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Topic: Snow Leopard AAC improvements.. (Read 74144 times) previous topic - next topic
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Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #75 –
Quote from: Larson on
Is it just me or the new 7.6.6 has improved even further quality? Before there were some songs i could easily abx but with this it's a lot harder to abx,at least for me. Great job Apple,really great!


What version of quicktime were you using before you upgraded?

(and to all posters on this point, please mention the version number to which you are comparing 7.6.6!)

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #76 –
Quote from: TechVsLife on
Quote from: Nexcon on
I can confirm this on Windows, using nao's qtaacenc, file size for true vbr quality 100 is now about 5% bigger, which probably has improved the quality somewhat.

What version are you comparing it to? (what version of Quicktime were you using before you upgraded?)  I don't see any confirmed change in the music data produced from the encoder when upgrading from 7.6.5 to 7.6.6.  Note also I'm on Windows.

Before, I were on Quicktime 7.6.5, one that came with iTunes 9.0.3. I upgraded to 9.1 yesterday, which also included Quicktime 7.6.6 (1671). After 10 conversions with the new version, I am 100% certain that Quicktime encoder has changed, which now generally produces higher bitrates. No setting was changed, and the same parameter was used.

If you're still unable to produce a different file, maybe you should uninstall iTunes, Quicktime, and everything Apple related, then reinstall with the new version from the official iTunes website.

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #77 –
can't produce a 7.6.5 file any more to check (after upgrading) but perhaps there was no change only at q127.


Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #78 –
I have done a quick test with QuickTime 7.6.6.

Sadly there is no improvement with pre-echo artifacts:

Code: [Select]
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.0.2 beta 1
2010/04/01 21:04:00

File A: J:\Music\Lossless\Kraftwerk - The Man Machine\01. The Robots.flac
File B: C:\Temp\The Robots --tvbr 100.m4a

21:04:00 : Test started.
21:04:30 : 01/01  50.0%
21:04:35 : 02/02  25.0%
21:04:40 : 03/03  12.5%
21:04:46 : 04/04  6.3%
21:04:53 : 05/05  3.1%
21:04:58 : 06/06  1.6%
21:05:04 : 07/07  0.8%
21:05:10 : 08/08  0.4%
21:05:15 : 09/09  0.2%
21:05:21 : 10/10  0.1%
21:05:25 : 11/11  0.0%
21:05:30 : 12/12  0.0%
21:05:32 : Test finished.

 ---------- 
Total: 12/12 (0.0%)

Code: [Select]
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.0.2 beta 1
2010/04/01 21:06:13

File A: J:\Music\Lossless\Kraftwerk - The Man Machine\01. The Robots.flac
File B: C:\Temp\The Robots --tvbr 127.m4a

21:06:13 : Test started.
21:06:39 : 01/01  50.0%
21:06:44 : 02/02  25.0%
21:06:50 : 03/03  12.5%
21:07:02 : 04/04  6.3%
21:07:18 : 05/05  3.1%
21:07:30 : 06/06  1.6%
21:07:36 : 07/07  0.8%
21:07:45 : 08/08  0.4%
21:07:50 : 09/09  0.2%
21:07:55 : 10/10  0.1%
21:08:02 : 11/11  0.0%
21:08:13 : 12/12  0.0%
21:08:19 : Test finished.

 ---------- 
Total: 12/12 (0.0%)

Both encodes have a disorted artifact at 0:30 - 0:32, which sounds too obivous for me.

Code: [Select]
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.0.2 beta 1
2010/04/01 21:12:11

File A: J:\Music\Lossless\Kraftwerk - Electric Café\03. Musique Non Stop.flac
File B: C:\Temp\Musique Non Stop --tvbr 127.m4a

21:12:11 : Test started.
21:12:31 : 01/01  50.0%
21:12:35 : 02/02  25.0%
21:12:38 : 03/03  12.5%
21:12:41 : 04/04  6.3%
21:12:46 : 05/05  3.1%
21:12:51 : 06/06  1.6%
21:12:53 : 07/07  0.8%
21:12:56 : 08/08  0.4%
21:12:59 : 09/09  0.2%
21:13:06 : 10/10  0.1%
21:13:11 : 11/11  0.0%
21:13:18 : 12/12  0.0%
21:13:20 : 13/13  0.0%
21:13:24 : 14/14  0.0%
21:13:27 : 15/15  0.0%
21:13:31 : 16/16  0.0%
21:13:34 : 17/17  0.0%
21:13:39 : 18/18  0.0%
21:13:43 : 19/19  0.0%
21:13:46 : 20/20  0.0%
21:13:47 : Test finished.

 ---------- 
Total: 20/20 (0.0%)

Heavy distortion at 0:18, due to pre-echo.

