keeping audio clear together

Encoders 96 kbit/s

If you´d like some other audio codecs to be added to this section, please drop us a line with your proposal.

 

AAC+ CBR@96.2 (Nero 6.0)
     
5.03 (≈1%)

 

 

AAC VBR@91.2 (NeroRef 1330)
     
4.46 (≈1%)

 

 

wma 9 CBR@97.4
     
4.40 (≈1%)

 

 

mp3PRO CBR@95.9
     
4.38 (≈1%)

 

 

wma 8 CBR@96.7
     
4.30 (≈1%)

 

 

wma 9 VBR@91.7
     
4.25 (≈4%)

 

 

AAC CBR@97.7 (QuickTime 6.3)
     
4.18 (≈3%)

 

 

AAC CBR@94.8 (Nero 5.5)
     
3.93 (≈4%)

 

 

mp3 CBR@96.0 (Lame 3.91)
     
3.79 (≈3%)

 

 

AAC VBR@96.3 (PsyTEL(R) 2.15)
     
3.74 (≈2%)

 

 

AAC CBR@95.6 (PsyTEL(R) 2.15)
     
3.66 (≈1%)

 

 

mp3 CBR@96.1 (Musicmatch 6.10)
     
3.59 (≈1%)

 

 

mp3 CBR@96.3 (Musicmatch 8.10)
     
3.56 (≈3%)

 

 

mp3 VBR@92.4 (Musicmatch 8.10)
     
3.16 (≈3%)

 

 

mp3 ABR@92.2 (Lame 3.90.3)
     
3.10 (≈1%)

 

 

QDesign Music 2 CBR@95.9
     
3.04 (≈1%)

 

 

AAC CBR@94.8 (Nero 5.5) - MPEG-4 AAC CBR Low Complexity, 94.8 kbit/s FBR
CODER: Ahead MPEG-4 AAC Encoder Plugin for Ahead Nero Burning Rom 5.5.10.0
- Ahead audio RAW convertor (resampling plugin) - SINC, Quality 100
- Encoder quality: High
- AAC Profile: Low Complexity
- Enable PNS: No
- 32000 Hz Stereo
DECODER: Ahead MPEG-4 AAC Decoder Plugin for Ahead Nero Burning Rom 5.5.10.0

AAC CBR@95.6 (PsyTEL(R) 2.15) - MPEG-4 AAC CBR Low Complexity, 95.6 kbit/s FBR
CODER: PsyTEL(R) MPEG-4 AAC Encoder V2.15
- usage: aacenc -production -br 96 -if test.wav
- 44100 Hz Stereo
DECODER: Freeware AAC Decoder: Dec 28 2001 for WinAmp 2.78c
- output to Nullsoft Disk Writer plug-in 2.0a

AAC CBR@97.7 (QuickTime 6.3) - MPEG-4 AAC CBR Low Complexity, 97.7 kbit/s FBR
CODER: MPEG-4 Audio Compressor for QuickTime 6.3
- 32000 Hz (Recommended), Stereo
DECODER: QuickTime 6.3

AAC VBR@91.2 (NeroRef 1330) - MPEG-4 AAC Low Complexity VBR, 91.2 kbit/s FBR
CODER: Nero Digital Audio Reference MPEG-4 & 3GPP Audio Encoder 1.3.3.0 (build 2008-09-17)
- usage: neroAacEnc.exe -q 0.35 -if ref.wav -of out.mp4
- AAC Profile: Low Complexity
- 44100 Hz Stereo
DECODER: Nero Digital Audio Reference MPEG-4 & 3GPP Audio Decoder 1.3.3.0
- usage: neroAacDec.exe -if out.mp4 -of out.wav

AAC VBR@96.3 (PsyTEL(R) 2.15) - MPEG-4 AAC VBR Low Complexity, 96.3 kbit/s FBR
CODER: PsyTEL(R) MPEG-4 AAC Encoder V2.15
- usage: aacenc -qvbr 38 -if test.wav
- 44100 Hz Stereo
DECODER: Freeware AAC Decoder: Dec 28 2001 for WinAmp 2.78c
- output to Nullsoft Disk Writer plug-in 2.0a

