Winamp Fraunhofer MPEG-4 AAC Encoder? Options

[HA2013]

Is FhG AAC encoder bundled with Winamp 5.63 a decent one, or there are better free alternative?.This encoder can achieve a maximum bitrate of 448 kbps on CBR mode and LC profile, but I wonder if it's more efficient than other encoders, as I'm considering switching fro MP3 insane preset encodec with LAME 3.99.5 and re-ripping lossless source into AAC-LC (.m4a) files.Thanks in advance.

This post has been edited by HA2013: Dec 23 2012, 00:31

[Brand]

I agree. The main purpose of lossy encoding is to save space.
So using such high bitrates and CBR is missing the point, IMO.

And even if you use an insanely high bitrate lossy and achieve audible transparency for "regular playback", you might still have to deal with things like audible gapless imperfections. AFAIK, Vorbis is one of the very few lossy codecs (if not the only one) which handless gapless perfectly. Neither AAC or MP3 do that. So if you're "paranoid" about audio quality you're stuck with lossless anyway.

This post has been edited by Brand: Dec 23 2012, 16:26