Audio formats

[DanTheManPR]

DELETED!!!!

I screwed up on the conversion, let me re-do the test before you guys read this

OK, Im done, scroll down to see the results!

[Ojnod]

I am a big fan of OGG files and variable bit-rate MP3's. I cannot stand constant bitrate now that I have heard variable.

[Logan]

Donjo, forgive my ignorance, but what makes VBR better? I've only heard CBR, I think....any size differences, quality differences? thanks

[DanTheManPR]

OK! I re-did the tests, this time I included the musepack format as well as aac. I did not test it on my friend's nice speaker setup this time - I did it strictly on headphones (good headphones!), so if you have a good speaker system, I would recommend doing you're own test. For testing, I would load two versions of the wav file into a playlist, and two versions of the format I was testing, then I would turn on shuffle, close my eyes, listen and try to figure out which was the original, and which was the lossy format. Here it goes:

mp3: I tested at 128kb and 192kb. From experience, I know that 128k is the cut-off point before mp3s sound like crap. Above that, the sound quality improves a very small amount until about 192kb. The difference in quality is so small, that in the future when making mp3 CD's, I'll be down-grading the bitrate to 128kb ABR. For on the 'ol HD, or for backups, 192kb is a good sweet spot. (I encoded using the latest version of LAME, which I am hearing is inferior to previous versions. I'll have to find an older version and test if that's true).

Ogg Vorbis: I tested at 64kb and 128kb. The sound quality excellent at 64kb (there was, however, a barely indiscernible warble at times). At 128kb, I could not tell the ogg file from the wav file. Definitely an mp3 killer - especially for portable players.

WMV: Similar, but slightly inferior to mp3. It sounds particularly bad at lower bitrates.

Musepack (the extension is .mpc, BTW): whoa. I've never listened to this format before, but DAMN they sound fine. Sounds crappy at 64kb bitrate, but at 160kb, it is completely indiscernible from wav files. Definitely the best-sounding of all the formats I tried. I looked up a bit about the format, and it's based on mpeg layer 2 (mp2), and has been around for awhile. I have a feeling that this format will die, considering the fervor around ogg files.

AAC (the mac format): Not too good. It is comparable to WMV in quality.

Atrac: I didn't test it, I just know from experience that it sucks. Stay away from this crappy joke of a format :)



And the winner is.....


Its hard to say. If you want the best quality, then musepack delivers. However, at low bitrates, nothing can compete with ogg. Mp3 is not too shabby, either.

This leaves me rather surprised - some format I've never heard of just comes out of left field and gives me the best sound. Its not the ideal format for everything - ogg is still a lot better at low bitrates. I hope the future is mpc on HD and ogg on portable players, but I know that only one can dominate.


If I was forced to declare one format the winner, it would be ogg. Although not as good as mpc at higher bitrates, it smashes everything at lower bitrates, and will likely become the ubiquitous format in the future.

[DanTheManPR]

Donjo, forgive my ignorance, but what makes VBR better? I've only heard CBR, I think....any size differences, quality differences? thanks

VBR = variable bitrate.
CBR = constant bitrate.
ABR = average bitrate (pretty much the same as VBR)

In CBR, the file is using the same amount of information to record one second of silence and low-activity parts of the song as it is using on one second of a high-activity part of the song.

In VBR, the file is using less information for those non-active moments, and more information for more-active moments. It is therefore more efficient.

What this means for you is either 1)A better sounding VBR song that is the same size as a CBR song, or 2) A smaller VBR song that sounds just as good as a CBR song.

To put it simply, there is no point in NOT encoding in VBR, as it is better in every conceivable way. The only possible downside - some (few) portable players don't like VBR, and it screws up the seeking sometimes if its an EXTREMELY VBR song (you shouldn't overdo it with the VBR).

[Ojnod]

Dan hit the nail on the head. I read the 2nd to last sentence and was about to post. Then I read the final sentence and thought "damn he got that too".

[Tom Servo]

Cool findings Dan, what is a good program for converting files? And is there a codec I need for WMP for .ogg files? WMP runs them but it gives me an error message saying it can't read it (even though it can) and it's kind of annoying.

[Ojnod]

I think Nero can do it, assuming you have the full thing, not just Nero express. That is what I use atleast.

[DanTheManPR]

I use dBpoweramp (http://www.dbpoweramp.com/). Its nice, because it lets you convert a song from the right-click menu from within explorer. You have to get some codecs (http://www.dbpoweramp.com/) if you want to convert things to ogg, wmv, etc.\

A word of advice: don't convert a lossy format to another lossy format (e.g., mp3 to ogg). You always loose quality.

And is there a codec I need for WMP for .ogg files? WMP runs them but it gives me an error message saying it can't read it (even though it can) and it's kind of annoying.
Linkage (http://tobias.everwicked.com/oggds.htm). Just install the top one.

[Rafal Dudek]

for mp3 encoding, I use Lame 3.96 codec with an Exact Audio Copy program =P