Skip to main content

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.

Poll

Which lossy format are you using?

MP3
[ 191 ] (28%)
Ogg Vorbis
[ 139 ] (20.4%)
AAC/MP4
[ 76 ] (11.1%)
Musepack
[ 194 ] (28.4%)
WMA / WMA Pro
[ 8 ] (1.2%)
RM / VQF
[ 0 ] (0%)
AC3 / Atrac
[ 1 ] (0.1%)
MP3pro
[ 2 ] (0.3%)
No lossy - lossless for me
[ 68 ] (10%)
Other
[ 3 ] (0.4%)

Total Members Voted: 803

Topic: Which lossy format are you using? (Read 102058 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #25
I keep my entire collection in FLAC on my 250 GB external HDD, shared over my network.  This is used for playback over my home theater via the Echo Indigo output from my network server running Winamp (which I can control remotely by wireless connection).  Occasionally I play the FLACs over my PC, though (when someone else is watching TV, for instance) with either speakers or headphones.

I transcode to Vorbis aoTuV b2 @ -b 160 -M 180 for my car's 60 GB audio system (which can't handle any Vorbis bitrates over 200kbps or so, even quick spikes, hence the managed bitrate mode).

And for my 512 MB portable player (PocketTunes on a Sony CLIE handheld PC), I transcode from FLAC to Vorbis aoTuV @ -q -1.  Over the portable's output stage and earbuds, the sound quality is fine for this purpose.

Vorbis is my lossy choice because it's the only one with hardware support and gapless playback on all my platforms.  Gapless playback is the only reason I don't use MP3.  If it were gapless on any platform I'd certainly use it.

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #26
I use mp3 exclusively.  I think almost all my encodings are lame 3.95 and higher.  Mostly 3.96 I think.  All were encoded with preset standard.  I don't have a large hd so although I would like to go lossless but I can't as my collection grows bigger by the day.  I have everything backed up onto cd as lossless (ape and flac).

I am thinking very seriously about buying myself a iPod mini.  Then I think I may go and buy myself a larger hd and store everything losslessly and encode that to AAC for the iPod.  But at the moment mp3 suits my needs nicely.

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #27
Need multiple options. 
I checked WMA because it's slower to kill my MP3 player battery than OGG or AAC, and it sounds better (at low bitrates) for spoken audio (on my iRiver, at least

If OGG didn't suck battery, and if bitrate constraints permitted, I'd use it exclusively.  OGG owns my computer music.

And for music, I LAME everything.  Battery life is everything.

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #28
Lame 3.90.3 APS is great to me. I archive in FLAC for quick conversion should any other version become standard, but to my ears, the MP3's are great and I don't have to worry about setting a constant bitrate. Also, with 15GB on my iPod, I've only filled about half of it, so I've no need to use AAC. Nero's AAC at -normal quality will be my next option should I run out of space on my iPod, which I likely won't do.
-CyberInferno

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #29
Musepack.  Now it just needs portable support. 

I could go lossless, but i could save the large space by just reripping lossy from my cds.

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #30
I voted lossless, but I use musepack else... but NEVER mp3

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #31
iTunes AAC @ 128kbps for computer listening and my iPod

I'm glad this poll was updated, I'm interested to see what the majority of HA is using in 2004.  Though my guess would be that MusePack or MP3 will still dominate 

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #32
AAC and Mp3 here 
An eye for eye will make the whole world blind

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #33
last time i voted for MPC and this time it's MPC again, but i'm thinking about using vorbis soon (something < q4), because i'm running out of space with MPC standard and my ears aren't that good..

-andy-

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #34
FLAC.

When/if I ever get an MP3 player, I'll probably transcode the FLACs to LAME MP3 192-320kbps VBR (depending on the size of the player).
</signature>

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #35
I use FLAC for all my CDs, and since the vast majority of the music I listen to is classical and film music, I get very good compression ratios (easily half the size or more).

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #36
My computer have MP3, MP2, FLAC, Ogg vorbis, AAC, M4A, TTA and WMA audio files. But most of my music is MP3, second is ogg vorbis, third is M4A(iTunes).  WMA , AAC and MP2 are extract from some video clips. FLAC is for arciving cd use, TTA is for experiment use  .

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #37
I use Vorbis because I need something suitably free-but-good (in all senses) for my game projects, with an excellent programming API.  I also like its general development buzz.  And so, when you learn what its strengths and weaknesses are it seems a shame to use anything else!

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #38
I voted for AAC because 128kbps and 160kbps iTunes AAC is good enough for me. I use MP3 for burning CDs, though.

I use QuickTime AAC 6.5.1, despite it's bugs. I'm too lazy to dig up QuickTimeMPEG4.component from an earlier version. Ever since failing to ABX velvet.wav using FAAC -q100, I've considered my self incapable of hearing most AAC artifacts

If Ogg Vorbis integrated fully with iTunes, I might use that. The results form the recent test really impressed me. I know it's not going to happen, though...

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #39
I'm using mp3 but I'm going to switch back to mpc when I get my new PC.

