Which lossy format do you prefer?

[aliumalik]

Hi,
I have seen several sudio forums with similar threads so decided to start one at Doom9. Starting with me I use mp3 + new albums with AAC (only for trial right now). Please vote and state your reasons etc for using the format.
Regards
Ali

AAC: Advanced Audio Coding, the format for general audio coding in both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 standards since its finalization in 1997
MP3: MPEG-1/2 Layer III
MP3Pro: MPEG-1 Layer III combined with SBR
MP4: MPEG-4 AAC (when talking about audio files)
MPC: Musepack, formerly known as MP+ or MPEGplus
Ogg Vorbis: Unpatented audio format (Better to say "Unencumbered by commercial patents")
RA: RealAudio
VQF: also known as TwinVQ (Transform-domain Weighted Interleave Vector Quantization)
WMA: Windows Media Audio

[Slogra]

I voted for Musepack as i always use it to encode my audio CDs. I hardly use it in videos. I use "small" ogg vorbis (q0-q3) or original ac3 in my videos.

[KpeX]

For music, I still use good 'ol MP3 via Lame - mainly due to hardware support. I archive all my music CDs on MP3 data CDs, and I can play these on any software player, my car CD player, or my DVD player, and the tags are even recognized on most devices (ID3v1/APE).

For movie backups, I almost exclusively use MP4/AAC, since it is supported in my favorite containers (matroska/MP4) and complements MPEG-4 video well.

Also, keep in mind there have been a few threads like this in the past - the search may help you find what most people in the forum are using.

[P0l1m0rph1c]

I voted for Musepack. I encode all my albums with it. It's the best option there is for high quality audio, at medium-high bitrates, imho.

[Soulhunter]

MP3 @ 256kbps -> All my old music, but also new stuff (compatibility)

AAC @ 192kbps -> All my new music backups (for future purpose)

AC3 (1:1) -> All DVD encodes (dont wanna have any quality loss)

[Encoder Master]

MP3 with a bitrate of 256 is actually perfect and you can't hear a difference.

The best format, I think, is at the moment WMA 9. At a Bitrate of 128kbps the results are very very good and without any differences @ Quality 90 VBR and both are the most compatible.

[eb]

I voted for others, I prefer to keep as far as possible original audios from tvsat records or another sources, trying only to "normalise" volume level, and it is connected with .avi and .mpeg.

[ssjkakaroto]

Encoder Master you might wanna check http://www.rjamorim.com/test/multiformat128/results.html
as wma didn't peform that well in the latest listening test

[aliumalik]

Originally posted by Soulhunter
MP3 @ 256kbps -> All my old music, but also new stuff (compatibility)
AAC @ 192kbps -> All my new music backups (for future purpose)

Large Hard disk I suppose :( I hate notebooks :mad:

I have tried MPC and OGG though they might offer a bit better quality I don't really consider them because they don't seem to have a future like mp3/mp4. AAC is being promoted really hard and is finding its way into hardware alongwith mp3 and I think it will be my bet for the future. Plus AAC is being backed up by the likes of Dolby, Sony and Fraunhofer. Now I wonder why Sony is using ATRAC for its music store and portables while it has licensed AAC :confused: :confused: :confused:

[Soulhunter]

Originally posted by aliumalik
Large Hard disk I suppose...
Only a 160GB HD, a 120GB HD, and a DVD burner... :D


Bye

[Slogra]

I'd rather have a slightly smaller HD with better quality alt-preset standard mp3s ;)

[DAvenger]

MPC Q8 :D I stopped using MP3 a couple of months ago.

[aliumalik]

Even with 30 votes looks like AAC is quite poular at doom9 as compared to other forums. Go AAC!

[smok3]

older audio is usually mpc q5, newer is usually nero aac, also for dvd backup purposes i use lower-bitrate aac (he-aac also) with xvid into matroska.

if i will ever got an audio player that will be something that can read some lossless format, so i can transcode nonsupported formats (like mpc) into it (like rio-karma and its flac support...)

[hulkenstrong]

AAC vbr around 200-290. best quality for my equipment and ears for now.

[niamh]

AAC rocks :D . I see it's still ahead of MPC and mp3 and ogg are exactly equal at the back....doom9 seems to be certainly a forward place for audio (and the rest).

