bit rate - mp3's

[jtozzi]

I have all of my songs ripped at 128bps, on my ipod. All 3000+

I decided I want them at 160bps. Do I need to re rip them from the CD's or can I re rip the mp3's that are at 128bps?

Is there any loss in quality, or once it is at 128bps you can't gain back whats not there?

Any help on this would be appreciated!

Thanks
John

[godcha]

If you want another bitrate for the mp3s, especially a higher one, then there's only one correct way to do this and that is indeed ripping from your cds again, at the desired bitrate.

Converting/reripping from mp3s results in quality loss. I've never tried it myself, but that is what experienced people say and it also sounds quite logical since a 128kbit mp3 can never get a higher bitrate.

I also reripped my 128 CBR mp3s but happily I only ripped about 1?GB [not even the half of my cd collection]. I am now ripping my cds at VBR averaging around 192kbit [using EAC with LAME and preset APS] and am actually thinking of reripping again using MPEG-4 [AAC].