Thus spake Rolf Hanich ([EMAIL PROTECTED]):
> Maybe you should have a look on the new Fraunhofer plugin, as used in Nero.
Sorry, but I cannot test all incarnations of Fraunhofer plugins in the
world. The MusicMatch software is quite recent so I expected the
plugin to be to current version.
> It's very aggressively using higher bit rates in VBR (96...>>200 in
> medium quality setting, avg. about 140) and runs 8-10 faster that real
> time on a current CPU.
As I said, I limited the knobs that each encoder gave me until the total
file size was about equal for each encoder. For Fraunhofer than meant
that I had to turn quality down.
> The results in my opinion are brilliant.
If an encoder does not manage to sound good if you give if high quality
setting, it is not any good. To judge encoder quality in a test field
where most encoders are really close when it comes to quality, you have
to examine bitrates where they are forced to introduce artifacts.
> I'm not surprised at all about your tests, where 'audiophiles'
> couldn't tell MP3 from PCM. Psychoacoustics are often more psycho than
> acoustic ;-)
Hehe, that was not my test actually. c't did that double-blind test on
my suggestion, though, but it was some full-time editor of them who did
it. He told me that there were lots of complaint letters already and
they will choose 6 random complainees and use them for another
double-blind test ;) Fun for the whole family ;)
> I often catched myself unintentionally turning an AB comparison test
> into a double blind test because I was confusing the MP3 w. the PCM
> after switching forth and back several times, and was completely
> convinced I had heard some artifacts (but in the PCM!).
Yes, that also happens to me from time to time.
I listen to my encoded files, find artifacts, and the listen to the PCM
again to find the same artifact there. This could mean that the
recording was not very hifi, that the sound comes from a radio station
that uses mp3 for storage (this is more common than you might think!),
or that it sounds like an mp3 artifact for some other reason.
Felix
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