Thanks. Yes, MM can decode MP3 Prs using the Thomson decoder. My thought was also that transcoding MP3 Pro tracks to MP3 128 kbps may not be any worse, and possible slightly better, that playing the MP3 Pro tracks on an MP3 player without an MP3 Pro decoder. In that case they would be playing as MP3 64kbps. I'll have to give it a try and, as you wisely suggested, keep a backup (always!).

I totally agree with that transcoding should be avoided whenever possible.

However in this case transcoding mp3pro to mp3 does make sense, because the quality degradation will probably be much harder to notice compared to lower quality playback of mp3pro files on a player which only plays mp3.

So, I'd say go ahead and convert mp3pro to mp3. And keep the backup of mp3pro files, just in case.
Also perhaps it may be a good idea to tag such transcoded mp3s with a comment, something like "warning, converted from mp3pro".


I don't know if MM itself can decode mp3pro, cannot help with this part.

Yes, transcoding from a lossy format always gives quality loss and that is always without exceptions!

Thanks gege. I was thinking that, if I user an MP3 Pro decocer, I could at least recode to MP3 128kbps. This way a player without an MP3 Pro decoder could play the tracks at 128kbps instead of 64kbps. Or would there be even more degradation converting from MP3 Pro to MP3 even using the Thomson decoder?

[quote="rcmit"]I have quite a few tracks that are MP3 Pro. Given the low cost of storage I am currently saving tracks at a much higher quality.

If I am unable to rescan from the original CD's is there any option for saving the MP3 Pro tracks at a higher quality? Would creating an audio CD and rescanning be of any benefit?

Thanks,
Robert[/quote]

When you transcode from a lossy format (as MP3 or MP3Pro or WMA, etc) to another format, you can never get the lost quality back!

You CAN reencode your MP3Pro tracks as 320kbs MP3 or even FLAC (which is lossless), but this doesn't mean you'll get better sound quality.
You better leave those MP3Pro alone or get the original Audio CD...

I have quite a few tracks that are MP3 Pro. Given the low cost of storage I am currently saving tracks at a much higher quality.

If I am unable to rescan from the original CD's is there any option for saving the MP3 Pro tracks at a higher quality? Would creating an audio CD and rescanning be of any benefit?

Thanks,
Robert