Poll was here: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=63696
Here are the codecs used for the testfiles:
Testfile01: LAme MP3 -V 5 -vbr-new
Testfile02: iTunes 7.62 AAC 128kbps VBR
Testfile03: Sonicstage 4.3 Atrac3 132kbps
Testfile04: Sonicstage 4.3 HE-AAC 96kbps

See you in test #3.

Which Lame version was it?

3.97

Thanks.
Quite interesting BTW the outcome of HE-AAC. To me Testfile02 was the most realistic one in comparison with the original, but Testfile04 was the most pleasing one, the one 'that sounded best for me'.
Maybe the poll result is a bit obscured as the question 'which file sounds best to you' can be interpreted the way I did (best = most pleasing) or as 'most realistic' (best = maximum degree of identical perception as heard with the original).

Yup. I'm pleasantly surprised with the quality of HE-AAC too. Too bad they're not widely supported


Well, I don't think that should matter. The question is what it is. Just a poll for fun, and knowing about different codecs/bitrates/music sample. Thanks for showing an interest. Poll#3 is up.