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Poll

What lossy format(s) do you use/encode to on a regular basis?

AAC or HE-AAC v1/v2 (.m4a, .aac…)
LossyWAV; .lossy.flac, .lossy.wv, .lossy.tak…
MP3 (.mp3)
Musepack (.mpc)
Ogg Vorbis (.ogg)
Opus (.opus)
WavPack Lossy/Hybrid (.wv)
xHE-AAC (USAC)
I don't encode/listen to lossy audio on a regular basis

Voting closes: 2025-12-31 15:36:56

Topic: 2025 Lossy format poll (Read 12482 times) previous topic - next topic
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2025 Lossy format poll

As last year's results are in, here's your chance to cast your votes for whatever lossy formats currently take your fancy.

Bear in mind you can vote for up to 5 formats.
• Listen to the music, not the media it's on
• The older, the 'lossier'

Re: 2025 Lossy format poll

Reply #1
Do Bluetooth devices count as encoding to the format that's being used for transmission?
a fan of AutoEq + Meier Crossfeed

Re: 2025 Lossy format poll

Reply #2
That would definitely open a can of worms. The same applies to streamed content, IMHO.
• Listen to the music, not the media it's on
• The older, the 'lossier'

Re: 2025 Lossy format poll

Reply #3
since i have a "once it touches my harddrive it stays that way" policy on my music archive, should i just do what i use for mobile or what do you think? After all my codec mix wont change that much anymore.
And so, with digital, computer was put into place, and all the IT that came with it.

Re: 2025 Lossy format poll

Reply #4
Been there. Done that.

There's no rule, when that was the case, I'd usually go with either the format(s) I've been encoding to lately or else the one(s) making up most of my on-disk audio collection. YMMV.
• Listen to the music, not the media it's on
• The older, the 'lossier'

Re: 2025 Lossy format poll

Reply #5
since i have a "once it touches my harddrive it stays that way" policy on my music archive, should i just do what i use for mobile or what do you think? After all my codec mix wont change that much anymore.
My moblie lossy folder Is just Lame 3.99.5 at V2 ~ V1 with some edge cases with Lame 3.99a3 at V2. I'm in the middle of coverting my lossless flies into a single OptimFrog bestNew since I'm not getting another HDD untill my 4TB from a old build Is 95% full.




Wavpack for Archiving & music on my Phone.

Re: 2025 Lossy format poll

Reply #6
I don't encode to a lossy format anymore, except to hand over a copy of something to someone without a good computer. I sometimes use .opus. However, I'm entirely fine with WavPack. (No Lossless poll this year?)
audiophile // flac & wavpack, mostly // using too many audio players

Re: 2025 Lossy format poll

Reply #7
Since the results over the last two years weren't very different, it won't hurt to have this poll open for two years (2025-2026) instead of one year (2025) like FLAC poll

Re: 2025 Lossy format poll

Reply #8
I'll admit it took me a while but, Exhale really made me rethink the whole concept of what is attainable from a lossy codec at a specific range of bitrates and there's always room for impressive results when somebody likes what they do. I started using it on every chance that I get to target content on scenarios that support it.

Re: 2025 Lossy format poll

Reply #9
 (No Lossless poll this year?)
Someone else is (was?) "in charge" of it and even so, quite sporadically, as results didn't vary much AFAICR.

In any case, anyone here can naturally get one going whenever they feel like.
• Listen to the music, not the media it's on
• The older, the 'lossier'

 

Re: 2025 Lossy format poll

Reply #10
I started to encode to opus for a while but then realized that most of the affordable bluetooth earbuds (if not all) only support 44.1khz SBC or AAC. Opus is natively 48. And add in the fact that most commercial music is in 44.1khz still, which means "double" resampling. Both during encoding (44.1 to 48) and then again during decoding (48 to 44.1). This can't be good. So i went back to mp3. We had a good relationship for so many years now. I also tried ogg vorbis and musepack at some point, but is the difference really worth it in around 192kbps? Or shall i say, is it worth the lack of support? Can i even abx it? Probably no. Those formats are slowly dying anyway. When i look at recent listening test results, i can see that the last version of lame in 128kbps is not really very far off from the modern codecs in similar bitrates. New codecs like opus "only shine" in lower bitrates which is why they were created, to sound better with low latency internet streaming.

So yeah, i think opus is not a good idea unless you will stream your own radio. I encode with lame using v2 which should be more than enough for my cheap audio setup. And widespread support is guaranteed so no need to worry about that either.

Re: 2025 Lossy format poll

Reply #11
I started to encode to opus for a while but then realized that most of the affordable bluetooth earbuds (if not all) only support 44.1khz SBC or AAC. Opus is natively 48. And add in the fact that most commercial music is in 44.1khz still, which means "double" resampling. Both during encoding (44.1 to 48) and then again during decoding (48 to 44.1). This can't be good. So i went back to mp3. We had a good relationship for so many years now. I also tried ogg vorbis and musepack at some point, but is the difference really worth it in around 192kbps? Or shall i say, is it worth the lack of support? Can i even abx it? Probably no. Those formats are slowly dying anyway. When i look at recent listening test results, i can see that the last version of lame in 128kbps is not really very far off from the modern codecs in similar bitrates. New codecs like opus "only shine" in lower bitrates which is why they were created, to sound better with low latency internet streaming.

So yeah, i think opus is not a good idea unless you will stream your own radio. I encode with lame using v2 which should be more than enough for my cheap audio setup. And widespread support is guaranteed so no need to worry about that either.

Well i think i should admit that i was wrong with my comments above. Opus, even though it resamples everything to 48kbit, still maintains a much better quality at "lower" bitrates compared to mp3 (or even other formats too). Resampling, as suggested and probably rightfully so, has lesser and even negligible impact on audio quality compared to the compressing alghoritm of these codecs themselves. So yeah, ignore my comment above.