OK, so in Sebastians ongoing listening test the NeroAAC version is 3.1.0.2 and is supposed be the latest... but in Nero 7.0.1.4 the codec shows up as 4.2.2.3. The way I read things, there is a version which is a tweaked "old branch" and there is a completely written from the ground up new version. Now logic tells me that the higher numbered version should be the newest and best, but after reading various threads I'm uncertain which is which.

So Ivan or Garf, ongoing listening tests not withstanding, which is the latest and greatest in your opinion? Addtionally, is your recommendation to use "High" or "Fast" when encoding?

Thank you,
Pete

3.2.0.xx => latest "nero 6" encoder [october 2005]
4.2.0.xx => first "nero 7" encoders [november 2005]
3.0.0.xx => first semi-public release of the new-generation-rewritten-from-scratch [december 2005]. This new branch will apparently be labelled as "5.0.xx" in the future.

The problem is that the (development) encoder versions have a different version numbering from the "official release" Nero ones.

The lastest and greatest public one is the one used for Sebastians test, which is numbered 3.1.0.2. Only LC-AAC "VBR/Stereo - Streaming" is tuned. When it makes it into Nero, it should be numbered 5.x (and be fully tuned for all settings).

http://www.rarewares.org/rja/nero_aac_encoder_v3_1_0_2.rar

Guru & Garf,

Thank you very much for your clear and concise answers. My head was spinning.

Sorry to ask a follow up question that is off a bit on a tangent from the first one. I primarily use Foobar's DiskWriter for encoding. Using the codec from Sebastians page and aacenc32.exe, I successfully encoded some 3.1.0.2 files by putting the encoder and the codec in the same folder. But now after installing Nero 7.0.1.4 and without changing anything in Foobar or the folder, the same command line encoder now sees the 4.2.2.3 version. How can I force it back to 3.1.0.2 without uninstalling Nero?

And how about "High" vs "Fast" in 3.1.0.2? Is "High" recommended?

Thank you again for your help.

Cheers,
Pete

Yes. ("When in doubt, use the defaults")

Try replacing the codec dll from wherever nero installed it with the 3.1.0.2 one.

@Garf, Thank you!

@Shade, Thanks... that was actually the first thing that I tried, but Diskwriter balked at it and aborted.

Any other ideas, anyone?

Cheers,
Pete

I didn´t want to start another thread so i ask it here.

I have a question regarding nero AAC.
Since we just decided a Nero volume license at work for our roll-out and the Ahead AG is just 50km away from me i felt a kind of affection playing with Nero AAC
I just did some encodings to get an impression of the gapless support. I tried this with the new Madonna and had very big clicks on the crossing of the tracks.
I used foobar to decode to wav and the new 3.1.0.2 Nero implementation.
The same tracks work perfect decoded from ogg.
Is it common Nero AAC has more problems than ogg with the gaps or just related to the early stage of 3.1.0.2?

Thanks in advance for any input!

Is it just me or when i encode using 3.1.0.2 always end up @ 133 in Mr Question Man

If I'm using fb2k convert with the Q7 setting, would I be better off using this version or the one that came with Nero 7?

Well, please see the result form Sebastians test! It turned out that the linked encoder had a bug.

I was just reading about that.

Is there any way of knowing when an updated encoder might be released?

When will be realised this new nero aac. approximately?

Thanks for advice

Next Week

It's out now
http://www.nero.com/nerodigital/eng/Nero_Digital_Audio.html

...and its mentioned here!
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=44275