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Topic: Preferred settings for AAC? (Read 8166 times) previous topic - next topic
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Preferred settings for AAC?

I don't have equipment as such and would like to save file space while retaining quality.
I've had a look around and VBR Q 45 w/ 96khz looks to be sufficient. I don't mean to generalize since everybody's ears are very different to the next, just wanting to know what you settings you use!!

96khz or 128 is what im leaning toward as of rn


Re: Preferred settings for AAC?

Reply #1
Do you have that many 96khz files to encode? AAC will probably work fine if you do, but that is an unusual sampling rate for lossy audio.

Re: Preferred settings for AAC?

Reply #2
I think it's 96 kbps, not 96 kHz.

Re: Preferred settings for AAC?

Reply #3
I think it's 96 kbps, not 96 kHz.
ur right it is kbps. and yeah i'm looking to encode my entire library, (putting that on hold) once i finish this project im doing which is about 800 songs

Re: Preferred settings for AAC?

Reply #4
I can't discern 96kbps aac from 128, 192 and even 256. They all sound the same. What should I be looking to do when converting the library. What quality do you guys have your songs in??

Re: Preferred settings for AAC?

Reply #5
The best answer is to do listening tests for yourself to determine your personal level of transparency.

That being said, I use Apple AAC at Q64 (~128kb/s nominal) and could probably go lower given that my hearing has deteriorated since I started maintaining a digital audio library. That also seems to be the "consensus" transparency level in most cases.

Apart from that, don't do any lossy-to-lossy conversions. If you already have AAC/MP3/Ogg Vorbis/etc, just leave them as they are.

 

Re: Preferred settings for AAC?

Reply #6
When it comes to Apple AAC... choose 96kbps or 128kbps and forget about it. with Apple AAC I would avoid going lower than 96kbps as a general rule and avoid any higher than 128kbps mostly because efficiency starts to take a solid hit much beyond 128kbps with a minimal gain to sound quality.

or put it this way... on some speakers (or average headphones) I would be confident most people would not notice a issue with 96kbps AAC or even if they do it's not going to be to the point it's significant.

I tend to view lossy encoders more on the higher efficiency side of things which is why I tend to favor 96kbps (or 128kbps MAX) where as someone who wants some level of efficiency but does not want to gamble with sound quality may opt for 160kbps. but I figure beyond 160kbps (maybe 192kbps on the very high end) efficiency is mostly shot. I know some may say storage space is cheap, and while that's true, it's more of the thought of it if you ask me.

p.s. if your device can play Opus files... I think you would find 64kbps is a solid choice overall, especially if your trying to save even more storage space, even though you can spot artifacts here and there but are usually minimal as on my Klipsch Pro-Media PC speakers, which are above average speakers in general, at a moderate volume I can spot an occasional artifact @ 64kbps with Opus but it's largely solid with the overall sound quality especially given the low bit rate. basically Opus tends to shine most at 128kbps and less, but more in the 96kbps and less range is where it starts to pull ahead of the competition which is pretty much just AAC. like when it comes to lossy encoders... Opus or AAC is about all that's worth using if you ask me at this point in time as MP3 simply needs noticeably more bit rate for a similar level of sound quality to the point with MP3 it seems one needs at least 128kbps where as with Opus/AAC you generally don't need more than 128kbps.
For music I suggest (using Foobar2000)... MP3 (LAME) @ V5 (130kbps). NOTE: using on AGPTEK-U3 as of Mar 18th 2021. I use 'fatsort' (on Linux) so MP3's are listed in proper order on AGPTEK-U3.

Re: Preferred settings for AAC?

Reply #7
160kbps is the setting I use for music on my iPhone so I can listen on the earbuds when out and about.