I think the SBR preset d (target rate 72 kbps for stereo) is actually a good intermediate choice between the ~60 kbps of SBR preset c and the ~80 kbps of non-SBR preset 2. As guruboolez's results show, it allows you to save a few kbps with "easier-to-code" musical genres like pop or classical music. On the other hand, if you're listening more to rock or electronic music, you can spend only a few kbps more with preset 2 and get slightly better quality.
Yep, more than fair enough!
Btw, starting at SBR preset c, upsampling the input to 48 kHz may give very slightly better audio quality on transient samples (since SBR starts around 11.6 instead of 11 kHz).
I have unfinished test of older version exhale 1.1.0, SBR, 44.1 vs 48 kHz @ ~ 48 kbps.
48kHz helps a lot actually even at 48 kbps.
48 kbps , exhale 1.1.0
exhale noSBR exhale sbr exhale sbr 48 kHz Opus 47.2k MP3 96k MP3 128k
01 Castanets 2.8 1.8 3.2 2.6 2.6 2.8
02 Fatboy 1.3 1.3 1.3 4.2 1.5 3.6
03 EIG 4.1 2.5 2.7 3.6 1.6 2.9
04 Bachpsichord 2.3 2.9 4.5 1.8 2.5 4.5
05 Enola 3 2.9 2.9 2.1 3.1 4.5
06 Trumpet 3.2 3.5 3.2 3.9 2.7 2.9
07 applaud
08 Velvet
09 Linchpin
10 spill_the_blood
Kamedo2’s samples:
11 final fantasy bach
12 A train Jazz
13 Big Yellow
13 Fatboy
14 Floor Essence
15 Macabre Orchestral
16 mybloodrusts guitar
17 quizas
18 VelvetRealm
19 Amefuribana Pops
20 Trust Gospel
21 Waiting
22 Experiencia
23 Heart to Heart
24 Tom's Dinar
26 French Speech
27 undelete
MOS (Mean Opinion Score) 2.78 2.48 2.97 3.03 2.33 3.53
min 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.8 1.5 2.8
Another unfinished test on 3-band vs 1-band SBR . (exhale 1.1.1 vs 1.1.0)
48 kbps SBR
Exhale 1.1.1 Exhale 1.1.0
01 Castanets 3 3
02 Get Your shirt 4.1 3.8
03 EIG 2.5 2.5
04 Bachpsichord 3.4 3.1
05 Enola
06 Trumpet
07 applaud
08 Velvet
09 Linchpin
10 spill_the_blood
11 female_speech
12 french ad
13 fatboy
MOS (Mean Opinion Score) 3.25 3.10
min 2.5 2.5