>
> Also visit http://www.vorbis.com/ , they released
> version 1.0beta yesterday ( tue, 20-jun-2000 )
>
> I read in an article at
> http://www.inside.com/story/Story_Cached/0,2770,6015,00.html
> --start quote---
> The LAME project, which makes MP3 encoders for Linux, was unable to
> afford a Fraunhofer license and had to pull executable files from
> its Web page. LAME is releasing a Vorbis encoder on Tuesday and,
> Montgomery says, ''basically switching out of MP3 altogether.''
> --end quote---
>
> The mentioned tuesday is Jun 20,2000.
> Montgomery is the key man of Vorbis.
> So Mark, what about some clarification ?
>
> David Balazic
> --
> MP3 ENCODER mailing list ( http://geek.rcc.se/mp3encoder/ )
>
The CVS version of LAME can decode and encode .ogg files (using
libvorbis). But LAME will not be dropping MP3 nor making Vorbis the
default.
Vorbis now produces streams which average about 128kbs. But in my own
blind tests of a few samples, I rated the Vorbis stream as worse
quality than mp3 every time. But Vorbis is still alpha, and is
already clearly higher quality than the ISO mp3 code (and thus higher
quality than LAME was about 1.5 years ago). So with more work it
might match or even exceed MP3. When Vorbis adds support for higher
bitrates, it will probably be very hard to tell the difference between
Vorbis and mp3 at around 200kbs.
I like this quote:
--start quote---
According to Brandenburg, the ISO asked Fraunhofer to develop sample
encoding and decoding software as a tool for industry to learn how to
use MP3. The source code -- the underlying instructions -- for these
programs was carelessly placed on an insecure university server, where
it was later obtained by a hacker in Amsterdam known as
SoloH. (Brandenburg says the download was not authorized but also not
illegal.) Using SoloH's source code, coders across Europe and the
United States wrote and gave away MP3 software of their own, creating
-- without the participation of the music industry -- the base for
today's explosion of online music.
--end quote---
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