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Is AAC the best lossy compression?

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  • wmjordan
    • Jan 2005
    • 17

    Is AAC the best lossy compression?

    During a test, I converted several tracks from APE to MPC, MP3, and AAC with dbPowerAmp Music Converter.

    The encoding settings for MP3 is 256kbps VBR, MPC is insane, and AAC is ultra. Then, I opened Foobar 2000 and its spectrum analysis visual plugin, and compared the spectrum of the orginal APE, and the encoded MPC, MP3, AAC.

    The size of the encoded files are very close. Within the spectrum plugin, during the playback, I found that MPC and MP3 had a frequency-cut-off at about 19kHz, however, AAC's seemed to be preserved up to 20kHz and above.

    I increased the bit-rate assigned to the encoder, MPC using braindead profile, MP3 using 320kbps CBR. The spectrum of MPC goes a little closer to AAC and APE's, and MP3's are a little better. Yet, the file size of MPC and MP3 are somewhat bigger than AAC's.

    Actually, few people might notice the difference above 19kHz. Yet, the analysis with spectrum appears that AAC using a limited bit-rates is preserving better original signals.

    The uncomforatble thing about the AAC (CLI) encoder plugin of dbPowerAmp is that it appears to have an intensive disk IO at the beginning of the conversion which frightens me about the health of my hard drive....
    Last edited by wmjordan; 07-08-2005, 05:07 AM.
  • Spoon
    Administrator
    • Apr 2002
    • 43921

    #2
    Re: Is AAC the best lossy compression?

    You cannot really go off spectrum data to judge sound quality, as lossy encoding is perceptual. MPC has beaten aac in listening tests, but there is not a huge difference between aac, mpc and ogg.
    Spoon
    www.dbpoweramp.com

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    • wmjordan
      • Jan 2005
      • 17

      #3
      Re: Is AAC the best lossy compression?

      Originally posted by Spoon
      You cannot really go off spectrum data to judge sound quality, as lossy encoding is perceptual. MPC has beaten aac in listening tests, but there is not a huge difference between aac, mpc and ogg.
      How MPC beat AAC in listening tests (ABX??), and at what bitrate settings?
      Do the testers make that test at such bitrates? What I observed is that, the visual spectrum shows AAC at around 224-256 bitrate, has preserved more frequency range than MPC does at the near bitrate, and looked more like the original APE spectrum than MPC. To tell the truth, I can not tell which is better at that bitrate, and even which is better below 18KHz, but is it not a superior thing that AAC consumes the same (bitrate), but preserves more (high frequency details)?

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      • Spoon
        Administrator
        • Apr 2002
        • 43921

        #4
        Re: Is AAC the best lossy compression?

        Yes abx, public blind testing at 128kbps.
        Spoon
        www.dbpoweramp.com

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        • iTunesIsEvil
          dBpoweramp Enthusiast
          • Dec 2004
          • 94

          #5
          Re: Is AAC the best lossy compression?

          <subject status="off">
          Everytime I log in and see the title of this thread I see the words "best" and "lossy" together and for some reason my brain just goes "duuuuuuuuhhhhh, whaaaaaaaa?" It cannot handle the two together I think.

          Just a random observation.
          </subject>

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