Code: [Select]
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.0.2 beta 1
2010/04/01 21:15:56

File A: C:\Temp\Musique Non Stop --tvbr 127.m4a
File B: C:\Rips\Kraftwerk - Techno Pop\03. Musique Non Stop.flac

21:15:56 : Test started.
21:16:48 : 01/01  50.0%
21:16:53 : 02/02  25.0%
21:16:56 : 03/03  12.5%
21:17:03 : 04/04  6.3%
21:17:08 : 05/05  3.1%
21:17:11 : 06/06  1.6%
21:17:17 : 07/07  0.8%
21:17:21 : 08/08  0.4%
21:17:33 : 09/09  0.2%
21:17:38 : 10/10  0.1%
21:17:42 : 11/11  0.0%
21:17:45 : 12/12  0.0%
21:17:49 : 13/13  0.0%
21:17:54 : 14/14  0.0%
21:17:58 : 15/15  0.0%
21:17:58 : Test finished.

 ---------- 
Total: 15/15 (0.0%)

The 2009 remaster also contains the artifact, but it sounds softer and is at 0:19 - 0:20 this time. Please note that the old mastered version got overwritten with the remastered track after i ABXed it.
"I never thought I'd see this much candy in one mission!"

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #79 –
Quote from: /mnt on
I have done a quick test with QuickTime 7.6.6.

Sadly there is no improvement with pre-echo artifacts:



And how does this new version compare to current Nero AAC?

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #80 –
I'm not sure if it's bug. No lowpass for 96 kbps, 44100 Hz.

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #81 –
Quote from: IgorC on
I'm not sure if it's bug. No lowpass for 96 kbps, 44100 Hz.


I'm not able to reproduce. Seems like there's a lowpass at around 15500 or so for this bitrate when encoded in iTunes.

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #82 –
Confirmed, for some configurations LPF cutoff is disabled in QT 7.6.6. This is the same with iTunes.
It was enabled in 7.6.5 or 7.6.4.

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #83 –
Has anyone done any listening tests to see how the bug impacts quality? I guess it won't impact the higher bitrates (iTunes plus/ >q70/80 or so), so the encoder is safe to use for these settings.

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #84 –
So there's a new iTunes...

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #85 –
I can say that as for qtaacenc lowpass disables when using --samplerate keep. So for itunes you can try to choose the samplerate manually, mayby it will enable LWP
🇺🇦 Glory to Ukraine!

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #86 –
This was a minor update, I don't think they messed with encoders. But who knows.

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #87 –
Oh, look!  The changelog:

Quote
iTunes 9.1.1 provides a number of important bug fixes, including:

· Addresses a conflict with some third-party software which may cause iTunes to unexpectedly quit
· Addresses issues with converting songs to 128 kbps AAC while syncing
· Addresses other issues that improve stability and performance

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #88 –
A new iTunes, but nothing about AAC, it seems:

Quote
· Sync with iPhone 4 to enjoy your favorite music, movies, TV shows, books and more on-the-go
· Sync and read books with iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4 and iBooks 1.1
· Organize and sync PDF documents as books. Read PDFs with iBooks 1.1 on iPad and any iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4
· Organize your apps on your iOS 4 home screens into folders using iTunes
· Faster back-ups while syncing an iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4
· Album artwork improvements make artwork appear more quickly when exploring your library

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #89 –
BTW, when did it start including the error correction?

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #90 –
That "error" correction has been in place for as long as I can remember dating back to 2003 when iTunes was released for Windows.  I believe (and someone please correct me if I am wrong) that it is a form of jitter protection and it is nowhere as deep or as complex as what EAC and dBpowerAMP employ.  I have experienced over 100 tracks where iTunes ripped with audible errors (yet reported nothing) while both EAC and dBpowerAMP either ripped the track just fine or had to rip the track twice while telling me about the errors.

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #91 –
iTunes 9.2 really brings some welcome speed improvements.. Scrolling, resizing etc is a lot faster. Also nice to see the album art cross-dissolving when switching between albums

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #92 –
OSX 10.6.5 that was just released seems to include a new version of the AAC encoder, even though QT remains at version 7.6.6...

The bitrates varies from those files that were encoded with OSX 10.6.4 with the same settings.

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #93 –
The AAC encoder seems to revert back to the QT 7.6.5 version. It says codec version is 1.7.1 for LC-AAC, and 1.2.0 for HE-AAC. See this post, for reference.

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #94 –
Am I wrong or now it gives the same results as with Quicktime 7.6.8 on Windows? There was a minor difference in bit rates before the update between Mac e Windows versions, now it's the same as far as I've tested.
 

Snow Leopard AAC improvements..

Reply #95 –
Quote from: nao on
The AAC encoder seems to revert back to the QT 7.6.5 version. It says codec version is 1.7.1 for LC-AAC, and 1.2.0 for HE-AAC. See this post, for reference.


That's weird.. I guess it could have to do with the bug in the QT 7.6.6 version some talked about?