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Topic: qaac Foobar (Read 12970 times) previous topic - next topic
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qaac Foobar

Greetings,
I recently have been tasked with ripping a bunch of audio cds for a parent to use on their new ipod touch (Gen 5). I am wayyyyyy out of the loop so I started reading around and found that if I am concerned about file size and quality I should forgo using mp3 and instead use aac. I got qaac working on Foobar but much to my dismay the file sizes of the aac are almost double the size of the same file as an mp3. I have no clue what to use VBR, ABR, CBR etc. I have about 70 CDs to fit on a 15gig ipod. What settings would you recommend in Foobar (what parameters should I set)? I feel like a monkey who discovered a computer just awing at keys hoping it will work. Any help would be much appreciated. THank you.

qaac Foobar

Reply #1 –
Without talking too much about quality, perception, abx, etc. etc. I think you should do -V63 for qaac (~100 kbps), -m3 for FDK (~100 kbps), --vbr3 for FhG (~100 kbps) and -V5 for LAME (~130 kbps).

Here is what I am talking about: http://listening-test.coresv.net/results.htm

qaac Foobar

Reply #2 –
Quote from: eahm on
Without talking too much about quality, perception, abx, etc. etc. I think you should do -V63 for qaac (~100 kbps), -m3 for FDK (~100 kbps), --vbr3 for FhG (~100 kbps) and -V5 for LAME (~130 kbps).

Here is what I am talking about: http://listening-test.coresv.net/results.htm


Ooo pretty graphs. All kidding aside thank you for taking the time to post a reply. So do I just post those parameters in Foobar: -V63 -m3 --vbr3 -v5

Sorry if this is a stupid question but I really am new to this.

qaac Foobar

Reply #3 –
These are 4 different settings for 4 different encoders/CLI. You will find all of them on foobar2000's encoding settings.

Select the files you'd like to convert > Right click > Convert > ... > Output Format > Add New:

AAC (Apple): VBR Q 63

AAC (FDK): VBR 3

AAC (Winamp FhG): VBR 3

MP3 (LAME): V5

You will need the encoder/CLI .exe and relative files (copied inside \foobar2000\encoders folder) for each selection. You will find most of them here: http://www.foobar2000.org/encoderpack, LAME here: http://www.rarewares.org/mp3-lame-bundle.php, FDK here: https://sites.google.com/site/qaacpage/cabinet (fdk_autobuild.zip, you will have to compile yourself/automatically with this tool).

I personally use FDK VBR 3 for my wife's car. It's free and open source, one file, no DLLs etc.

qaac Foobar

Reply #4 –
Quote from: eahm on
These are 4 different settings for 4 different encoders/CLI. You will find all of them on foobar2000's encoding settings.

Select the files you'd like to convert > Right click > Convert > ... > Output Format > Add New:

AAC (Apple): VBR Q 63

AAC (FDK): VBR 3

AAC (Winamp FhG): VBR 3

MP3 (LAME): V5

You will need the encoder/CLI .exe and relative files (copied inside \foobar2000\encoders folder) for each selection. You will find most of them here: http://www.foobar2000.org/encoderpack, LAME here: http://www.rarewares.org/mp3-lame-bundle.php, FDK here: https://sites.google.com/site/qaacpage/cabinet (fdk_autobuild.zip, you will have to compile yourself/automatically with this tool).

I personally use FDK VBR 3 for my wife's car. It's free and open source, one file, no DLLs etc.


Thanks. I will give it a go when I get home. I think I successfully installed qaac which is apple? but only got as far as transcoding from a cd probably at the highest bitrate (I wasn't so successful with adding parameters).

qaac Foobar

Reply #6 –
To make it easy, below are examples of the parameters that you might use in foobar2000 for the above-suggested encoders and settings. See the documentation, website, and/or console print out of the encoders if you are interested in experimenting with the parameters.

fdkaac: -S -m 3 -I - -o %d

qaac: -s -V 63 -i --no-optimize -o %d -

fhgaacenc: --quiet --vbr 3 --ignorelength - %d

LAME: -S --noreplaygain -V 5 - %d

Edit: I just remembered that foobar2000 has easy to use GUIs for the above encoders (I completely forgot, oops), which are probably even easier to use. In any case, the parameter formats are there if you want to experiment.

qaac Foobar

Reply #7 –
So I tried using the preset and I get the following erorr:

1 out of 1 tracks converted with major problems.

Source: "cdda://01072ECB" / index: 1
  An error occurred while writing to file (The encoder has terminated prematurely with code 2 (0x00000002); please re-check parameters) : "C:\Users\XXXX\Desktop\MP3\01 - In The Air Tonight.m4a"
  Additional information:
  Encoder stream format: 44100Hz / 2ch / 16bps
  Command line: "C:\Program Files (x86)\foobar2000\encoders\qaac.exe" --ignorelength -s --no-optimize -V 91 -o "01 - In The Air Tonight.m4a" -
  Working folder: C:\Users\XXXXX\Desktop\MP3\
 
  Conversion failed: The encoder has terminated prematurely with code 2 (0x00000002); please re-check parameters

qaac Foobar

Reply #9 –
Quote from: eahm on
Quote from: jsmith1140974 on
So I tried using the preset

Which one? foobar2000 has presets setup already, did you use one of them or you tried to use a manual one?


Both actually. I know qaac works because if i use the following settings it runs, albeit producing a large m4a file.

Encoder: realac64.exe
extension: m4a
parameters: -o %d -
Format is: Lossy
Highest BPS mode supported: 24
Encoder name refalac64

I am quite stumped.

qaac Foobar

Reply #10 –
Quote from: jsmith1140974 on
Both actually. I know qaac works because if i use the following settings it runs, albeit producing a large m4a file.

Encoder: realac64.exe > refalac64.exe
extension: m4a
parameters: -o %d -
Format is: Lossy > Lossless
Highest BPS mode supported: 24
Encoder name refalac64

I am quite stumped.
qaac IS NOT refalac, refalac is Lossless (ALAC) only.

The error you posted was for qaac though, maybe you are missing some DLLs?