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Recent Posts
2
Opus / Re: Opus .ogg vs .mp4 container?
Last post by nu774 -
As you may know, Opus in ISOBMFF has been supported by big players such as ffmpeg, chromium, and firefox before qaac added support for it. qaac is nothing here.

> Except for app support, is there a significant difference between these containers for an opus stream?

Ogg container is more popular for opus but ill-suited for video. That's why they had to standardize Opus in MPEG-TS and ISOBMFF.
Technically, as a container format, Ogg is more like MPEG-TS than MP4.
Ogg doesn't have global seek table which makes it sub-optimal for seeking (but not as bad as MP3).
If I remember correctly, (in the past) fb2k didn't support seeking Ogg files via HTTP because of this.
Ogg is more suitable for streaming or real-time recording. Also, it's simpler than MPEG family containers.

3
Opus / Re: xHE-AAC : The Death of OPUS?
Last post by magicgoose -
> If you want 100% transparency all the time, take a lossless codec

In principle nothing stops something like LossyFLAC or maybe even ("up-tuned") Musepack from guaranteeing 100% transparency due to the way they work. (you can basically require them to maintain a certain SNR at all times, no matter how many bits that would take)

Pure lossless-compressed PCM is always going to use more bits than necessary for louder intervals and that's the lowest hanging fruit to shave off some % of bits.
4
Support - (fb2k) / Re: foobar2000 for Mac: bugs & wishes
Last post by 7thw -
Hopefully OP doesn’t mind me hijacking this thread,
but I am most looking forward for the following things to get changed:

1. Not needing to double click in ReFacets to populate the main window (making it work like the Windows version)
2. ReFacets generating two playlists automatically: one for browsing, and one for playback (like old Facets or CUI Filters in the Windows version) so that you can skip tracks while browsing something else
3. Populating the main window using ReFacets should IMO not result in all tracks being selected
4. In a short playlist, you can deselect by clicking white space below the tracks. But if the playlist is long, you currently cannot deselect with the mouse at all.
5. It’s great that closing the main window doesn’t quit the program altogether anymore, though at the moment there’s no way to bring the main window back without selecting “Open”, “Add Files”, “Add Folder” or “Add Selection”
6. Merging “Pause” and “Play” into one “Play / Pause” action so that it can be targeted by a single keyboard shortcut instead of two

It would be great if there was a bit more interface customization in the future, like being able to merge the main window with ReFacets, tabs, etc,
but it’s mainly the above that would make regular usage of Foobar2000 much more comfortable IMO.
5
Vinyl / Re: Article: Vinyl records outsell CDs for the second year running
Last post by jaybeee -
I think a good proportion of the vinyl revival group are those in their 40s & 50s that experienced the change from vinyl to CD in the late 80s and 90s. They now have disposable income, the kids are older and have left home and they want to get back to their childhood/teenhood by reminiscing - but this time actually doing it - with slabs of wax thrown on a record player that they sit down and listen to all the way through. Rather than the digital options that bombard us with millions of songs that you can't decide which to listen to. All this is fine of course. I get it. I'm also being somewhat facetious in this assessment, but still think it fits.

As someone in their mid-to-late 40s I've not had a desire to "get back to my roots" with vinyl (and that's coming from someone that raved in the 90s mostly to DJs using vinyl - and I still love it when a DJ today is mixing only with vinyl). I personally prefer either CDs or the lossless downloads via artist websites and/or bandcamp. No need to try and transfer from vinyl to digital for "out of lounge listening". I can simply transcode to lossy files and throw on my phone.

I have owned vinyl (sold the couple of handfuls I had a couple of years ago), but apart from the larger artwork (which is lovely) I've never understood the love for it. But that's just me. I'm fine with others loving it and enjoying it. I think some of it is also a hobby - over and above music being a love and hobby; I mean the collecting of vinyl.

Finally, and somewhat ironically, I've purchased maybe 20 cassette tapes over the past couple of years lol. BUT these are niche tapes (DJ mixes from the 90s) that have never existed in any other format, so I'm transferring them to digital to hear and preserve them. Most vinyl bought these days is available on CD and/or digitally (although some artists do still only create vinyl-only releases).
6
MP3 - General / Re: Resurrecting/Preserving the Helix MP3 encoder
Last post by fooball -
All I can see in this thread is developers wasting their time on something useless...
I'm sure most people have some kind of hobby which would be seen as a waste of time by others.  Nonetheless, sometimes hobbies turn into businesses, or knowledge/skills gained becomes applicable elsewhere.

...only to get yelled at in return.
This thread is (or has become) a discussion place for those interested in this project, and I personally have been monitoring it with little practical interest but as a curious bystander.  Anyone with no practical involvement has no business to criticise, and should keep out of the conversation (as I have... until now!).
9
MP3 - General / Re: Resurrecting/Preserving the Helix MP3 encoder
Last post by maikmerten -
LAME's last quality update was over 10 years ago. Developers squeezed everything they could from MP3.

Yeah, it's very unlikely that significant quality improvement can be squeezed out of MP3 by either LAME or Helix.

It is mature and stable encoder, tested by many experienced members here.

Too bad the latest LAME versions apparently regressed here and there. Always nice to have another option.

If you believe people will suddenly change to Helix you are wrong.

All I can see in this thread is developers wasting their time on something useless only to get yelled at in return.

I think your view on what motivates people to tinker with code might be a bit too focused on the number of users. I can't speak for anyone else in this thread, but for me, it's been fun to speculate about parameters, tinker with compiler flags and reviewing and applying patches.

I hope that you, too, have a fun project, no matter its usefulness or size of its user base.
10
Vinyl / Re: Article: Vinyl records outsell CDs for the second year running
Last post by sld -
Vinyl is probably following a cyclical fad just like yoyos for teen and pre-teen boys.
The things deemed as old and outdated by a previous generation can be seen as new, funky, otherworldly by the next one, especially if the colours and marketing are jazzed up a little. We humans have to always go through this process.