Nero AAC vs Qaac

[meshaun]

I found these two encoders to encode AAC audio. What's better? Well, from the look, qaac has been updated and Nero Hasn't. But, it doesn't say that Nero isn't faulty either. What are your ideas on this regard?

[sneaker_ger]

See :
There is a new public test.

http://listening-tests.hydrogenaudio.org/igorc/aac-96-a/results.html
Summary: Apple won, FhG is the second, Coding Technologies is the third and Nero is the last

[Bucky Wheat]

Invalid results:


•If the listener ranked the reference worse than 4.5 on a sample, the listener's results for that sample were discarded.
•If the listener ranked the low anchor at 5.0 on a sample, the listener's results for that sample were discarded.
•If the listener ranked the reference below 5.0 on 3 or more samples, all of that listener's results were discarded.

[tebasuna51]

And remember than results are for stereo low bitrate (low quality) encode.
For high bitrate (>=128 Kb/s) all of them are similar.

For low bitrate you can also use Opus (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1591009#post1591009).

[sneaker_ger]

For low bitrate you can also use Opus (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1591009#post1591009).

But not in any common video container format like mkv or mp4 yet.

[chainring]

Unless I'm mistaken, qaac isn't actually an encoder, per se. It hooks in with Apple's Coreaudio through an installation of Quicktime. So, while qaac does get regular updates, the quality is totally dependent on Apple and their updates. With that in mind, just look at the listening tests and Apple's rankings. Since the introduction of qtaac (qaac's parent, if you will) I've never laid eyes on Nero.

[Brazil2]

And remember than results are for stereo low bitrate (low quality) encode.
For high bitrate (>=128 Kb/s) all of them are similar.
Agreed, and then Nero is still competitive considering it's a standalone EXE with a quite small size.

[sneaker_ger]

Though Apple's encoder is now also easy to use, just download the QuickTimeInstaller and run a portable script to extract all the necessary .dll files and put them in the same folder as qaac.exe. Done. Granted, not a single file and needs some 27 MB, but you don't have to actually install the Apple software.

[ozok]

Though Apple's encoder is now also easy to use, just download the QuickTimeInstaller and run a portable script to extract all the necessary .dll files and put them in the same folder as qaac.exe. Done. Granted, not a single file and needs some 27 MB, but you don't have to actually install the Apple software.

I suppose i cannot distribute that dll file with QAAC.exe?

[LoRd_MuldeR]

I suppose i cannot distribute that dll file with QAAC.exe?

Nope, you cant, because it's proprietary software. Unless you have a written agreement from Apple you are not allowed to redistribute their DLL's.

And we all know that Apple has an army of lawyers, waiting to sue everybody who (in their opinion) violates their rights ;)

But all you need for QAAC is the "AppleApplicationSupport.msi" which you can extract from the iTunes or QuickTimer installer easily (e.g. with 7-Zip).

[sneaker_ger]

And even the "AppleApplicationSupport.msi" can in turn be extracted. There's a portable script on the qaac download site (not including 7z binary) or use this package (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?1ysj4ph04vt3b8g) which does include the 7z binaries. (Instructions in the readme.txt)

[ozok]

I already have CoreAudioToolbox.dll myself, I was wondering what would happen if i distributed it. Thanks for clarification Lord_Mulder.

[sneaker_ger]

You don't seem to mind the license issues regarding Fraunhofer AAC, though? Maybe you could make TAudioConverter download the files from Apple/(winamp for fhgaac) on user request? (qaac needs more than just the CoreAudioToolbox.dll, btw.)

[ozok]

You don't seem to mind the license issues regarding Fraunhofer AAC, though? Maybe you could make TAudioConverter download the files from Apple/(winamp for fhgaac) on user request? (qaac needs more than just the CoreAudioToolbox.dll, btw.)

Do you mean enc_fhgaac.dll?

[sneaker_ger]

Yes, or does its license allow distribution?

[ozok]

Actually I downloaded fhgaacenc.exe and enc_fhgaac.dll came with it. I'll remove enc_fhgaac.dll in the next release and, as you suggested, ask user to place it in program folder.

PS. I read "License.txt" in the fhgaacenc folder with enc_fhgaac.dll in it and thought it was licence file for all the files. Now i downloaded fhgaacenc from an other source and enc_fhgaac.dll and a few other dlls are not included.

[sneaker_ger]

Yes, these usually come with Winamp.
What I meant was for TAudioConverter to download QuickTime or Winamp and extract the necessary files itself, should they not be present already. Maybe ask the user to sign of the respective EULAs first, too.