Has anyone worked much with this encoder? http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Au...-Surround.shtml

Does it offer improved performance from the Fraunhofer encoder that is packaged with WMP 10 for traditional 2 channel encodes? Just curious if it is an improved encoder or if it only offers surround sound options that differentiates it from previous Fraunhofer encoders. From the Fraunhofer site:



It claims "better" encoding performance than version 1.0 but am not sure what that means exactly. Overall or only as it relates to surround sound?

Anyway, I'm still a LAME 3.97 user - just curious about what Fraunhofer's new surround sound codec is like for encoding traditional (2 channel) WAV files.

i'm sure someone at HA has some experience with it to share.

Before someone posts the inevitable response "why don't you listen and see for yourself?" - I fully intend to, I'm just seeking the wisdom of others who have already done so.

There's another thread about it just started today as well:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=46978

There's another thread about it just started today as well:

Thanks. It is similar but a bit different. This thread is about the quality of standard 2 channel audio encoded with the new surround encoder.

Okay, I have used this encoder quite a lot, and it's sound quality is similar to FastEnc (v.3.3.x also in WMP), but sometimes produces a glitch in the beginning of the file. Overall, it is a very good quality encoder

J.M.

(edit- some versions mismatch)

Thanks. I am very familiar with FastEnc 3.3.44 in WMP 10. While not a bad encoder at all, I have tested it vs. LAME 3.97 and I slightly prefer LAME at the same CBR setting (I have only compared bit rates of 192 and 256, FastEnc may be better at CBR 128 and below).

If The Surround Sound encoder is similar to 3.3.44, I may not test it much.

I agree. I never extensively tested it, but my initial tests showed it to perform similar to fastenc in CBR.