AAC CT or ND? HE or LC?

[Zeest]

I've read on the forums before about HE AAC 5.1 not being as good as LC AAC 5.1. I was just wondering if its still the same or are there any improvements?

I'm looking to convert a movie's AC3 5.1 Audio Track to 5.1 AAC at 192 kbps using Sharktooth's audio profiles

Also I wanted to know which of the two Nero or CT should I use for AAC encoding?

Also is it possible to have 1 AC3 track and another AAC track in an MKV container with x264 audio? If so should I first do the audio encoding and then in the muxing stage of AutoEncode just add the encoded AAC audio and original AC3 file? OR can I add the Audio 2 and select the encoding profile in the Input tab itself then add the AC3 in the AutoEncode container window as audio 1 later?

[check]

o HE AAC uses an additional technique on top of the techniques LC uses to increase compression at the expense of quality. If you are encoding to lower bitrates (under ~75kbits, give or take 32 for stereo), it usually makes sense to use HE. Above that, go with LC.
o Your choice - if you can't hear a difference flip a coin. If you think this is a cop out answer, the reason is because I don't think any comparison testing has been done between these two encoders, any 'facts' people will have will be mostly person experience/ hearsay. Personally, I use Nero, because I can't hear a difference and it gives me greater granularity over the controls.
o yes, you can have any combination of supported streams in mkv files. I'm not sure how MeGUI handles this particular case (encoding one stream, leaving the second), I'd recommend you just do autoencode with one stream, and then encode & mux the second seperately.

[Zeest]

Thanks loads, that clears a lot out :). I should have read through the audio page on the meGUI Wiki http://mewiki.project357.com/wiki/Computer_movie_files/Audio

That was really helpful too. Sorry for the trouble...

[shon3i]

I prefer CT because have real good 5.1 encoding, there is some differents in rear channels and LFE, comparing to nero's, but that is my opinion from my ears.

HE-AAC is good for mid-low bitrates from 96 to 200kbps, for >200kbps use LC-AAC. And don't go under 96 because is so terrible

[Sharktooth]

I prefer CT for music and for 5.1 movie audio and Nero for stereo and low bitrate movie audio.

[nickolasemp]

I prefer CT for music and 5.1 as well...

And I would go with Shon3i on the HE-AAC is good for mid-low bitrates from 96 to 200kbps, for >200kbps use LC-AAC. And don't go under 96 because is so terrible part... But it's up to...your ears.