Any Difference Between Nullsoft and MAD Decoders???

[UNCjigga]

Hey, I know a bunch of y'all are audiophiles and 'r3mix' enthusiasts, so I have a question to ask you. Is there ANY real difference in output quality between the latest Nullsoft decoder (2.75i) and MAD (0.12.5b)?? I really can't tell a difference on my ACS-48s, and my friend (with some really nice headphones) can't tell the difference either--this is off of the primary output on an SB Live. Before, however, I seemed to notice a difference in burning CDs--using Winamp+MAD to convert from MP3 -> WAV vs. just using Nero (maybe all the benefit came from the Nullsoft decoder?) Can anyone say for sure if there is a benefit to using MAD? Any 'Golden Ears' here???

 

[kami]

I can definitely still tell a difference.

 

[konichiwa]

Yes.

 

[A5]

MAD is on 0.13.0b now 🙂

 

[LordMaul]

Yeah, Nullsoft makes WinAmp so it is better!! 😉 😀

It really kicks the Llama's ass....

 

[nullshark]

Whoops, sorry... Thought this was a thread about me 😛

 

[dawks]

I did some testing with my Altec Lansing ACS-495, not top of the line, but pretty damn good still.. The only differences I could detect was the poping that MAD added (on over 40 different MP3s, all at or above 192kbit. Poping was not present with Winamps house decoder).. And the 20% increase in CPU time :frown:

 

[UNCjigga]

DaZ--I'm feeling the difference in popping and CPU time..that's why I'm thinking of getting rid of MAD.