Originally Posted by s_k

iTunes' bitrates? What's that about?

Originally Posted by nbakid2000

I'm not sure of your question...

But iTunes uses AAC which is (and I have no experience with this) supposed to be superior to MP3...ie, it will sound better at lower bitrates than MP3s will at the same bitrate.

Originally Posted by s_k

Ah, I didn't know iTunes used AAC .
I've always thought OGG sounded pretty good compared to MP3.

Originally Posted by tore

Question : Is one format better than others?

I've read several tests and will try to summarize the results I've come across. These tests typically pitch different formats against eachother in blind tests, testing the same recordings in the same bitrates, different bitrates and so on. It seems the differences are most noticeable at low bitrates and in general, a music library should not go lower than 128 kbps in quality for any format. Because 128 kbps is quite popular, I've summed here the results from a test testing OGG, WMA and MP3 at that particular bitrate.

1. OGG & WMA - 95 %
2. MP3 - 80 %

>> source : CD BURNER.CA - Comparison of Digital Audio Formats - MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV & more!

The percentages say how well they approach CD quality for the track they tested. As you can see, both WMA and OGG do better than MP3 at 128 kbps, but at higher bitrates, this can change and differences are often regarded as too miniscule to really notice. Note also that MP3 encoding may have improved since then, making it unsure if this description is accurate today.