I know xhe aac beats opus at super low bitrates, but what about 96-128? i am trying to buy a new phone with no sd card slot, and would like to conserve as much space as possible when i am traveling, so should i use xhe aac to replace opus at 96-128kbs?
Some hints here:
https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,121099.msg998706/topicseen.html#new
OPUS and USAC (xHE-AAC) are more or less at the same level at this bitrate. Depending on samples, subjective taste, you may prefer one or other. In summary both formats reach near transparency.
Be also careful about compatibility (good android audio players with USAC support are rare).
Some hints here:
https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,121099.msg998706/topicseen.html#new
OPUS and USAC (xHE-AAC) are more or less at the same level at this bitrate. Depending on samples, subjective taste, you may prefer one or other. In summary both formats reach near transparency.
Be also careful about compatibility (good android audio players with USAC support are rare).
I am a noob in this field, but AIMP on my phone plays the audio (xhe aac)
its been almost two years since i wrote this message, are opus and xhe aac still the same?
Regarding audio quality, guruboolez's listening test is still valid, yes.
At the bit-rates you're asking about,
- Opus got a version update to 1.5.1, but the clean-channel (error-free transmission) quality hasn't changed, see also
https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,125597.msg1040720.html#msg1040720
- exhale got a version update to 1.2.1, but only some rare corner cases improved in quality, and only very slightly, see
https://gitlab.com/ecodis/exhale/-/releases
Don't know about other xHE-AAC encoders, though.
Chris