zmejce
23rd February 2012, 14:28
Hello,
Ive tested mp3 encoders last month and I like to share my results.
I havent done spectrum analisys, only ABX listening tests.
*for updates read at bottom of the post ex. UPDATE #1 etc.
Programs used for encoding:
1. dbpoweramp 14.2 (with fraunhofer 4.0.3-latest)
2. iTunes 10.5.2.11 (uses fraunhofer mp3)
3. Easy CD-DA 15 (uses some version of lame 3.98)
4. foobar 1.1.8 (with lame3.99-20111018)
5. Nero 11 (uses fraunhofer mp3 encoder)
*note: even if there are few fraunhofer encoders, they are not exactly the same, also I've tested only 2 tracks of hard/glam rock genre (band name: Extreme). Ive chose that music because it has nice rhythm, drums and guitars, has nice effects on vocals and also contains samples of acoustic guitars and harmonics-and i didnt chose those tracks because of their names neither because of the lyrics that they are containing.
The settings used:
CBR 320kbps Joint Stereo, on itunes 10 ive checked "filter frequencies below 10Hz" & "smart encoding adjustments".
Filesize results:
_________Extreme1_______Extreme2
Flac_______26.2MB________27.4MB
Lame3.99__8.68MB________9.34MB
CD-DA_____8.69MB________9.35MB
Nero11_____8.68MB________9.34MB
iTunes10___8.68MB________9.34MB
dbPower___8.67MB________9.33MB
*note: iTunes tends to add 1-2 seconds of silence at the beggining and/or end of the track
Winner: dbPoweramp with fraunhofer
Encoding speed results:
Speed results:
iTunes doesnt show its speed but irs probably fastest, almost same as itunes is fraunhofer from dbPoweramp which encodes at around 200x, while lame encodes at around 90x.
Winners: iTunes & dbPoweramp (both use fraunhofer)
*For those unfamiliar with ABX/blind testings:
Its comparing track A with Track B, lats say that Track A is flac and Track B is mp3. Then the listener should recognize which one from Track X or Track Y is Track A or Track B.
Basically the higher the score ex. 4/5 the more times the listener has recognized which one is flac and which one is the mp3. The lower the score=less difference between the mp3 and the flac. But it can also means guessing.
ABX Listening Results:
1. Easy CD-DA
Extreme1
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:10:28
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 01 Little Girls.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\cd-da\- 01 Little Girls.mp3
17:10:28 : Test started.
17:11:29 : 01/01 50.0%
17:12:12 : 02/02 25.0%
17:12:53 : 02/03 50.0%
17:13:26 : 02/04 68.8%
17:14:00 : 02/05 81.3%
17:14:05 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 2/5 (81.3%)
Extreme2
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:15:00
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 03 Kid Ego.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\cd-da\- 03 Kid Ego.mp3
17:15:00 : Test started.
17:16:37 : 01/01 50.0%
17:16:49 : 02/02 25.0%
17:17:00 : 02/03 50.0%
17:17:15 : 03/04 31.3%
17:17:34 : 03/05 50.0%
17:18:42 : 03/06 65.6%
17:18:46 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 3/6 (65.6%)
Description:
This is my first ever ABX test I think of it as a warm-up :), all i remember that the difference was noticable and probably it was similar as lame3.99.
2. lame3.99-20111018
Extreme1
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:26:48
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 01 Little Girls.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\lame3.99-20111018\- 01 Little Girls.mp3
17:26:48 : Test started.
17:27:16 : 01/01 50.0%
17:27:36 : 02/02 25.0%
17:27:54 : 03/03 12.5%
17:28:12 : 04/04 6.3%
17:28:31 : 04/05 18.8%
17:28:33 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 4/5 (18.8%)
Extreme2
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:29:28
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 03 Kid Ego.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\lame3.99-20111018\- 03 Kid Ego.mp3
17:29:28 : Test started.
17:29:51 : 01/01 50.0%
17:30:09 : 02/02 25.0%
17:30:23 : 03/03 12.5%
17:30:36 : 04/04 6.3%
17:30:49 : 05/05 3.1%
17:30:50 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 5/5 (3.1%)
Description:
The Difference was very notable, especially on the first acoustic part (its in the first 15-20 secs of the song) of Extreme1 track and also on the on the vocals that had effects on the Extreme2 track. Absolutely the worst choice for compressing music to mp3.
