Music Quality

[boilermaker]

I was wondering how the best way to go about converting my music to a higher bit rate and improve the sound quality on iTunes. Currently I have about 1500 songs in the MP3 format at 128 kbps and am going to try to attempt to get them all at a rate of 192 kbps or higher if I feel the urge to. So, should I just get all of the original CDs and rip them again at a higher rate or is there a program that will automatically convert what I already have to a higher quality? I'm pretty sure I'll have to start all over again because I don't see how you can improve the quality of something when there's not much to work with. Any help or insight is definitely appreciated.

[Alaron]

You are correct, you cannot up-convert the files for better quality. Your only option is to re-rip them at a higher bitrate.

[pam123]

I sympathize.
You're stuck with 128 if you bought the songs (If you play them on the computer Creative Labs says their X-Fi can make a marked difference. I'll have to check that out.) but otherwise you'll have to re-rip.
I usually ripped at 160 then I upped it to 192 but I have a large number at 128 (Note to self : Remember to check settings after you've been fiddled with them.) that I'll have to delete and re-rip.
I've been putting it off but it's the only way ( I'll use 'lossless' for some of them as well. Bach is awful at 128. ).

[Kareeser]

A good rule of thumb (and this goes for graphic editing as well) is "Garbage in, Garbage out."