Happy new year to everyone

As last year and the year before, I invite every HA.org members to answer a few questions. 920 persons take part to the same poll in 2007. And in 2008, a new record was broken with more than 1200 participants. I would thank the HA.org team who makes this score possible by giving to this poll a lot of visibility (it was pinned and appeared on HA portal during several weeks). I invite of course everyone to break it in the next months.

With all datas we gathered in the last year we now have nice and interesting curves:


(click to enlarge)

I let you comment this

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NB: To keep this first post short, I will post the links to previous polls and all exact datas a bit later.

MP3 (LAME 3.98 -V5) for listening on PC and DAP.
Wavpack images with embedded cuesheets for archiving.

Happy New Year!

Good work once again guruboolez.

MP3 Tracks (LAME 3.98.2 -V2.5) for iPod and home PC
FLAC Images (1.2.1 -8) with embedded cuesheet, EAC Log and Cover.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2009!!

I use FLAC + cuesheet for my library. And I have no portable/DAP, so lossy encoding is useless for me.

LAME 3.98 -V0 for listening
APE Extra High + Cue + Log for CD backups

Here are the full datas:


Thanks to houyhnhnm who dig some old polls I didn't found myself.

Now, the difference between 2007 and 2008:



For the second consecutive year Vorbis and WavPack have both lost some attraction inside the HA.org basis. The most popular lossy and lossless formats in 2007 (MP3 and FLAC) have also increased their popularity. FLAC is cannibalizing the market with 2/3 of the voters. It's a unique situation in the whole HA history. The most impressive progress comes from TAK which appears now on the podium as the third most popular lossless format.

The old "elephants" which ruled the forum some years ago (MPC and Monkey's Audio) are slowly fading away but they have this year maintained most of their remaining users basis. They seem to have truly loyal users. AAC progressed very well this year after 5 years of relative stagnation.



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On my side my votes are for AAC + FLAC + one file per track. I haven't changed anything since 2008.

FLAC -8 (single files per track) for archive and PC / streaming device playback.
LAME -V3 for DAP playback.

It isn't that I can hear the difference between V3 and FLAC for PC / streaming device playback, it is that I don't keep a MP3 copy on my NAS box as I transcode on transfer.

FLAC -6 for archive and listening until lossywav was released
lossyWav q8 +FLAC -6
mp3 V4 for DAP

And a happy and healthy 2009 to you all.

Like most, have FLAC -8 for archival purposes and listening purposes and use MP3 -V0 for portable use.

Vorbis q10 (aoTuV) for archiving & listening.

FLAC V8 for archive, LAME MP3/V4 for casual/portable use

It would be interesting to know how much of the shift in codecs is due to new members joining vs. long time members - are long time members shifting codecs or are they being outnumbered by new members with different choices? Membership has grown considerably over the years and might be reflecting the general population a little more.

However, for some reason I suspect long time members are shifting codecs too...

FLAC V8 for archive, LAME MP3/V4 for casual/portable use

It would be interesting to know how much of the shift in codecs is due to new members joining vs. long time members - are long time members shifting codecs or are they being outnumbered by new members with different choices? Membership has grown considerably over the years and might be reflecting the general population a little more.

However, for some reason I suspect long time members are shifting codecs too...

When I joined (which wasn't too long ago) I was a vorbis user like I am now.
But like most people my digital audio encoding started off with mp3.

MP3 (LAME 3.98.2 -V2 --vbr-new or better)
FLAC (1.2.1 -V -8)
One file per track

My favorite programs: dBpoweramp 13.1 ref - EAC

Happy new year %-)

I typically use Nero AAC for my iPod, but now that it might have bit the dust, my primary lossy encoding might be what I use for vinyl rips (lossyWAV).

I use Apple Lossless (ripped and encoded with dBpowerAMP, not iTunes) for my archive needs. It is compatible with iTunes and my iPods.

I then use -V 3 with Lame 3.98.2 for my lossy standard. I listen to my lossy files on my computer, my portable player (mainly an iPod but I occasionally use my Zen), and my large speaker system using my PS3 or Xbox 360 for playback.