3. Nero 11 (fraunhofer):
Extreme1
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:19:26
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 01 Little Girls.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\nero\- 01 Little Girls.mp3
17:19:26 : Test started.
17:20:23 : 01/01 50.0%
17:20:57 : 01/02 75.0%
17:21:31 : 01/03 87.5%
17:22:57 : 02/04 68.8%
17:23:31 : 02/05 81.3%
17:23:33 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 2/5 (81.3%)
Extreme2
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:24:15
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 03 Kid Ego.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\nero\- 03 Kid Ego.mp3
17:24:15 : Test started.
17:24:37 : 01/01 50.0%
17:24:57 : 01/02 75.0%
17:25:18 : 02/03 50.0%
17:25:36 : 03/04 31.3%
17:25:56 : 04/05 18.8%
17:26:14 : 04/06 34.4%
17:26:17 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 4/6 (34.4%)
Description:
Nero 11's fraunhofer encoder is a better choice than the lame versions used for testing. The result was very little noticable difference between the Flac's and the mp3's encoded with Nero11 .
4. iTunes 10.5.2 (fraunhofer)
Extreme1
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:31:31
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 01 Little Girls.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\itunes\- 01 Little Girls.mp3
17:31:31 : Test started.
17:31:54 : 00/01 100.0%
17:32:13 : 01/02 75.0%
17:32:29 : 02/03 50.0%
17:32:47 : 02/04 68.8%
17:33:01 : 03/05 50.0%
17:33:03 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 3/5 (50.0%)
Extreme2
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:33:34
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 03 Kid Ego.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\itunes\- 03 Kid Ego.mp3
17:33:34 : Test started.
17:34:04 : 00/01 100.0%
17:34:16 : 01/02 75.0%
17:34:36 : 02/03 50.0%
17:34:49 : 03/04 31.3%
17:35:11 : 04/05 18.8%
17:35:14 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 4/5 (18.8%)
Description:
iTunes mp3 encoder is very nice choice for encoding music. Although its not absolutely best its sertanly better than lame. In the testings I was also able to hear minimal difference between the flac's and the mp3's encoded with iTunes.
5. dbPowerAmp (with fraunhofer)
Extreme1
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:35:45
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 01 Little Girls.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\dbpoweramp\- 01 Little Girls.mp3
17:35:45 : Test started.
17:36:12 : 00/01 100.0%
17:36:34 : 00/02 100.0%
17:36:56 : 00/03 100.0%
17:37:23 : 00/04 100.0%
17:37:44 : 00/05 100.0%
17:37:46 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 0/5 (100.0%)
Extreme2
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:38:19
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 03 Kid Ego.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\dbpoweramp\- 03 Kid Ego.mp3
17:38:19 : Test started.
17:38:36 : 00/01 100.0%
17:38:50 : 01/02 75.0%
17:39:04 : 01/03 87.5%
17:39:18 : 02/04 68.8%
17:39:35 : 03/05 50.0%
17:39:36 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 3/5 (50.0%)
Description:
dbPowerAmp's fraunhofer encoder is the absolute winner. I wasnt able to hear any difference between the flac's and the mp3's encoded with dbPowerAmp's fraunhofer encoder. Its definitely "ears bit perfect" encoder.
*note about ABX testings: on the first track (little girls) i was able to hear the difference from 4 of the encoders from the acoustic guitar in the beginning of the song-somewhere in the first 15-20 seconds. On the 2nd track (kid ego) i was able to hear the difference from 4 of the encoders at the beginning of the song when appeared vocals with effects. During the main part of the song and electric guitars, all encoders sounded identical or almost identical.
For the test ive used:
Core 2 Quad 2.5ghz, audigy platinum ex, audio system: panasonic sa-ak27 2x100W with superwoofer (its 8yrs old but it has quite good quality for home usage)
Ive used Foobar 1.1.8 with ABX component.
Conclusion:
dbPowerAmp with fraunhofer makes the mp3s smallest in size and best in quality-I couldnt hear any difference between its mp3s and the flacs-also its fastest or next to itunes, itunes is also excelent althou not "ears bit perfect" as dbPowerAmp, Nero is fine too, while lame is something that even at Highest quality settings provides lower quality than the other mp3 encoders.
