WMP10 Final comes with new 2004 FhG Pro ACM codec? Options

[kindofblue]

ezra: put the acmenc (exe and other) files in your batchenc directory and try this:
acmenc -p fiis-adv -b 128 - <outfile.mp3>

Hmmm. Progress. This launches AMCEnc. However, AMCEnc does nothing. It just brings up the window. No prompt for another command, no encoding, etc.

Is there another step I am missing?

Verify which FhG codec was installed in your PC

CODE

acmenc -ld

You should see a list of codecs containing either this:

CODE

[001389B8] MPEG Layer-3 Codec Version 3.3.44
Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 Codec (professional)
Copyright (C) 1996-2004 Fraunhofer IIS

or something like "Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 Codec (advanced)"

If it's the professional, then the commandline should be

CODE

acmenc -p fiis-pro -b 128 <infile> <outfile>

HTH

[ezra2323]

If it's the professional, then the commandline should be
CODE
acmenc -p fiis-pro -b 128 <infile> <outfile>

That's the trick! Thanks HTH.

Now I can do some CBR 256 kbps testing vs. LAME. It will be disappointing (but amusing) if after all this work, LAME kicks its butt at 256 kbps CBR

[ezra2323]

One amazing thing. Fraunhofer encodes at 25x vs. LAME at 8x on my PC. Of course, faster should mean (but not absolutely) lower quality. 25x is even faster than Apple encoding AAC on iTunes.

[mat128]

it depends on many factors ... for example, in argentina, a dollar costs 3 pesos, so basically, all that is IT related, for us, is like paying 3 times ... like a HD costs 80 dollars, which is 240 pesos, so in reality, is like if it costs, to US people, 240 dollars ... so ... we are seeing many 256MB machines here ...

Dude you didn't pass that currency class back in high school did you?
1 US$ = 2.85 pesos

So lets say you're getting 512mb of ram for 50 US$, it costs you 142.50 pesos... But your salary is also multiplied by 2.85 so in the end its approximately the same

[Jojo]

it depends on many factors ... for example, in argentina, a dollar costs 3 pesos, so basically, all that is IT related, for us, is like paying 3 times ... like a HD costs 80 dollars, which is 240 pesos, so in reality, is like if it costs, to US people, 240 dollars ... so ... we are seeing many 256MB machines here ...

Dude you didn't pass that currency class back in high school did you?
1 US$ = 2.85 pesos

So lets say you're getting 512mb of ram for 50 US$, it costs you 142.50 pesos... But your salary is also multiplied by 2.85 so in the end its approximately the same

what if the average person over there only makes 200 bucks a month, because living expenses are a lot cheaper?

[ezra2323]

I recently posed some questions to Fraunhofer regarding their Professional encoder included with WMP 10. The answers I received were informational, fair, and objective. Not the typical marketing BS put forth by Microsoft or even Apple. Overall, I was very impressed with the response.

Is the Professional 3.3.44 the highest quality Fraunhofer MP3 encoder and if so, what improvements have you made to it vs. previous versions?

There is almost no difference in the encoding quality of different
recent Fraunhofer IIS MP3 encoders. They may, however, differ in
encoding speed, since we have put quite some effort in speed
optimization lately.

What settings are required for the highest quality MP3 encodings?

For "perfect" stereo MP3, you need two requisites:

1) high bitrate - for highest quality, don't use bitrates below 192
kbit/s.  You should rather consider using 256kbit/s or even 320 kbit/s,
although the difference between the last two is rarely even conceivable
(and only with "golden ears" and a good hifi equipment).

2) a good codec - the Fraunhofer codec is available, for example, with
the MusicMatch Jukebox, with Windows Media 10, with Magix MP3 Maker, and
many more products - look at the disclaimers.  (This does not mean other
MP3 codecs are "bad", however.)

That is all - for the rest of the encoder settings, use the presets,
because they are set to give you maximum quality in the most cases
(including most classical and jazz pieces).

What software applications have the Fraunhofer MP3 encoder embedded?

There is no current stand-alone "Fraunhofer IIS MP3 Encoder"
available for end-users. You have to use the MP3 encoder that comes with
the software listed above.

Overall, some nice responses. While "perfect" may be stretch, notice there was no claim of 128 = CD quality. he acknowledged that MP3 really excels over 192. He also did not bash LAME or any other encoder.

I have recently been using IIS Pro 3.3.44 at 256 CBR and I am very satisfied by the sound. This is in no way a comparison to LAME 3.90.3 APS which also has a very impressive sound, and at an approximate 20% bit rate discount. I still use LAME APS as my primary encoder but 3.3.44 is worth checking out, if only for comparison purposes, if you have no done so yet. And if you need speed - this encoder is blazing!

Anyway, thought this may be of interest.

[ezra2323]

Does anyone have a command line to offer to activate AMCEnc via the command line encoder in EAC? Aside from compressing the ripped WAV to MP3 (say, bit rate of 192 but the number is easy enough to adjust), I would like to also add track name, number, artist, album, and genre.

If this cannot be done from EAC, please advise. I have been using a '2 step' process. Rip CD to WAV via EAC and then compress via BatchEncode (activating AMCEnc). A 1 step rocess would be great!

Thanks.

[kindofblue]

I've been wondering how to do the same thing with FhG Pro and also Helix. For FhG Pro I think it should be similar to LAME:

ACMENC's command-line options have a kind of compatibility with LAME's one, so I suppose you can create your own by looking at an example for LAME.

