by tazdevl on Sun Feb 15, 2004 11:09 pm
Garathor wrote:Yes, that is the way i DO encode my mp3s. (Or actually i make CD Images in EAC because i want to store them in a lossless format (FLAC or MA), and i use Foobar 2000 to encode it to mp3s using the command line encoder pointing it to Lame 3.90.3 using the --alt-preset standard profile).
If you now reread my post, you will notice that it is not mp3s i want to encode, but AACs. Since mp3 is a crappy format, i have decided to start using another one (AAC or Musepack). After reading at the Hydrogen Audio forum, i have understood that the Nero encoder is regarded as the best AAC encoder for high bitrates at the moment.
Encoding AAC us a pretty broad statement, try being more specific. Since you didn't indicate what you were doing before, it makes it kind of dofficult to figure out how far along the curve you are.
MPC and AAC are also both lossy formats. Not to mention, AAC has DRM capabilities which could impact you further down the road. The only time that MPC and AAC are better than a MP3 is @ lower bitrates. Other than that... I'd doubt you would hear a difference if you're using --at-preset extreme at higher bitrates.
FYI the guy expounding on Nero AAC on Hydrogen works for Ahead. Take his comments with a grain of salt.
If you're an audiofile, I'd expect you'd be using MA or FLAC regardless.
I'd recommend using OGG. It's regarded as the king of lossy formats and more portable devices are starting to support it.
RIG:
P4 2.6C, Thermalright SP94/Panaflo 92MM M1A, IC7 Max3, Swifty MCX159, 1GB Geil PC4000 Ultra Plat, Radeon 8500, Audigy 2, 2X WD Raptor RAID 0, WD 250GB SE, Plex 708A, 166SDVD, LianLi PC75, XP Pro.