Edit: Alright, my lossy standard has changed. I recently purchased a 120GB iPod classic, a car connectivity kit giving me great quality, and a new AppleTV device. I am no longer relying on my Xbox 360 or PS3 for audio playback through my speakers and I do not need to stick with mp3 for playback in my car. I was going to switch to Nero at -q0.40 (so that I could fit more content on my 1G 16GB iPod touch) but I have no need to use that setting. I have switched to Nero AAC at -q0.50. The files are still compatible with my Xbox 360 but I can fit all my lossy files on my AppleTV, fit all of my lossy files and videos on my iPod, and I can easily playback the files in my mp3/WMA only car CD deck via the iPod connectivity kit. I have been waiting a long time to switch to Nero AAC and I feel that now is the time. Sorry Lame, you have served me for 5+ years now but Nero keeps peaking my interest.

MP3 (LAME 3.98.2 -V3 --vbr-new)
FLAC (1.2.1 -V -5)
One file per track

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

can WAV be a codec?
I don't bother with FLAC

MP3 (LAME 3.98.2 V0)
FLAC (1.2.1 @ 8)
One file per track

I also use Nero AAC -q 0.4 for my iPhone, but I may switch that to LAME V5 at some point this year.

Results from last years, and current poll too, clearly show the main point to win - hardware compatibility.

WAV is not really a codec but rather a container (usually for PCM data on Windows platforms). But you can vote for this: it belongs in the « other lossless format » category.

AAC
FLAC
one file per track.

For my ears AAC 1.5-1.6x more efficient than MP3
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=66949

During previous year I gave a try to TAK but now I stay with FLAC. FLAC has wide soft/hard compability and it's most efficient for my usage. (speed, compression ratio, etc)

For a long time I rip to FLAC -8 and one file per track. For portability I used until now mp3 -V2 but in the last 2 weeks I'm playing and ABX-ing a lot with Nero AAC and a little bit with latest Ogg aoTuV. The latter I discarded to continue testing because of poor compatibility on non-PC hardware (not because of quality at 160-240kbps range which is rather high).
I'm testing Nero AAC mainly at q0.5 and q0.6 and I like the obtained quality very very much. I still have to do some more testing about the q-level but I've almost decided to drop mp3 and go for AAC as I think hardware support will grow fast. My only concern is if Nero AAC will always be free.

Voted for MP3. But I also use Vorbis (aoTuV), especially when I have to transcode files.

Nero AAC is overtaking Lame 3.98.2 for my lossy use...though it nothing on my lossyWAV+TAK library that serves as the resource for conversion to many lossy formats, and what I listen to on my desktop. Notebook is non-lossyWAV though.

For archival purposes, I used Wavpack 4.5x initially, switched to flac 1.2.x for a couple CDs then straight to TAK 1.0.4 and from there have used Tak at -p5/-p4...

...with EMBEDDED cuesheets and logs in a single file sauce. Yum!

MP3 for playback on PCs (the few ones with small HDs or small quotas), no lossless (just the ripped PCM as WAVE files as backups), one file per track

For complete collections (albums, suites, symphonies etc ...)
Lossy: LossyWAV + TAK (for most)
Lossless: TAK (mainly for solo piano)

For individual loose tracks:
MP3 LAME 3.98 -V 2

Always 1 file per track.

C.

I just finished ripping my entire CD collection, and I decided to go with Wav+Cue for the inital ripping, but I am considering switching to a lossless codec with individual files so that I can take advantage of Replay Gain. The difference in volume from CD to CD can be incredible.

TAK 1.0.4 -p5m for lossless (will move to -p4m with 1.1.0) as single file with embedded cuesheet.

Mainly Nero AAC 1.3.3.0 -q0.40 for lossy which is used on my 4G iPod Nano.

As "main" I voted Vorbis for lossy as it works on PC plus every portable I've ever owned, and FLAC for lossless.

My main DAP plays musepack and speex so I've started trying them for music and audiobooks on that. It records wavepack!

Oddly, for me mp3 comes in slightly behind Vorbis on portability as every time I install a Linux distro it does not come with mp3 and it takes at least a little while to find a decoder.

I really like ogg vorbis the most but the fact that not many players supports it, software and hardware, plus that the development is quite quiet now a days made me affraid of ripping all my stuff to ogg so I went with AAC. AAC/MP4/M4A is supported by most players I have tried and without any ABX to back it up I think AAC competes with OGG very well.

I use FLAC for most of everything I rip now a days. I also use FLAC to compress sessions I record made by multitrack software if I am sending it over the net to other people. Since it nowadays supports metatags like broadcast waves use to know the position of samples makes it a killer choose. Also the speed ofthe codec.

