Hi guys and girls.

I know this question i slikely to annoy but I cannot locate any clear post that distinguishes between these three (3) formats.

I want to know which has best sound quality at:
VBR
same CBR (say anything > 192 kbps)

Space is not an issue.



ALso, which format is gapless, which is not?

short answer: MPC

but the answer isn't as easy as that. it has a lot to do with personal needs and other stuff.

Asuming portables, space, OS, wide software support is not an issue: MPC

MPC: gapless, fastest encoder/decoder, transparent 140-190k (q5), has no portable hardware support yet.

AAC: Lots of tuning and developement, should be transparent 192+ k, has some portable hardware support, gapless ???

Ogg: gapless, transparent 200k+ (q6), HF issues <q6 and somtimes 'noise' at higher bitrates, has some portable hardware support.

My choices would be:

1 - lossless: If you are quality paranoid and space is no issue.
2 - MPC or hybrid lossless
3 - AAC: if you have Ipod
4 - Lame aps / ogg for other portables.

Just a minor point. Technically ogg is just a file container while the actual codec is called Vorbis. So 'Ogg Vorbis' is more accurate.

According to the last 128 kbps listening test, MPC was statistically tied, but on average, it achieved a higher average, so I guess that may indicate better sound quality.

Depends on your needs.

AAC: Defined in the MPEG-4 specs. Supported by iTunes and the iPod. Beyond the iPod there isn't much portable support yet. iTunes and FAAC are the only free implementations. Offers transparency in the 192-224kbps range but 128kbps is great for portable use. iTunes AAC is not gapless. I believe Nero and FAAC AAC are gapless.

Ogg Vorbis: An open, free audio codec. Has a lot of support in PC media players (not sure about Mac). The Rio Karma and some iRiver models support Ogg Vorbis but that's it currently. Has its own standard tagging. Reaches transparency in the 200kbps+ range (q 6). Gapless.

MusePack: Considered the best lossy encoder. Reaches transparency at lower bitrates than MP3 and Ogg Vorbis. An MPC file encoded at the standard profile (q 5) is usually in the 160-190kbps range and to most people it should be transparent. No hardware support for MusePack currently. Hardly any players except for Foobar2000 support it natively but plug-ins are available for Winamp and other media players. Gapless.

What is the best codec for your needs? Only you can decide that. Good luck choosing a format

My sentiments exactly. However, I'll give another vote for MPC. It really shines in being truly gapless (only lossy encoder I've tested to handle Parabol into Parabola without any blip in the transition), very fast encode/decode and in terms of stereo-to-surround expansion the rear channels, when isolated, are indistinguishable from lossless in most cases and superior to aac and ogg, to my ears atleast since its very impractical to abx such things take it with a grain of salt. This is in regard to 1.14 beta.

There are samples where there is a blip in MPC but not Vorbis.

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....howtopic=18207&

I never tested those samples I mentioned with vorbis. It may be just as gapless but it doesnt outshine musepack in anyway to deter me from using it. I have one album in ogg not encoded by myself that truly needs to be gapless but there are very, very noticeable gaps and that was my main basis for comparison.

If you own a Mac or an iPod go with AAC. If disk space is not a problem and
you own a Mac or an iPod go with AAC Lossless and transcode to 128kbps for
your iPod.

If you don't own a Mac or an iPod and being able to play your music on a
portable device is important, record in a lossless format like FLAC and transcode
to Ogg or MPC.

Sean