AAC+ CBR@96.2 (Nero 6.0) - MPEG-4 AAC CBR High Efficiency, 96.2 kbit/s FBR
CODER: Ahead MPEG-4 AAC Encoder Plugin for Ahead Nero Burning Rom 6.0.0.23
- Encoder quality: High
- AAC Profile: High Efficiency
- Enable PNS: No
- 44100 Hz Stereo
DECODER: Ahead MPEG-4 AAC Decoder Plugin for Ahead Nero Burning Rom 6.0.0.23

mp3 ABR@92.2 (Lame 3.90.3) - MPEG-1 Layer 3, Average Bit Rate, 92.2 kbit/s FBR
CODER: Lame 3.90.3 (Aug 2003)
- usage: lame --preset 96 test.wav test.mp3
- 32000 Hz Stereo
DECODER: THOMSON mp3PRO Audio Player Demo 1.1.0 Build 0

mp3 CBR@96.0 (Lame 3.91) - MPEG-1 Layer 3 CBR, 96.0 kbit/s FBR
CODER: Lame 3.91
- usage: lame -b 96 -q 0 test.wav test.mp3
- 32000 Hz Stereo
DECODER: THOMSON mp3PRO Audio Player Demo 1.0.2 Build 85.

mp3 CBR@96.1 (Musicmatch 6.10) - MPEG-1 Layer 3 CBR, 96.1 kbit/s FBR
CODER: MUSICMATCH Jukebox 6.10.0225CJJ
- input from Audio CD
- processing level - "very high"
- maximum bandwidth - "let encoder choose"
- 44100 Hz Stereo
DECODER: THOMSON mp3PRO Audio Player Demo 1.0.2 Build 85

mp3 CBR@96.3 (Musicmatch 8.10) - MPEG-1 Layer 3 Constant Bit Rate, 96.3 kbit/s FBR
CODER: MUSICMATCH Jukebox 8.10.2017CJJ
- input from Audio CD
- processing level - "very high"
- maximum bandwidth - "let encoder choose"
- Near CD quality
- 44100 Hz Stereo
DECODER: THOMSON mp3PRO Audio Player Demo 1.1.0 (Build 0)

mp3 VBR@92.4 (Musicmatch 8.10) - MPEG-1 Layer 3 Variable Bit Rate, 92.4 kbit/s FBR
CODER: MUSICMATCH Jukebox 8.10.2017CJJ
- input from Audio CD
- processing level - "very high"
- maximum bandwidth - "let encoder choose"
- Custom Quality (VBR) - 34%
- 44100 Hz Stereo
DECODER: THOMSON mp3PRO Audio Player Demo 1.1.0 (Build 0)

mp3PRO CBR@95.9 - mp3PRO CBR by Fraunhofer IIS & Coding Technologies, 95.9 kbit/s FBR
CODER: Nero mp3PRO Encoder Plugin for Ahead Nero Burning Rom 5.5.4
- Allow intensity stereo coding - yes
- Allow downmix - yes
- Padding - ISO
- 44100 Hz Stereo
DECODER: THOMSON mp3PRO Audio Player Demo 1.0.2 Build 85.

QDesign Music 2 CBR@95.9 - 95.9 kbit/s FBR
CODER: QDesign Music Encoder 2 Pro for QuickTime 5.0.2 Pro Player Edition
- 44100 Hz Stereo
DECODER: QuickTime 5.0.2 Pro Player Edition.

wma 8 CBR@96.7 - Windows Media Audio 8 CBR, 96.7 kbit/s FBR
CODER: Microsoft Windows Media 8 Encoding Utility
- 44100 Hz Stereo
DECODER: Windows Media Audio 4.02 for Windows ACM.

wma 9 CBR@97.4 – Windows Media Audio 9 CBR, 97.4 kbit/s FBR
ENCODER: MS Windows Media Encoder v9.00.00.2799
- 16bit 2-pass CBR
- 44100 Hz Stereo
DECODER: MS Windows Media Encoder v9.00.00.2799

wma 9 VBR@91.7 - Windows Media Audio 9 VBR, 91.7 kbit/s FBR
ENCODER: MS Windows Media Encoder v9.00.00.2799
- 24bit quality-based VBR – Q75
- 44100 Hz Stereo
DECODER: MS Windows Media Encoder v9.00.00.2799

 

How to read the ratings

Bar help

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

#1 - Device or technology being tested.

#2 - Value of actual perceived audio quality (rating) which is also indicated by a bar length #3. 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

#4 and #5 - 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 #2 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.

#6 - 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.

#7 - Ruler for convenient measuring of highs and lows.