Which is the best audio codec

[TheMafioso]

I need to convert some of my music collection in FLAC to some other format(s) as i'm running out of HDD space...
I initially wanted it to convert it to mp3 320kbps..but a friend of mine recomended to use nero AAC instead saying it gives better compression....
Now i'm confused, a searching on internet for quite a while, i still can't decide if should do it in mp3 or AAC and if i want to do it in AAC, what bitrates i should use to achieve quality same as 320kbps mp3..

Please Help me guys...

TIA

 

[shortylickens]

For me the "best" is mp3 because its still pretty much universal. None of the other formats are yet.

Dont know what bitrates are available for AAC, I would say just use Nero and make some files and see what you can do.
I can only assume the largest and highest rate gets you the best quality.

 

[tuteja1986]

MP3 is old and outdated... http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1560785,00.asp .

The codec everyone hate is better than MP3... WMA. But i say OGG , MKV & FLAC are the kings .

 

[imported_Ned Flanders]

WMA is really good - but it's a MS codec so....

I'm not sure - my experiance with .ogg wasn't great - I got smaller better sounding wma files.

 

[CSMR]

There are several lossless codecs but flac has the most support (relevant if you are using with portable players).

 

[TheMafioso]

Whatever i found out from the internet is ogg>wma>aac>mp3 performance wise....but the top 2 aren't widely used...AAC well my phone supports it(SE k750) so i guess it will do...

I'm thinking of converting my flacs to 224kbps AAC, it is supposed to as good as 320kbps mp3, lets see..

 

[biggestmuff]

Why don't you do a blind test with various codecs at various bitrates?

That's how I settled on 192 kb/s MP3s.

 

[Evander]

For low bitrates, AAC is best. Sounds good even as low as 24 kbps stereo

For 128 kbps or better, use MP3 with variable bitrate following this guide:
http://www.chrismyden.com/bestmp3guide.php

I've never ripped from FLAC to anything, probably dbPowerAmp is your best bet

I'd say the best around codec is MP3 b/c of compatibility. Go shopping for a car stereo and see how many support mp3 vs. aac and you'll see what I mean. I only use AAC for my PDA/smartphones b/c mem cards aren't that cheap, $20 for 1 gig, $40 for 2GB, and for some reason above 4 GB there's a HUGE jump in price

 

[Slick5150]

Why use a CBR MP3? Use LAME to get a very high quality VBR MP3 file (high quality, small size)

 

[CKent]

As people have said, mp3 is old and outdated, even the latest and most optimized versions of it are noticeably inferior to CD quality, even at 320bit, especially in the highs and lows. AAC, OGG and WMA are all superior at any given bitrate. I prefer Ogg-Vorbis as it's open-source.

 

[VIAN]

I always enjoyed music at 128kbps. Of course I never compared it to the source. And even when I did, I didn't notice much difference.

Now I use AAC 160kbps VBR on Itunes. I don't know if it's any better or that it sounds much better. I use VBR for the extra quality, that I find negligible anyway, but what the heck, it's more efficient. Since VBR also goes below the average, I bumped up the previously preferred 128kbps to 160kbps so that the lowest bitrate doesn't go below 128kbps.

I find Itunes very easy to use and is my preferred audio player.

Notes: AAC is more restrictive with frequency than MP3. However, the frequency it doesn't restrict is sampled better. AAC also contains other cool features that come standard. Overall, it is more efficient.

 

[PorscheMaD911]

OGG's good ... or buy another HDD and stick with FLAC!

 

[xgsound]

Originally posted by: Slick5150
Why use a CBR MP3? Use LAME to get a very high quality VBR MP3 file (high quality, small size)

This is all opinion so here's mine. The above is what I use, and I find the quality acceptable. The VBR of 192 average with the --alt-preset standard gives 320 only when necessary and 128 when it can. The end result is .mp3 files that I put in Artist folders on CD for the Pioneer ($150) car player. One CD holds 170 or so songs.

The mp3 files should be as universal as you can get now and in the future. Look, they call all the players MP3 players, right. That's the format I save any songs in.


Jim

 

[SleepWalkerX]

OGG or Flac. For now on I will only buy mp3 players that support at least OGG.

 

[Gooberlx2]

I rip at WMAlossless, and convert to ~160 ABR-mp3 for my old iriver portable.

If I were to get a Zune or Creative Zen, then I'd go WMA all the way.