, you are inflating that file and wasting disc storage space. Like if you convert a 128 to 192, or a 192 to a 320 it's a total waste of time.  It's like taking a bad quality track and running it through a converter and expecting the quality to improve.  You can do it (meaning it's physically possible), but it does not improve the quality.

If you meant converting your original CD's to flac.......you go girl! Flac is a better quality than mp3 because it isn't as compressed, but you have to start with the original source.  You cannot go up in number and expect for it to improve the sound quality.

I hope you understand what I mean.  I'm trying to save you lots of unnecessary work and disc space. If I misunderstood, I apologize.  Hugz!

Well, aren't you the fussy one?

You're very welcome. And thank you for all your uploads.