UPDATE #1
Few days after performing these tests and writing the info, a musician friend came at my place and we were doing some ABX tests on the same tracks. His 2 tests were 4/5 (i didnt saved the logs!!). He claimed that he was able to hear a bit richer sound on the flac, while ive heard at few places that the vocals sound lower at some places from the mp3 encoded with fraunhofer 4.0.3 from dbPoweramp. So the new conclusion and rank of the mp3 encoders is that fraunhofer from dbpoweramp is 99% of the flac when used at highest settings, itunes is 96% of the flac, Nero 11 is 93% of the flac, while lame is 89% of the flac. lame 3.9x versions almost dont have any difference in their quiality.
Other important things
Except for the encoder, other important thing is the mp3 decoder and the player in general. Best mp3 players are Winamp, iTunes or Windows Media Player 11/12. Foobar2k is a nice choice too. For Mac OS X users, "Cog" or "Play" are excellent multi-format alternatives (they dont offer options as much as itunes and especially winamp). I dont have good experience with Linux music players, so any of the Linux users can recommend their favourite mp3 player and similar (drivers, setup, etc).
UPDATE #2 - 24bit
I did some ABX tests of 24bit recordings (the source is not a Vynil but DVD-Audio) vs 16 bit Audio CDs of same album. Artist name is Jeff Beck, and albums are "Blow by Blow" and "Wired". The Audio CDs were recorded in 1975 and 1976 and arent Remastered, while the 24bit DVD-A's are Remastered and were released after 2005. In the tests of DVD-A vs CD Audio it was very easy to hear the difference: on some tracks I could hear only the bass richer, but on most, the whole tracks sounded differently-in sense like they were recorded on 2005 equipment vs 1975 equipment, also theres a difference in the volume (I think that the Audio CDs were sounding louder). The interesting thing is that when Ive converted the 24bit 96Khz DVD-A to 16bit 44.1 KHz and did the ABX testing- I couldnt hear any difference.
*note: When I was converting the 24bit 96KHz (Stereo) DVD-A to 16bit 44.1 KHz flac I didnt used dihtering which is usually recommended on posts that prefer lame. For converting I've used same version of foobar as written above.
Update #3 - Did Fraunhofer mp3 encoder improved and by how much?
When Fraunhofer released mp3, their first encoders were supporting 256Kbps max birate. Later they had added 320Kbps, then Joint Stereo and similar features. Few days ago I had found a mp3's that have been encoded with the earliest versions of FhG that supported 320Kbps. The mp3's were encoded @ 320Kbps Stereo. When I was listening them, I had a feeling that I'm listening a 192Kbps mp3. Then I had opened spectrograms of those mp3's... they were really looking like a 192Kbps mp3's (if not even worse). So what the difference in spectrograms between 192 vs 224 vs 256 vs 320?
A 192 spectrogram (I mean about FhG 4.0.3 aka latest with Joint Stereo) cuts the frequencies at 16KHz, 224 (I call it 192+) is bit better-but its almost unnoticeable, 256 vs 192- lets say 10-15% better, 320 vs 192 - around 30% better and about 35% bigger filesize, 320 vs 256 - 10-15% better.
Update #4: Mp3 VS AAC
Today I took a spectrogram of 256 cbr AAC stereo file, that was probably encoded with some version of iTunes. The spectrogram compared with 256 cbr joint stereo FhG mp3, result: the AAC is at least 10% worse. It also could be that mp3 vs aac @ same birate, the mp3 will take less hdd space (depending on the encoders used).
Update #5: Spectrograms - FhG 320 vs Nero AAC
Ive encoded some tracks to FhG 320 and Nero AAC 320 & 400. By size, Nero AAC 320 takes a bit more space than FhG 320 (I think its about 500 kbytes). By the spectrograms, Nero AAC 400 looks almost identical to WAV, Nero AAC 320 looks alse pretty excellent. FhG 320 doesnt looks that much good. I havent done Listening tests to confirm if its surely better.
About birate settings
Recommended HQ is 320kbps Joint Stereo. 256kbps is recommended for some acoustic music ex. baroque music on lute, as 320 would be more than enough for such music. Also 192kbps is recommended for some baroque music ex. played on viola, nature sounds like ocean waves or rain sound, etc. Btw, 192kbps or 256kbps can be used as size/quality balanced settings.
Thanks for reading.
Last updated 07.09.2012
Ive tested mp3 encoders last month and I like to share my results.
