Encoders 192 kbit/s

For preserving as much sound quality as possible @192 kbit/s SoundExpert recommends compressing music with these coders:

• Nero AAC LC encoder (NeroRef 1002)
• Ogg Vorbis (-aoTuV-b4.51)
• WMA 9.1
• High bitrate AAC+ encoder v1.2

Disclaimer:

1. The above recommendations relate exclusively to perceived audio quality of encoders but not their popularity, compatibility with software/hardware players or any other features which can also be considered in practice (tag support for example).
2. The above recommendations refer exclusively to the encoders which have been already tested at SoundExpert and which ratings are listed below. If you think the list is incomplete, please drop us a line with your suggestion. After the new rating become reliable SoundExpert recommendations will be revised accordingly.

ogg VBR@192.8 (-aoTuV-b4.51) 6.89 (≈4%)     AAC+ CBR@192.7 (Winamp 5.24) 6.75 (≈2%)     AAC VBR@193.3 (NeroRef 1002) 6.66 (≈5%)     wma 9.1 CBR@193.8 6.65 (≈1%)     mp3 VBR@200.5 (Lame 3.97b2) 6.00 (≈2%)     mpc VBR@193.8 (1.15v) 5.83 (≈1%)     mp3 CBR@192.3 (iTunes 7.1) 5.80 (≈3%)     AAC VBR@195.1 (iTunes 6.0) 5.52 (≈3%)     wma 9.2 VBR@160.4 (Q90) 4.24 (≈1%)

AAC VBR@193.3 (NeroRef 1002) - MPEG-4 AAC VBR Low Complexity, 193.3 kbit/s FBR CODER: Nero Digital Audio Reference MPEG-4 & 3GPP Audio Encoder 1.0.0.2 - usage: neroAacEnc.exe -q 0.63 -if ref.wav -of out.mp4 - AAC Profile: Low Complexity - 44100 Hz Stereo DECODER: Nero Digital Audio Reference MPEG-4 & 3GPP Audio Decoder 1.0.0.2 - usage: neroAacDec.exe -if out.mp4 -of out.wav AAC VBR@195.1 (iTunes 6.0) - MPEG-4 AAC VBR Low Complexity, 195.1 kbit/s FBR CODER: AAC Encoder from iTunes 6.0.5.20 - Stereo Bit Rate: 192kbps - Sample Rate: 44.100 kHz - Channels: Stereo - Use Variable Bit Rate Encoding (VBR): Yes - Optimize for voice: No DECODER: iTunes 6.0.5.20 AAC+ CBR@192.7 (Winamp 5.24) - MPEG-4 AAC High Efficiency CBR, 192.7 kbit/s FBR CODER: MP4/aacPlus (HE-AAC) High Bitrate Encoder v1.2 from Winamp 5.24 - CD Ripping - Bitrate: 192kbps - Channel Mode: Stereo - 44100 Hz DECODER: Winamp 5.24 - Nullsoft Disk Writer plug-in v2.11 mp3 CBR@192.3 (iTunes 7.1) - MPEG-1 Layer 3 CBR, 192.3 kbit/s FBR ENCODER: MP3 Encoder from iTunes 7.1.0.59 - Setting: Higher Quality (192 kbps) - 44100 Hz, normal stereo DECODER: MAD 0.15.2b mp3 VBR@200.5 (Lame 3.97b2) - MPEG-1 Layer 3 VBR, 200.5 kbit/s FBR CODER: Lame 3.97b2 - usage: lame -V 1 --vbr-new ref.wav out.mp3 - 44100 Hz Joint Stereo DECODER: MAD 0.15.2b mpc VBR@193.8 (1.15v) - Musepack, 193.8 kbit/s FBR CODER: mppenc 1.15v - usage: mppenc --quality 5.5 ref.wav out.mpc - 44100 Hz Stereo DECODER: mppdec 1.95e ogg VBR@192.8 (-aoTuV-b4.51) - Ogg Vorbis, 192.8 kbit/s FBR CODER: OggEnc 2.8 (-aoTuV- beta4.51) - usage: oggenc2 -q6,4 ref.wav - 44100 Hz Stereo DECODER: OggDec 1.0 wma 9.1 CBR@193.8 - Windows Media Audio 9.1 (Standard) CBR, 193.8 kbit/s FBR ENCODER: Windows Media Player 10.00.00.3802 - CD Ripping - Format: Windows Media Audio - Audio quality: Best Quality (192 Kbps) - 44100 Hz Stereo DECODER: Windows Media Player 10.00.00.3802 - Burning Audio CD wma 9.2 VBR@160.4 (Q90) - Windows Media Audio 9.2, VBR:Q90, 160.4 kbit/s FBR ENCODER: Windows Media Player 11.0.5721.5145 - CD Ripping - Format: Windows Media Audio (Variable Bit Rate) - Audio quality: 135-215 Kbps (59 to 94 Mb per CD) - 44100 Hz Stereo DECODER: Windows Media Player 11.0.5721.5145 - Burning Audio CD

How to read the ratings

The ratings are updated live as new participants add their grades to the system. Rating bar consists of the following elements:

- Device or technology being tested.

- Value of actual perceived audio quality (rating) which is also indicated by a bar length . Anchor points could be interpreted as follows:

In most cases using this device/technology:

1.0 – you will hear heavily distorted sound
2.0 – you will hear unpleasant sound artifacts
3.0 – you will hear distinctly audible but tolerable sound artifacts
4.0 – you will hear faintly discernible sound artifacts
5.0 – you will not hear any sound artifacts
above 5.0 – all sound artifacts will be beyond threshold of human perception with corresponding perception margin

and - The high and the low of a rating. As each device is tested under nine different sound items, there are nine different local ratings for a device. In fact, the actual rating is an average of those nine local ratings. The highest and the lowest ones are indicated. Big gap between them means that sound quality of device/technology is not consistent enough. It will vary with type of sound material: music of different genres and complexity, voice with or without music, noisy/clear recordings etc. The lowest local rating is more important in this sense as it indicates worst case behavior of tested device.

- Reliability of rating. It is also indicated by the color of bar - more reliable ratings have less percentage values and darker bars. Reliability depends on number of grades returned by participants. In most cases 5% or less is OK.

- Ruler for convenient measuring of highs and lows.