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Topic: Transcoding from freeformat - which codec? (Read 3737 times) previous topic - next topic
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Transcoding from freeformat - which codec?

Alllofmp3 has the majority of their CD library in 384kbps freeformat. foobar2000 does not, as far as I know, have any freeformat compatible components because it needs sample accurate seeking. I could download the files in freeformat, decode with LAME then encode with WavPack, but the file sizes would become several times larger.

Allofmp3 offers AAC, MP3, Vorbis and Musepack encoding. So, my question is this: Which format is better for transcoding from MP3? I've tried a few ABXs of AAC's 'transcode' profile vs. Musepack's 'braindead' however I wasn't able to determine a difference. If every transcode was transparent then I'd simply use the one with the smaller file size, but my tests don't have enough sample tracks to be conclusive.

Edit: They use Musepack 1.14 beta for Musepack, Nero AAC (not sure which version), LAME 3.96.1 for MP3, and Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20050304 for Vorbis.

Transcoding from freeformat - which codec?

Reply #1 –
Mp3 > Mp3 will be the worse. I'd transcode freeformat into lossless despite the size problem. That way you can transcode it to lossy then store the 'lossless' offline.

Transcoding from freeformat - which codec?

Reply #2 –
I think I read something about MP3 > MPC transcodes being worse than others somewhere. I don't know if it was purely speculation or tested.
Acid8000 aka. PhilDEE

Transcoding from freeformat - which codec?

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Acid8000 on
I think I read something about MP3 > MPC transcodes being worse than others somewhere. I don't know if it was purely speculation or tested.


Sorry for the *very* late reply - seems you can pick the "original format" when choosing expert mode at download - so you get a first-gen 384kb freeformat MP3 - of course this boosts the price a bit...
 

Transcoding from freeformat - which codec?

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Tonio Roffo on
Quote from: Acid8000 on

I think I read something about MP3 > MPC transcodes being worse than others somewhere. I don't know if it was purely speculation or tested.


Sorry for the *very* late reply - seems you can pick the "original format" when choosing expert mode at download - so you get a first-gen 384kb freeformat MP3 - of course this boosts the price a bit...


Aaand not anymore...  On this site it is possible, in the alltunes frontend (latest beta) I can't select "original encoding" anymore!