These are my thoughts and believes. Regards

FLAC (level any) for playback.
TAK -p5m as a second copy backup.

Don't use lossy anymore.

Independent on playability, I switched from FLAC to TAK last year for archiving purposes. For everyday playback I use a mixture of Ogg Vorbis and Nero LC-AAC. My mobile phone supports AAC, so for that device I transcode the TAKs down to ~96 kbit AACs with ReplayGain hardcoded to 93 dB. Works well enough.

A year ago I didn't even know the difference between LC and HE-AAC...

Me sigs says it all, still lossy for DAP and lossless for home, always one file per track (with cuesheet and EAC log too tho).

EDIT: EAC log part.

Since you're a LAME dev I'm curious about your choice of backup (uncompressed): do you keep the metadata in your MP3's only (ID3v2?) or do you store it in some kinda DB along with the WAV's please?

I voted MP3, FLAC and one file per track.

Since this is a RIPPING and encoding poll, it would also be interesting to find out the preferred ripper for the HA community.

It would be nice too. But it needs a separate poll because only three questions are possible in a single poll.
I don't have too much knowledge in ripping process to create such poll - I'm sure I'll miss important elements or miss the most pertinent questions if I try to create one.
But anyone could do it, or start a debate about what to put inside this second poll. What do you think?

I haven't been keeping up... I see a lot of people using TAK so went looking. I'd worry about the combo of closed source, no hardware, windows only.

If the developer drops dead (or loses interest) and for some reason it doesn't work on the next release of Windows, you get caught short having to scrounge up an older PC to convert your collection to something that still works.

Lossy - MP3, Lame 3.98 build, -V3 and I only use this for portable use on the go.

Lossless - FLAC, 1.2.1 build, use this for listening on the PC through an external soundcard

One file per track. Simplest method to do.

Ripper: dBpoweramp

Encoding/Tagging: foobar2000

Encoders:

- NERO AAC q0.50 for PC listening and portable (Sony NWZ-A818, iPod Touch)
- FLAC -8 for archive, PC listening and portable (Cowon iAudio 7)

For archive, one single file per disc with embedded cuesheet and covers, which i find excellent to manage for me. Covers are embedded using Mp3tag (waiting foobar support...).

I hope for 2009 a more and better hardware support for AAC (like PS3/X360 starting to recognize TAGs...) but especially lossless support, and as a last note that Cowon and Sony start to learn how to make gapless playback on their players...

Happy new year!

Wav is lossless too and you can also use RG on disc images.

I'm simply using the file system with the following naming scheme:
./CD/<CD Artist>/<Year>-<CD Title>/<Track Number> <Track Title>.WAV or
./CD/Various/<Year>-<CD Title>/<Track Number> <Track Title> - <Track Artist>.WAV
Once I'd written a bash script which walks through the "CD" folder and sub dirs. It encodes new found files to MP3 and extracts ID3v2 tags from file names. From time to time I delete the mp3 folder and start the script to encode everything again, using a new LAME version or different encoding settings. My MP3 folder mirrors the CD folder structure.

No change since last year :

- MP3
- FLAC
- One file per track

Too lazy to change, and no reason to change actually:

- MP3 (Lame V5)
- WavPack
- One file per track

- EAC to rip & encode
- foobar2000 + Lame to encode to MP3
- foobar 2000 and Mp3tag to tag and for files operations

Are you talking about Wavegain? From what I have read on the wiki, it is irreversible, which makes it a non-starter for me.

if your using WAV+Cue you can use replaygain, the replaygain values are stored in the CUE.

Any info on this? I can't seem to find anything in the forums or on the wiki.

Flac -5/Lame V5.

I started 2008 the same. Tried WMA because my phone supported it. Tried AAC when I got a Zune. Then went back to MP3.

I think I voted for WMA last year and dropped it shortly after.

I'll doubt I'll play with formats as much this year, but who knows.

Lossless: FLAC, image with embedded cue sheet;
Lossy: (iPAQ) lossyWAV / FLAC --portable, image with embedded cue sheet;
Lossy: (Other) MP3 (LAME V2), file per track.

Ripping: EAC from CD to WAV image & CUE;
Encoding / Tagging: foobar2000 from WAV & cue to FLAC image per disc with embedded cue sheet.

If you load a Test WAV+CUE into Foobar2000 and replaygain it, open up the CUE file in notepad and you can see the replaygain values.

Thanks!