I havent done spectrum analisys, only ABX listening tests.
*for updates read at bottom of the post ex. UPDATE #1 etc.
Programs used for encoding:
1. dbpoweramp 14.2 (with fraunhofer 4.0.3-latest)
2. iTunes 10.5.2.11 (uses fraunhofer mp3)
3. Easy CD-DA 15 (uses some version of lame 3.98)
4. foobar 1.1.8 (with lame3.99-20111018)
5. Nero 11 (uses fraunhofer mp3 encoder)
*note: even if there are few fraunhofer encoders, they are not exactly the same, also I've tested only 2 tracks of hard/glam rock genre (band name: Extreme). Ive chose that music because it has nice rhythm, drums and guitars, has nice effects on vocals and also contains samples of acoustic guitars and harmonics-and i didnt chose those tracks because of their names neither because of the lyrics that they are containing.
The settings used:
CBR 320kbps Joint Stereo, on itunes 10 ive checked "filter frequencies below 10Hz" & "smart encoding adjustments".
Filesize results:
_________Extreme1_______Extreme2
Flac_______26.2MB________27.4MB
Lame3.99__8.68MB________9.34MB
CD-DA_____8.69MB________9.35MB
Nero11_____8.68MB________9.34MB
iTunes10___8.68MB________9.34MB
dbPower___8.67MB________9.33MB
*note: iTunes tends to add 1-2 seconds of silence at the beggining and/or end of the track
Winner: dbPoweramp with fraunhofer
Encoding speed results:
Speed results:
iTunes doesnt show its speed but irs probably fastest, almost same as itunes is fraunhofer from dbPoweramp which encodes at around 200x, while lame encodes at around 90x.
Winners: iTunes & dbPoweramp (both use fraunhofer)
*For those unfamiliar with ABX/blind testings:
Its comparing track A with Track B, lats say that Track A is flac and Track B is mp3. Then the listener should recognize which one from Track X or Track Y is Track A or Track B.
Basically the higher the score ex. 4/5 the more times the listener has recognized which one is flac and which one is the mp3. The lower the score=less difference between the mp3 and the flac. But it can also means guessing.
ABX Listening Results:
1. Easy CD-DA
Extreme1
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:10:28
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 01 Little Girls.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\cd-da\- 01 Little Girls.mp3
17:10:28 : Test started.
17:11:29 : 01/01 50.0%
17:12:12 : 02/02 25.0%
17:12:53 : 02/03 50.0%
17:13:26 : 02/04 68.8%
17:14:00 : 02/05 81.3%
17:14:05 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 2/5 (81.3%)
Extreme2
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:15:00
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 03 Kid Ego.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\cd-da\- 03 Kid Ego.mp3
17:15:00 : Test started.
17:16:37 : 01/01 50.0%
17:16:49 : 02/02 25.0%
17:17:00 : 02/03 50.0%
17:17:15 : 03/04 31.3%
17:17:34 : 03/05 50.0%
17:18:42 : 03/06 65.6%
17:18:46 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 3/6 (65.6%)
Description:
This is my first ever ABX test I think of it as a warm-up :), all i remember that the difference was noticable and probably it was similar as lame3.99.
2. lame3.99-20111018
Extreme1
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:26:48
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 01 Little Girls.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\lame3.99-20111018\- 01 Little Girls.mp3
17:26:48 : Test started.
17:27:16 : 01/01 50.0%
17:27:36 : 02/02 25.0%
17:27:54 : 03/03 12.5%
17:28:12 : 04/04 6.3%
17:28:31 : 04/05 18.8%
17:28:33 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 4/5 (18.8%)
Extreme2
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:29:28
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 03 Kid Ego.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\lame3.99-20111018\- 03 Kid Ego.mp3
17:29:28 : Test started.
17:29:51 : 01/01 50.0%
17:30:09 : 02/02 25.0%
17:30:23 : 03/03 12.5%
17:30:36 : 04/04 6.3%
17:30:49 : 05/05 3.1%
17:30:50 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 5/5 (3.1%)
Description:
The Difference was very notable, especially on the first acoustic part (its in the first 15-20 secs of the song) of Extreme1 track and also on the on the vocals that had effects on the Extreme2 track. Absolutely the worst choice for compressing music to mp3.
