Yesterday I purchased the Nero AAC encoder for Nero 5.5. A couple odd things I've noticed about it:
1) VBR files seem to be using an awfully low average bit rate. Previous encoding tests I have done with the PsyTel encoder (predecessor to Nero's encoder) showed about a 20% size reduction (256K VBR AAC vs 320K VBR MP3) and a significant improvement in sound quality. With Nero's encoder set to VBR the files are 1/2 the size of the MP3's & don't sound as good. As far as I can tell I've turned the encode options to their maximum setting. The files sound decent, but aren't obviously better than the MP3's from the same source. Unfortunately I don't currently have any classical CD"s (what I used for the original testing), so maybe my testing method is flawed. 256K CBR is audibly better, but I would prefer a maxed out VBR setting that favored higher bitrates a little more.
2) I'm occasionally getting decoder errors in Winamp, for example I have one file that gives an error stating "Channel coupling not yet implemented." I'm still using an old PsyTel decoder, do I need to find something more recent?
I'm ready to make the switch over to AAC (don't have the HD space to encode 1200 CD's in any lossless format), but AAC doesn't seem all that mature at this point.
Viper GTS
1) VBR files seem to be using an awfully low average bit rate. Previous encoding tests I have done with the PsyTel encoder (predecessor to Nero's encoder) showed about a 20% size reduction (256K VBR AAC vs 320K VBR MP3) and a significant improvement in sound quality. With Nero's encoder set to VBR the files are 1/2 the size of the MP3's & don't sound as good. As far as I can tell I've turned the encode options to their maximum setting. The files sound decent, but aren't obviously better than the MP3's from the same source. Unfortunately I don't currently have any classical CD"s (what I used for the original testing), so maybe my testing method is flawed. 256K CBR is audibly better, but I would prefer a maxed out VBR setting that favored higher bitrates a little more.
2) I'm occasionally getting decoder errors in Winamp, for example I have one file that gives an error stating "Channel coupling not yet implemented." I'm still using an old PsyTel decoder, do I need to find something more recent?
I'm ready to make the switch over to AAC (don't have the HD space to encode 1200 CD's in any lossless format), but AAC doesn't seem all that mature at this point.
Viper GTS
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