HE-AAC - 44.1 vs. 48khz

2004-05-10 19:28:35

as xvid 1.0 is coming nearer and nearer i started having a deeper look at how i will encode my movie soundtracks with he-aac
i will go with a bitrate at about 80kbps (neros "streaming:medium" setting) as its the highest he-aac vbr setting possible and the bitrate range should be ok for a stereo movie soundtrack on 1cd

now the only question left is whether i will use 44.1 khz or 48 khz (both possible in besweet), considering both he- and lc-only decoders

here my results with a he-aac capable decoder:

Code: [Select]

ABC/HR Version 0.9b, 30 August 2002
Testname: 44.1 vs. 48khz HE-AAC Test

1L = C:\...\he-aac_48khz_streaming-77kbps.wav
2L = C:\...\he-aac_44.1khz_streaming-76kbps.wav

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General Comments:
listened to 
5.7 -7.6 -> sample 2 better
48.5 - 49.9 -> sample 1 better
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1L File: C:\...\he-aac_48khz_streaming-77kbps.wav
1L Rating: 3.5
1L Comment: 
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2L File: C:\...\he-aac_44.1khz_streaming-76kbps.wav
2L Rating: 3.5
2L Comment: 
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ABX Results:
Original vs C:\...\he-aac_48khz_streaming-77kbps.wav
    6 out of 6, pval = 0.016
Original vs C:\...\he-aac_44.1khz_streaming-76kbps.wav
    5 out of 5, pval = 0.031
C:\...\he-aac_48khz_streaming-77kbps.wav vs C:\...\he-aac_44.1khz_streaming-76kbps.wav
    43 out of 60, pval < 0.001

well i voted both "3.5" but when getting more into details, sad but true my small listening test brought that
44.1 beats 48 in parts with lots of music
48 beats 44.1 for speech
great result to help making decisions

with a lc-aac decoder 44.1 beats 48 for music again, still on speech i am not sure as my soundcard b0rks on 24khz

maybe someone is interested in doing a similar test and sharing his/her results

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