Quote:
Originally Posted by benwaggoner
HE AAC is so last decade. xHE-AAC is the current hotness, which does way better than HE-AAC at low bitrates.
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A main thumb rule says xHE-AAC requires 8 kbps less for the same quality (as formal MPEG test has indicated it). 8 kbps is a deal up to 32 kbps. It isn't so at let say 64 kbps where xHE-AAC sounds just as polished HE-AAC.
xHE-AAC isn't actually hotness of the moment. Not anymore. 3DA is.
Maybe xHE-AAC has traction between broadcast companies but it has zero presence in an internet community where Opus (Youtube, Whatsapp, a pile of VoIP apps, etc...) is implemented each day more and more.
A tuned implementation of xHE-AAC (which nobody has seen yet in a wild) could be better than Opus at 32 kbps and lower.
Anyway we won't see xHE-AAC in Netflix, Spotify, etc.. Nor MPEG surround (standard since 2007) nor 3DA (standard since 2015). Too expensive and too little advantage over Opus and AAC for popular bitrates as 48/64/96/128/160 kbps.