Coding Scheme
|
Score |
Bitrate (kbps)
|
Comments
|
| MPEG
1 Layer 2
(High Quality) |
A+ |
192 |
Earning top
honors for audio quality, this proves that experience counts! Short of
AAC, this should be the compression technology of choice for professional
work if they don't mind higher bitrates.
Very dynamic and accurate audio is the hallmark
of MP2. But if you think you'll lower the bitrate in exchange for quality
forget it. Anything lower than this and the quality drops drastically.
Guess you can't have the cake and eat it too! |
| MPEG
1 Layer 3
(High Quality) |
A |
VBR "High" |
If you want
the very best and yet want it to be of decent size, and that is what compression
is all about, then this is it!
Showing the minimum of artefacts, this scheme
is refreshingly accurate in timing. You also get the benefit of small file
sizes if the audio is not that complicated. These files also maintain their
quality level throughout, which is more than can be said for any other
encoding scheme in this comparison, even MP2 -which suffers from the occasional
lapse that would need even higher bitrates to fix. |
| MPEG
1 Layer 3
(Normal Quality) |
B+ |
160 |
Surprise winner
of the "Normal Quality" level. It may be old but it still comes closest
to the original.
Has a slight problem with the modulation of metallic
percussion but is, in general, pretty faithful to the original. Definitely
the best for most music. |
| MS Audio 4.0
(Normal Quality) |
B |
160 |
I started
off expecting this to sweep away the comparison at the "Normal Quality"
level and to even be good enough to contend in the "High Quality" level.
I assumed this would deliver the promised benefits of AAC (which I have
not tested). Microsoft claims it beats MP3 128 at just 64 kbps! The truth
is far from it.
The sound seems to be equalized and boosted almost.
A very annoying hiss or "shhh" sound after sharp sounds really hurts this
scheme. Also has a murky feel when it comes to details.
It must be noted that since it is very
new, future developments may turn all this around. |
| TwinVQ
(Normal Quality) |
C |
96 |
This is a
dead format in the sense that no further development is taking place and
the software has not improved over a very very long time.
The treble level is squashed quite a bit. This
can be somewhat offset by boosting treble but we did not do that for the
comparison. For its size, it sounds pretty good but the encoding times
are really not justifiable. |
| Real Audio G2
(Normal Quality) |
N/A |
96 |
Let's just
say it's meant for streaming over the net and not for the use we intend
it for. This really shows in its low sound quality.
Of course, since Real Networks has recently acquired
Xing Technologies this should no longer be an issue. |
