Pre-Test discussion, Looking for opinions. Options

[rjamorim]

Hello.

As most of you already know, I'm planning an extension test for the AAC@128kbps test. It'll be the AAC winner (QuickTime) versus Musepack, Vorbis, Lame ABR, WMAv9 and maybe Atrac3 (more on that later). The test should start (if everything goes right) in a week (the 23rd)

There are some subjects where I'm still not sure how to proceed, so I would like to rely on the forum users' knowledge:

1 - Should I include Atrac3 (used on Sony MiniDiscs and Real Audio at mid-high bitrates) in this test? Is there anyone out there interested in this format? (besides Den ;) )

2 - I plan to use anchors in this test. For those that don't know, anchors are samples that suffer no processing from the original apart from lowpass. They are used to put the results into perspective and avoid participants rating the encoded samples too high and/or too low. The questions that arise are:
a) 2 anchors (high and low) are needed, or only one anchor is enough? (IMO, two anchors are more useful in low bitrate tests, and don't make much sense in high bitrate ones)
b) JohnV votes for one lowpass for each sample, else some samples might sound better lowpassed than their original versions. ff123 votes for one fixed lowpass for all samples, to put things into perspective. What's your personal opinion?
c) Anyone has any idea of good lowpass(es) for the test? It's a difficult choice since low lowpasses might sound too unpleasant to the fellas with good hearing and pro gear, but high lowpasses might sound too transparent to the fellas with not-so-good hearing or simple gear.

Thanks for your help.

Regards;

Roberto Amorim.

This post has been edited by rjamorim: Jul 16 2003, 04:09

[guruboolez]

One 'problem' with bachpsichord (and with beautyslept too, but at lower degree), is the bitrate reached with --radio profile : near 200 kbps...

P.S. What to you mean by "screw up" ?