From the ACMENC --help screen:

CODE

     --tt <title>      audio/song title
     --ta <artist>     audio/song artist
     --tl <album>      audio/song album
     --ty <year>       audio/song year of issue (1 to 9999)
     --tc <comment>    user-defined text
     --tn <track>      audio/song track number
     --tg <genre>      audio/song genre name
     --add-id3v2       force addition of ID3v2 tag
     --id3v1-only      add only ID3v1 tag
     --id3v2-only      add only ID3v2 tag
     --tv <vener>      encoder vender string to be stored in MP3 Info tag
     --enc-delay <val> encoder delay in samples to be stored in MP3 Info tag

So one could try something like:

CODE

acmenc -p fiis-pro -b 128 --ta "%a" --tt "%t" --tl "%g" --ty "%y" --tn "%n" --tg "%m" %s %d

You probably might want to add "--add-id3v2" as well in there. Let me know if this works. I dont have access to EAC atm.

cheers
kindofblue

This post has been edited by kindofblue: Aug 9 2005, 05:06

[ezra2323]

I've read conflicting reports regarding stereo vs. joint-stereo for Fraunhofer's codec. I have read it uses joint stereo at 128 or below but normal stereo for higher bit rates.

I have made encodes via AMCEnc and WMP 10 (for comparison purposes) using IIS Professional 3.3.2 build 44 at 192 kbps and 256 kbps. When I import these files into iTunes and click on "get info", all files shows that they are joint stereo.

Does anyone know if it is indeed joint stereo or just iTunes displaying incorect info? If it is joint stereo, is this bad? I have read only LAME should be used with joint stereo at high bit rates.

And here are all the programs I have found that use (or can use) this encoder:

AMCEnc (the best!)
WMP 10
Magix MP3 Maker 10
MusicMatch (newest version)
Sony SonicStage

The encoder seems to have widespread support and seems only 2nd to LAME in use.

[sony666]

for FhG encoded files the joint stereo information is not reliable.

only way to check I know is the detail view of EncSpot

[ezra2323]

EncSpot?

[skelly831]

EncSpot

Here's the Link

[ezra2323]

Muchas gracias.

[Synaptic Line No...]

Is the quality better than the old codec?
Is it better or faster than the opensource helix encoder?

This post has been edited by Synaptic Line Noise: Aug 14 2005, 08:15

[ezra2323]

Via EncSpot, I have confirmed that no matter the bit rate, Fraunhofer IIS 3.3.2 build 44 uses joint stereo. Not sure if this is best at bit rates 192 and up?

[thisisnuts]

Via EncSpot, I have confirmed that no matter the bit rate, Fraunhofer IIS 3.3.2 build 44 uses joint stereo. Not sure if this is best at bit rates 192 and up?

ezra2323,

I've also notice the same thing. Using EncSpot Pro v2.0b397 and Mr.QuestionMan. Not sure if it's an issue with the new version or an issue with EncSpot and Mr.QuestionMan.

I'm using EAC to create an Image.wav and then use:
acmenccs --extra-opt "-p fiis-pro -b128" CDImage.cue

This post has been edited by thisisnuts: Aug 16 2005, 03:42

[magic75]

Via EncSpot, I have confirmed that no matter the bit rate, Fraunhofer IIS 3.3.2 build 44 uses joint stereo. Not sure if this is best at bit rates 192 and up?

Have you just checked the stereo column or have you checked the frame type distribution graphs? All FhG files I have that are >128 kbps and also labelled joint stereo, have in fact turned out to use 100% ss (simple stereo?) frames, and no ms or is frames at all.

only way to check I know is the detail view of EncSpot

[ezra2323]

Nayochi's AMCEnc guide states it is unwise to use the -h (high quality) option with Fraunhofer IIS 3.3.2 build 44 due to artifacts. Any idea why the high quality option would produce lower quality results?

[Otto42]

it did not even play any of my mp3s. says suitable codec not found:)

Same, I d/led from Wish's link, uninstalled my Raduim hack then installed WMP 10 & now no FhG mp3 codec is installed. Could be I didn't restart my PC yet?

While this is a bit of an old post, I had this same problem today on my Dad's brand new Dell PC. It came with WMP9 pre-installed, and after installing WMP10, he got that "suitable codec" message when trying to rip a CD to MP3 in WMP10.

Took some searching, but the fix for this is:
-Regedit.
-Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/MediaPlayer/Settings/MP3Encoding.
-Delete the "LowrateSample" key.

That's it. This will remove that message (which shouldn't be there anyway on WMP10/XP systems) and allow it to rip to mp3 properly.

Just thought this info might come in handy for somebody else.

[edekba]

As for M$'s graphics card recommendation ... maybe they are implementing some 3D effects based on the Doom³ graphics engine ...

i think i t has more to do w/ Windows' Vista Aero Gfx engine.

[amitpatel5000]

sorry to bring this 3 months old post, but as i was recently interested in the latest commandline encoder (which was in fact realeased after 15 days from the last post of this thread i.e. in septemer)

i have been testing some samples @ 128kbps
and i thought it is also a best place to post, since those interested in this WMP10 final FhG Pro codec might also want to check out this commandline encoder.

if anyone is testing it against acm codec (as this encoder itself encodes files that are recognized by encspot as acm or producer pro) whether both are same or which one is better, plz post here. since it's been long time since FhG's last encoders, researchers might get interested.