which Fraunhofer Pro Codec is the best ?

- new original Fraunhofer 3.3.2 (Build 44) 2004 (from windows media player 10)
- Radium 1.263
- Kristal Studio 4.2

I believe the only way to answer that with some confidence is with a listening test.

Why don't ya just use lame, which we can prove it's transparency with listening tests?

Well it depends on the bit-rate @ 128kbps I would use fastenc -hq.

I doubt there is any diffrence in Fraunhofer 3.3.2 (Build 44) 2004 & Radium 1.263 other than speed.

You can run your own tests, fastenc can be d/led at a geocites site (search google) & so can mp3enc31.

But why transparency ?
May be he is searching for codec for low bitrates...
EDIT:
You can search for fastenc at www.geocities.com

yup, I like the atificial brightness of FhG!

but Fraunhofer 3.3.2 (Build 44) 2004 is the same nero mp3 encoder?

Instead of flooding the thread with BS why don't you read the first post,

Has anyone done a comparison between the new Fraunhofer mp3 codec in WMP10 and the old Radium hack?

Fraunhofer (i belive) MP3 encoder from NERO. High quality.

Fhg CBR64 vs lame --preset 64
foo_abx v1.2 report
foobar2000 v0.8.1
2004/09/07 19:18:57

File A: file://C:\...\zz.lame.mp3
File B: file://C:\...\zz.fhg.mp3

19:18:59 : Test started.
19:23:05 : 01/01 50.0%
19:23:19 : 02/02 25.0%
19:23:48 : 03/03 12.5%
19:24:14 : 04/04 6.3%
19:24:41 : 05/05 3.1%
19:24:54 : 06/06 1.6%
19:25:13 : 07/07 0.8%
19:25:29 : 08/08 0.4%
19:25:46 : 09/09 0.2%
19:26:01 : 10/10 0.1%
19:26:23 : Test finished.

----------
Total: 10/10 (0.1%)

Fhg CBR112 vs lame --preset 112
Fhg avg. bitrate 112
lame avg. bitrate 104 (even less than fhg!)
foo_abx v1.2 report
foobar2000 v0.8.1
2004/09/07 20:11:17

File A: file://C:\...\zz.fhg.mp3
File B: file://C:\...\zz.lame.mp3

20:11:21 : Test started.
20:11:49 : 01/01 50.0%
20:12:08 : 02/02 25.0%
20:12:15 : 03/03 12.5%
20:12:34 : 04/04 6.3%
20:12:43 : 05/05 3.1%
20:12:49 : 06/06 1.6%
20:12:58 : 07/07 0.8%
20:13:13 : 08/08 0.4%
20:13:29 : Test finished.

----------
Total: 8/8 (0.4%)

I supposed that Fhg performs better on low bitrates (<112) but after some listening i found that lame_preset_ABR was clearly better even with lower avg. bitrate... I was used one of classic samples.

Maybe this is not Fhg or i tested with unoptimal settings?

for wav-to-mp3 i use the currently recommended LAME 3.90.3 with RazorLame and --alt-preset insane

i use Fraunhofer only for video (in VirtualDub)

is LameACM.acm the same quality as Lame.exe or Lame_enc.dll ?

lameACM might have issues with cool edit or audition. i know mine did (took me AGES to figure out where the problem was, then i remembered there was a debuggerer on my computer and i could use that...).

if you're encoding to video, why not use regular lame and mux in the mp3 file to virtualdub. it doesn't really take any longer. most of my DVD backups are anime with stereo sources, so for these i simply mux in the original ac3. there's usually ample room.

[edit]

FhG only has a reputation for being better at low bitrates because of it's IS stereo implementation. i'm not surprised that lame betters it, because it's simply had more tuning (and by people who care a lot about audio, working under the weight of blind listening tests, and no commercial motives).

btw, i haven't actually done any similar tests myself - i use lame (a) because it sounds better at my preferred bitrate range, and (b) it's open. open takes priority in my book, as it needs to be encouraged (i think all this software patent stuff in the EU may be an attempt to undermine opensource projects that threaten the viability of their commercial counterparts. but of course i can't prove it:)).

Raduim 1.263 and Kristal Studio 4.2 might be a same codec, these two ACM has same size, same encode speed(~12x at Pentium 4 2.4GHz; Fhg ACM from WMP10 encode speed at ~ 38x. )...
The difference between two codec is codec description, sigh...

So, the answer might be new original Fraunhofer 3.3.2 (Build 44) 2004 (from windows media player 10).

IIRC, the Kristal codec was found to have a higher lowpass than
the Radium hack.
There was a thead about FhG codecs some time ago.
I'll search for it when I have time.