Nero Audio Decoder, eac3to and Windows 11

[pottzman]

does anybody in here have a method to get the nero 7 audio decoder working in windows 11. I had been able to get it working in Windows 10 but at some point it has stopped working and I'm not sure when. The method I used to use in Windows 10 does not seem to work in Windows 11

[tebasuna51]

What do you need that old software for?
To decode any audio, you can use ffmpeg, the new eac3to v4 (https://www.rationalqm.us/eac3to/), or other decoders specific to other formats—even neroAacDec.exe (https://www.videohelp.com/software/Nero-AAC-Codec).
Now Nero 7 Directshow decoder it's not needed at all for eac3to

[Columbo]

That's what we told him over at DG land. He hasn't yet given a reason to keep Nero other than he owns it. He cites an ancient doc saying Nero "should" give better quality. We explained why that is no longer true, if it ever was.

Maybe he's talking about encoding AAC, although he explicitly said "decoder". But ffmpeg can encode AAC too, but just not low bitrate HE-AAC, which I expect is a pretty rare use case.

Yes, tebasuna51 is quite right about Nero not being needed in eac3to now, and I can tell you that Nero is disappearing from eac3to very soon. Our goal is to get to a point where a 64-bit version and a linux port become possible.

[tebasuna51]

Maybe he's talking about encoding AAC, although he explicitly said "decoder". But ffmpeg can encode AAC too, but just not low bitrate HE-AAC, which I expect is a pretty rare use case.

To encode AAC there are many options explained in the FAQ (https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=424070#post424070)

The NeroAacEnc.exe work with eac3to directly (HE options) and the recommended one (qaac) can be 'piped' with eac3to also.

[pottzman]

That's what we told him over at DG land

thanks for your reply even though over at "DG land" the reply I got to the same question was...."Might be better to ask that at Doom9. We personally don't use Win11 or Nero."

So I asked the question here and now here you are putting s#%t on me over here.

So once again....thanks for you reply.

[Columbo]

You are most welcome.

For the Win11 part, we deferred to Doom9 as we don't use Win11. For the Nero part, you received several very complete and useful responses:

https://www.rationalqm.us/board/viewtopic.php?t=1572

eac3to 4.01 will support AAC ouput directly (also DTS) via libav. This new built-in path for AAC is the no-install convenience for LC AAC in ADTS, while the qaac pipe remains the recommended path for HE-AAC, MP4 output, and best quality, and nothing in 4.01 changes that.

[Columbo]

eac3to 4.01 test build:

https://www.rationalqm.us/board/viewtopic.php?p=25036#p25036

[tebasuna51]

Thanks! Many good changes, I need make a new UsEac3To to change many parameters.

[Columbo]

Thanks! Many good changes, I need make a new UsEac3To to change many parameters. You're welcome! And thank you for your continued work on UsEac3To. We are marching towards 64-bit and linux.