3. Nero 11 (fraunhofer):
Extreme1
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:19:26
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 01 Little Girls.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\nero\- 01 Little Girls.mp3
17:19:26 : Test started.
17:20:23 : 01/01 50.0%
17:20:57 : 01/02 75.0%
17:21:31 : 01/03 87.5%
17:22:57 : 02/04 68.8%
17:23:31 : 02/05 81.3%
17:23:33 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 2/5 (81.3%)
Extreme2
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:24:15
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 03 Kid Ego.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\nero\- 03 Kid Ego.mp3
17:24:15 : Test started.
17:24:37 : 01/01 50.0%
17:24:57 : 01/02 75.0%
17:25:18 : 02/03 50.0%
17:25:36 : 03/04 31.3%
17:25:56 : 04/05 18.8%
17:26:14 : 04/06 34.4%
17:26:17 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 4/6 (34.4%)
Description:
Nero 11's fraunhofer encoder is a better choice than the lame versions used for testing. The result was very little noticable difference between the Flac's and the mp3's encoded with Nero11 .
4. iTunes 10.5.2 (fraunhofer)
Extreme1
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:31:31
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 01 Little Girls.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\itunes\- 01 Little Girls.mp3
17:31:31 : Test started.
17:31:54 : 00/01 100.0%
17:32:13 : 01/02 75.0%
17:32:29 : 02/03 50.0%
17:32:47 : 02/04 68.8%
17:33:01 : 03/05 50.0%
17:33:03 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 3/5 (50.0%)
Extreme2
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:33:34
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 03 Kid Ego.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\itunes\- 03 Kid Ego.mp3
17:33:34 : Test started.
17:34:04 : 00/01 100.0%
17:34:16 : 01/02 75.0%
17:34:36 : 02/03 50.0%
17:34:49 : 03/04 31.3%
17:35:11 : 04/05 18.8%
17:35:14 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 4/5 (18.8%)
Description:
iTunes mp3 encoder is very nice choice for encoding music. Although its not absolutely best its sertanly better than lame. In the testings I was also able to hear minimal difference between the flac's and the mp3's encoded with iTunes.
5. dbPowerAmp (with fraunhofer)
Extreme1
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:35:45
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 01 Little Girls.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\dbpoweramp\- 01 Little Girls.mp3
17:35:45 : Test started.
17:36:12 : 00/01 100.0%
17:36:34 : 00/02 100.0%
17:36:56 : 00/03 100.0%
17:37:23 : 00/04 100.0%
17:37:44 : 00/05 100.0%
17:37:46 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 0/5 (100.0%)
Extreme2
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/01/11 17:38:19
File A: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\- 03 Kid Ego.flac
File B: D:\Hard rock\Extreme\1989 - Extreme\dbpoweramp\- 03 Kid Ego.mp3
17:38:19 : Test started.
17:38:36 : 00/01 100.0%
17:38:50 : 01/02 75.0%
17:39:04 : 01/03 87.5%
17:39:18 : 02/04 68.8%
17:39:35 : 03/05 50.0%
17:39:36 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 3/5 (50.0%)
Description:
dbPowerAmp's fraunhofer encoder is the absolute winner. I wasnt able to hear any difference between the flac's and the mp3's encoded with dbPowerAmp's fraunhofer encoder. Its definitely "ears bit perfect" encoder.
*note about ABX testings: on the first track (little girls) i was able to hear the difference from 4 of the encoders from the acoustic guitar in the beginning of the song-somewhere in the first 15-20 seconds. On the 2nd track (kid ego) i was able to hear the difference from 4 of the encoders at the beginning of the song when appeared vocals with effects. During the main part of the song and electric guitars, all encoders sounded identical or almost identical.
For the test ive used:
Core 2 Quad 2.5ghz, audigy platinum ex, audio system: panasonic sa-ak27 2x100W with superwoofer (its 8yrs old but it has quite good quality for home usage)
Ive used Foobar 1.1.8 with ABX component.
Conclusion:
dbPowerAmp with fraunhofer makes the mp3s smallest in size and best in quality-I couldnt hear any difference between its mp3s and the flacs-also its fastest or next to itunes, itunes is also excelent althou not "ears bit perfect" as dbPowerAmp, Nero is fine too, while lame is something that even at Highest quality settings provides lower quality than the other mp3 encoders.