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #40
Plain CDs for home stereo and in the car. MP3 on my laptop and sometimes for portable listening. I would use Musepack but there is no decent solution for mpc playback on a Mac and on  portable. The MP4 Thing is also very interesting in the future for video and audio content. But at the moment are DVDs and Audio CDs much more practically than anything else.

BadHorsie

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #41
i vote musepack again

all my audio is previously/currently/in-the-future going to be musepack until another codec is as good at a good transparent/size ratio.

hardware support will eventually happen ( *crosses fingers* ) and my audio listening situation doesn't require a lesser codec


later

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #42
Since the last poll I've gone from Musepack to Vorbis.

MPC seems dead and I'm kinda miffed that there is no "final" SV7 release.  The last beta (1.14) is 21 months old and even the most recent alpha (1.15r) is now over 17 months old. It just felt like time to move on. OK, you can't complain much about MPC quality but there are three usability improvements that Vorbis offers (to me):

1) OggdropXPd offers the ability to easily change the processing priority (to lowest, for example). mppenc.exe wanted to run at normal priority and that could be a pain if you wanted it to run in the background. I could not find a suitable "mpcdrop" equivalent.
2) Vorbisgain offers native recursive album handling. A lifesaver if you need to replaygain a few dozen albums at a time. MPC's replaygain can't do this without some annoying batch fix.
3) in_vorbis.dll doesn't have that terrible scretching noise problem that all in_mpc.dll versions gave me if I searched ahead in WinAMP.

Vorbis is still alive with the official 1.1RC1 incorporating a nice enhancement by aoTuv and lots of "local" work on improving Vorbis transient handling. With Musepack, it seems you are stuck with a sole developer who just doesn't seem to want to work on the project anymore.

I would also like to say that I am rather impressed with the current versions of LAME (3.96+), particularly its VBR performance at lower bitrates. We aren't talking about transparency here but I remember the time when 128kbps CBR MP3 was a recipe for disaster and yet today I have created 90-100kbps VBR MP3s with LAME that sound, well, pretty damn nice and are quite acceptable for portable player use. This wasn't the case with LAME 3.93 and earlier.

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #43
Same answer as in the last post: mainly Ogg Vorbis.

In detail:
* Archival/rip format: FLAC
* Personal listening format if not FLAC: Ogg Vorbis
* Traktor DJ Studio format: Lame mp3
* Movie backup format: mp4/aac

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #44
Mainly Musepack, but I do use MP3 for external MP3 only devices.

Musepack has a great filesize/transparency tradeoff and is fast. Once hard-drive storage becomes practicle for me store my CDs losslessly online, my Musepack collection shall dwindle.
daefeatures.co.uk

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #45
I am still on MP3 (LAME --aps), because of the hardware support. I like to just grab my cd-wallet with mp3-CDRs knowing that wherever i go, every portable will be able to play my lossy files. This is especially interesting to me, since i like to visit non-commercial meetings and parties and am often the one who serves the music during the later hours (mostly unpopular downtempo: trip-hop, post-rock, electroacoustic, ambient, old analogue synths, etc.).

Yes, other formats can achieve the same quality at lower bitrates. Yes, there may be opensource alternatives - but they are useless for me if i'm not able to play the music. Staying with MP3 for now just gives me the freedom that i can grab a bunch of CDs without deciding beforehand what i will play and go whereever i want. And i don't see this changing anytime soon - even in maybe 2-3 years many people will still own portables which only support MP3 & WMA.

However, when i someday get a bigger HDD + DVD-burner, i may go the hybrid-route which many others here have choosen as well: lossless for archiving, lossy for portable-use.

So in short: MP3 for on-the-road freedom for me

- Lyx
I am arrogant and I can afford it because I deliver.

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #46
Voted ogg...but I actually flogg (flac and ogg). Flac's then moved to DVD+RW's.
No one can be told what Ogg Vorbis is...you have to hear it for yourself
- Morpheus

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #47
LAME 3.96 --alt-preset insane --lowpass 20 --athaa-sensitivity 1 --athlower 100 --npsytune --ns-bass -2 -q0 -m j --verbose

...don't mind the switches..... 

Mainly because I have a NOMAD Jukebox 3 which only supports MP3, (sucky) WMA, and WAV.

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #48
Quote
LAME 3.96 --alt-preset insane --lowpass 20 --athaa-sensitivity 1 --athlower 100 --npsytune --ns-bass -2 -q0 -m j --verbose

...don't mind the switches..... 

Mainly because I have a NOMAD Jukebox 3 which only supports MP3, (sucky) WMA, and WAV.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=231556"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Wow, impressive. Most of those switches are even redundant and/or don't do anything.

 

Which lossy format are you using?

Reply #49
I keep backup copies of all my CDs on a harddrive. I've ripped the CDs as images with EAC, then compressed the WAV files with WavPack 4.0. I keep the CUE sheet in a APE2 Tag. One file per album! 
I've written a Python script which automates everything, except the ripping with EAC and the ReplayGaining.

Since I do not (yet) have a portable, I have no use for lossy compression. Should I ever buy one, it's easy to transcode from lossless.