Does anybody use mp3 if not for hardware compatibility ? I would doubt it, I reckon it's the only reason it's still around these days. (Not that I spit on it of course :))

[stephanV]

uhm, in Roberto Amorim's 128 kbps listening test AAC (i-Tunes) actually pretty much tied with (LAME) MP3. Ogg Vorbis and MPC tied and were both better than AAC and MP3.

bitrates of higher than 192 kbps are quite excessive; most (if not all) people wouldnt be able to differentiate between the codecs.

i still use MP3: its easy, its good, its compatible.

[aliumalik]

Originally posted by stephanV
uhm, in Roberto Amorim's 128 kbps listening test AAC (i-Tunes) actually pretty much tied with (LAME) MP3. Ogg Vorbis and MPC tied and were both better than AAC and MP3.

Wasn't it cancelled as some people were found exploiting the program in favour of some codecs?:confused:

[niamh]

@stephanV :
If mp3 wasn't compatible, or if every codec was, would you still use mp3? (not being smart, just curious)

[savage747]

Originally posted by aliumalik
Wasn't it cancelled as some people were found exploiting the program in favour of some codecs?:confused:

No. The first try was cancelled because some encodings were flawed (wrong encoder version, one encoder lowered volume etc.). The sencond try was successful:

http://www.rjamorim.com/test/multiformat128/results.html

Ogg Vorbis and MPC are tied at the first place, AAC and Lame MP3 are tied at the second place.


The result files were encrypted. No easy way to fake results.

[BruceL]

It may have been more meaningful if there were two categories, say one for music and the other for video. Just my opinion. I use MP3 for music. For video captures it depends on final media, MP3 for stereo audio in AVI container (MPEG4) on CD and AC3 for DVD (MPEG2).

[stephanV]

@niamh:

yes, or vorbis perhaps (but "ifs" dont really count ;) )

[SeeMoreDigital]

AAC-HE VBR for me now... bitrate is low (128Kbps or below) but the quality is high :D

EDIT: I forgot to mention. Before that, it was MP3pro... what a mistake that was!


Cheers

[Sir Integral Hellsing]

MP3 for music (Lame --alt-preset standard) and 1 cd movies (Lame 128-160 ABR). For 2 cd movies I keep the AC3 track.
For me --alt-preset standard is transparent. Sure I could use AAC and save some space but then I would have to get an IPod if I wanted a portable player. MP3 is good enough for me.

[aliumalik]

Looks like the members are really practical at Doom9 ;) as most of them favour AAC

[Lagoon]

MP3 VBR ~192kbits for audio.

AAC 5.1 ~192kbits for movies.

[aliumalik]

Just a thought I think the owners of doom9 should start a MEGA listening test with multiple samples. If publicized correctly we can get thousands of people to take the test :rolleyes: . Samples can be hosted at p2p applications and webspace which the members provide. Does anyone else think this would work?
Thanks

[SeeMoreDigital]

Originally posted by aliumalik
Just a thought I think the owners of doom9 should start a MEGA listening test with multiple samples. If publicized correctly we can get thousands of people to take the test :rolleyes: . Samples can be hosted at p2p applications and webspace which the members provide. Does anyone else think this would work?
Thanks rjamorim already offers such test. Why complicate things?


Cheers

[McoreD]

Windows Media Audio 9 Professional
VBR Quality 75, 44 kHz, 2 channel 24 bit 1-pass VBR

Cheers,
McoreD

[Single]

LAME 3.93.1 "--alt-preset 256" for high quality cd rips, because quality almost @320kbps but bitrate 20% lower. And of cause it's the best method to preserve surround component in stereo signal. "preset-standard" kills that component.

LAME 3.93.1 "--alt-preset medium" for car cd mp3 player and to achieve the best deal size/quality where bitrate is about 160kbps.

LAME 3.93.1 --alt-preset 112-160 for dvd backups.

[SILICON]

I like OGG.

A good quality and patent free.

[Tuning]

MPC/AAC for Music,

AC3/HE-AAC for dvdbackups.

And for others I use WAV @1411kbps ( Audio CD ) :D