I doubt I'd be able to tell the difference between an MP3 encoded at 320kbps CBR and a FLAC of the same song. As I mentioned above, when I did an ABX test I wasn't able to consistenly tell the difference between a LAME encoded VBR MP3 at V0 and FLAC.Felionso wrote:I really can't tell the difference between 320 and FLAC, 320 MP3 is smaller in filesize though, and more widely supported on portable players, so it's generally the format I prefer.
My main reason for ripping to FLAC isn't for portable use. It's to have a lossless source files that I can convert into whichever format I choose without the need to re-rip the original CD. It also saves me from having to retag the files since the metadata carries over during the conversion.
Hardware support is one of the main reasons I previously chose to rip everything to MP3: it was only format supported by every player I have. Now I can do conversion (either in advance or on-the-fly) to the format supported by my player and at the needed quality level.