Any opinions on MPEG Layer2 Vs AC-3 audio compression?

[TrevorS]

I'm trying to determine how different they really are and I see MPEG Layer 2 supports a joint stereo mode (bit sharing) which is advantageous at it's 224Kbps data rate.

However, I was under the impression that AC-3 (Dolby Digital) also shares bits when encoding stereo information. If this is true, then it should be the better choice given its 256Kbps data rate. (Data rate specs from my authoring program.)

Does anyone know if AC-3 actually does function the way I'm thinking?

[TrevorS]

I'm trying to determine how different they really are and I see MPEG Layer 2 supports a joint stereo mode (bit sharing) which is advantageous at it's 224Kbps data rate.

However, I was under the impression that AC-3 (Dolby Digital) also shares bits when encoding stereo information. If this is true, then it should be the better choice given its 256Kbps data rate. (Data rate specs from my authoring program.)

Does anyone know if AC-3 actually does function the way I'm thinking?

I see there are no takers yet. My next question is whether there are any freeware programs for conversion of LPMC stereo to AC3 2.0 stereo? Given it would be a limited capability conversion, I can always hope :)!

[Mug Funky]

use search... there's an active thread on the same page as this one about a free GPL'd ac3 encoder called "aften".

at it's current state it's already on par with commercial ac3 encoders (DRC and channel coupling for multichannel are the only exceptions).

as far as ac3 v mp2... ac3 has an edge over mp2, feature-wise, but they're both transparent at a similar bitrate.

[TrevorS]

use search... there's an active thread on the same page as this one about a free GPL'd ac3 encoder called "aften".

at it's current state it's already on par with commercial ac3 encoders (DRC and channel coupling for multichannel are the only exceptions).

as far as ac3 v mp2... ac3 has an edge over mp2, feature-wise, but they're both transparent at a similar bitrate.

Thanks for the suggestion! Did a little searching and see it's currently specific to Linix. That's what I get for not following through on plans to fool around with a Linix distro a couple or three years ago :(.

From what you say, looks like my current best bet is 384 kbps Layer2.

Thanks again -- Trevor

[setarip_old]

Hi!Did a little searching and see it's currently specific to LinixI believe you're (very much) incorrect. Read the following thread carefully:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=847746#post847746