I am planning on encoding a large amount of albums from one artist to some particular audio format at no more than 99kbps (to fit them all on one CD). What would be the best format to do this with, quality-wize, and what switches should I use?

Vorbis -q2 or -q3

maybe HE-AAC too

I agree, these two are probably going to be the best options.

I thought AAC was a CBR format... ?

Definitely not.

This is a funny bitrate area for encoding. Just beyond the bitrate of HE AAC and just below the bitrate of some pretty decent LC AAC quality. I don't use Vorbis so I can't help you there. For AAC use the 'Internet, 90-100kbps' preset in Nero.

For reference, oggdropXPd (Post 1.0 CVS) reports a nominal bitrate of exactly 99.0kbps with -q 2.19, if you're wondering what can give you as close as possible to 99kbps (on average, anyway) using Vorbis (VBR, quality-based).

how about wma9 Pro?

He'll probably want to be able to still read it x years down the track so it's probably not a good idea.

exactly, so that's why he should use wm9 Pro

Go for MP3PRO 96 kbps. I mean it.

wma9 pro doesnt work for bitrates below 128kbps

he-aac still doesnt work for bitrates above 70kbps till now

so i would definitely use vorbis!

What about MPC?? It did win the 128kbit test. I would think that it probably wouldn't be the best at this bitrate, but it must be at least a contender?

P.S. I have inrternet here in Quebec but it is dialup and I am limited to 20min a day.

MPC is not the magic answer to everything.

Ogg Vorbis, AAC-HE, RealAudio 9 or MP3 Pro @ 96 kbit.

I'd pick Vorbis....

At least CoolEditPro / Adobe Audition wma9[b]pro[b] VBR 10 and 25 settings give bitrates < 128kbs, probably VBR 50 too.

Please! Let's stay serious! No jokes please.

IF you decide to go with Ogg Vorbis, a switch you might want to use is one that will alter the audio frequency cut off point:

--advanced-encode-option lowpass_frequency=xx

where xx is the override cut off point in kHz.

Using --advanced-encode-option lowpass_frequency=19 will change a -q 2.99 cut off from 17.886140 kHz to 19.000000 kHz.

With one test file, a command line switch of "-q 2.99 --advanced-encode-option lowpass_frequency=19" gave me a file with an average bitrate: 94.4 kb/s.

A command line switch of "-q 3 --advanced-encode-option lowpass_frequency=19" gave me a file with an average bitrate: 102.5 kb/s

To the original poster, you should've created a poll to coincide w/ this thread.

My pick also goes to Ogg, but I wonder how mpc would fare just below 128.

And why would you want to do that? Is there any notable (ABXable?) improvement in audio quality? You should have been a member of HA long enough to know that such claims/advisements should be backed up.

dev0

no no no.. don't use a poll. just wait for rjamorim to come up with the next listening test...

Go with HE AAC if you can afford it (Nero 6), Ogg Vorbis if you can't. Vorbis is generally supported the same amount (or much, much much more if you use OSS) as AAC, and is free. It's what I would go with. You should always try different codecs and see what sounds best to you, but I'm guessing you'd like a quick, simple solution.

And don't take budgie seriously

Hehe. I don't think I'll be conducing a 99kbps listening test any time soon.

My next plan is a vocodec test, with the help of JMValin, by november. Then, an MP3@128kbps test by December. Then maybe another several codecs at 128kbps test, featuring latest developments, by the beginning of 2004.

Stay tuned

Oh boys... Why should be MP3PRO at 96 kbps ruled out?! It just sounds great for such a bitrate! I mean it.

EDIT: Just now I've noticed the warn indicator at 1/3... Why? Yesterday it wasn't there.

goodie