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Topic: FLAC to AAC - Encoder Suggestion (Read 7616 times) previous topic - next topic
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FLAC to AAC - Encoder Suggestion

I am a newbie to the Lossless audio world. I know this question has been answered several times before . But I couldn't find any updated information. Will be nice if you guys post a sticky for best encoders. Anyways here is my question.

I recently converted all my audio cd's to FLAC's with all necessary tags using MP3 Tag (Title, Artist, Album, Year, Track, Album Artist, Composer, Copyright, Publisher, Lyricist). I now want them to be converted to some High-Quality lossy format to be played in my Android mobile.

Since AAC is better than MP3 (Correct me if I am wrong), I tried converting an FAAC file to M4A in different encoders and these are the results (attached spek images)

dBpoweramp (FDK AAC) - Converts with most of the tags intact, but higher frequencies were cut off with ~260kbps bitrate @Highest Quality Settings.
NCH Switch (FAAC)- Lost most of the tags, looks almost lossless with ~300kbps bitrate @Highest Quality Settings.
Foobar 2000 (Apple AAC) - Most of the tags are intact, looks almost lossless with ~360kbps bitrate @Highest Quality Settings.
Nero AAC UI (Nero AAC) - Lost most of the tags, looks almost lossless with ~420kbps bitrate @Highest Quality Settings.

With these different results from different software I am now confused which one to use. I have few questions.

1) Higher Bitrate = Higher Quality?
2) Does audio spectrum really matter?
3) Is dBpoweramp that good even with loss in higher range?

Re: FLAC to AAC - Encoder Suggestion

Reply #1 –
You're trying to listen to music with your eyes, by looking at spectograms. Sound (and lossy encoding in particular) does not work that way.

The only way to find the best encoder/quality/filesize solution for you, is to perform ABX tests of your candidates against the lossless source.

Re: FLAC to AAC - Encoder Suggestion

Reply #2 –
Quote from: KozmoNaut on
You're trying to listen to music with your eyes, by looking at spectograms. Sound (and lossy encoding in particular) does not work that way.

The only way to find the best encoder/quality/filesize solution for you, is to perform ABX tests of your candidates against the lossless source.

Yes, I now understand. But what about the tags? Any software or any workaround to keep all the FLAC's tags intact?

Re: FLAC to AAC - Encoder Suggestion

Reply #3 –
Foobar2000 should carry over tags just fine, which tags are you losing?

Personally, I used to go so far as to painstakingly figure out the recording location and date for every single track in my collection, both live and studio recordings, so I could have every single tag filled, including composer, lyricist, originalartist (for cover tracks), label IDs, exact publishing dates, every single little piece of information.

But then I realised that it was far too much of a hassle and that due to incompatibility with various software, it just wasn't worth it to populate every single tag. Now I just put the basic information in there and duplicate the artist tag to albumartist and performer on single-artist albums, for compatibility reasons. After all, I'm supposed to be listening to the music, not running an archive.

I also moved from FLAC to MP3 for the same reason. I can't hear a bit of difference anyway.

Re: FLAC to AAC - Encoder Suggestion

Reply #5 –
I've always found dBpoweramp the easiest way to convert FLAC to AAC. At the right bitrate, they're indistinguishable from the lossless source, for me.
Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

Re: FLAC to AAC - Encoder Suggestion

Reply #6 –
How about xrecode II? It has various codec choices and settings.

Re: FLAC to AAC - Encoder Suggestion

Reply #7 –
QAAC with foobar2000 is a winner in my book.
QAAC is one of the best, if not the best aac encoder out there, in terms of quality at a given bitrate.
And foobar2000 transfer all tags, at least those i use.
And you are going way overkill with 320kbps. Try to ABX at 180kbps, bet you can't hear the difference ;)

Re: FLAC to AAC - Encoder Suggestion

Reply #8 –
Even MP3 can be difficult to ABX at ~130kbps, try QAAC at ~100kbps
 

Re: FLAC to AAC - Encoder Suggestion

Reply #9 –
You might be able to hear a difference with cymbals and other types of sibilant sounds.  So I'd say stick with 320 kbps on Foobar2000 for the great tag management and other tools it has.  If a better AAC encoder comes along, you can still use it in foobar2000 with the customization settings.  Generally, yes, higher bitrate tends to correlate to higher quality.  CD quality is 1411 kbps.  But on the other hand, something that is very dynamic and percussive and very complex with static and noise and stereo effects might be harder to encode so it would have a higher kbps also.  A classic example is a tune like Take Me To The Hospital or Thunder by The Prodigy.  At the other end of the spectrum, some ambient music or music with hardly any instruments might end up with a lower bitrate because there's literally less information to encode.  Within foobar2000, you can look at the various bitrates of all your FLACs and compare what they sound like and you start to get an idea of which types of sounds compress well and which ones don't.  But since is all lossless, you know it's not a fidelity issue; just about stereo waveform pair complexity. 

Be a false negative of yourself!