UPDATE #1
Few days after performing these tests and writing the info, a musician friend came at my place and we were doing some ABX tests on the same tracks. His 2 tests were 4/5 (i didnt saved the logs!!). He claimed that he was able to hear a bit richer sound on the flac, while ive heard at few places that the vocals sound lower at some places from the mp3 encoded with fraunhofer 4.0.3 from dbPoweramp. So the new conclusion and rank of the mp3 encoders is that fraunhofer from dbpoweramp is 99% of the flac when used at highest settings, itunes is 96% of the flac, Nero 11 is 93% of the flac, while lame is 89% of the flac. lame 3.9x versions almost dont have any difference in their quiality.
Other important things
Except for the encoder, other important thing is the mp3 decoder and the player in general. Best mp3 players are Winamp, iTunes or Windows Media Player 11/12. Foobar2k is a nice choice too. For Mac OS X users, "Cog" or "Play" are excellent multi-format alternatives (they dont offer options as much as itunes and especially winamp). I dont have good experience with Linux music players, so any of the Linux users can recommend their favourite mp3 player and similar (drivers, setup, etc).
UPDATE #2 - 24bit
I did some ABX tests of 24bit recordings (the source is not a Vynil but DVD-Audio) vs 16 bit Audio CDs of same album. Artist name is Jeff Beck, and albums are "Blow by Blow" and "Wired". The Audio CDs were recorded in 1975 and 1976 and arent Remastered, while the 24bit DVD-A's are Remastered and were released after 2005. In the tests of DVD-A vs CD Audio it was very easy to hear the difference: on some tracks I could hear only the bass richer, but on most, the whole tracks sounded differently-in sense like they were recorded on 2005 equipment vs 1975 equipment, also theres a difference in the volume (I think that the Audio CDs were sounding louder). The interesting thing is that when Ive converted the 24bit 96Khz DVD-A to 16bit 44.1 KHz and did the ABX testing- I couldnt hear any difference.
*note: When I was converting the 24bit 96KHz (Stereo) DVD-A to 16bit 44.1 KHz flac I didnt used dihtering which is usually recommended on posts that prefer lame. For converting I've used same version of foobar as written above.
Update #3 - Did Fraunhofer mp3 encoder improved and by how much?
When Fraunhofer released mp3, their first encoders were supporting 256Kbps max birate. Later they had added 320Kbps, then Joint Stereo and similar features. Few days ago I had found a mp3's that have been encoded with the earliest versions of FhG that supported 320Kbps. The mp3's were encoded @ 320Kbps Stereo. When I was listening them, I had a feeling that I'm listening a 192Kbps mp3. Then I had opened spectrograms of those mp3's... they were really looking like a 192Kbps mp3's (if not even worse). So what the difference in spectrograms between 192 vs 224 vs 256 vs 320?
A 192 spectrogram (I mean about FhG 4.0.3 aka latest with Joint Stereo) cuts the frequencies at 16KHz, 224 (I call it 192+) is bit better-but its almost unnoticeable, 256 vs 192- lets say 10-15% better, 320 vs 192 - around 30% better and about 35% bigger filesize, 320 vs 256 - 10-15% better.
Update #4: Mp3 VS AAC
Today I took a spectrogram of 256 cbr AAC stereo file, that was probably encoded with some version of iTunes. The spectrogram compared with 256 cbr joint stereo FhG mp3, result: the AAC is at least 10% worse. It also could be that mp3 vs aac @ same birate, the mp3 will take less hdd space (depending on the encoders used).
Update #5: Spectrograms - FhG 320 vs Nero AAC
Ive encoded some tracks to FhG 320 and Nero AAC 320 & 400. By size, Nero AAC 320 takes a bit more space than FhG 320 (I think its about 500 kbytes). By the spectrograms, Nero AAC 400 looks almost identical to WAV, Nero AAC 320 looks alse pretty excellent. FhG 320 doesnt looks that much good. I havent done Listening tests to confirm if its surely better.
About birate settings
Recommended HQ is 320kbps Joint Stereo. 256kbps is recommended for some acoustic music ex. baroque music on lute, as 320 would be more than enough for such music. Also 192kbps is recommended for some baroque music ex. played on viola, nature sounds like ocean waves or rain sound, etc. Btw, 192kbps or 256kbps can be used as size/quality balanced settings.
Thanks for reading.
Last updated 07.09.2012