Notes by ff123
The Applaud clip can be found at the Lame Test Samples Page. With nary a tone to be found, applause is a very tough, though fairly common signal to run across.
At 128kbs, QDesign fails miserably, and is clearly the worst. Of the codecs, I only bothered to ABX the two "Alternate" codecs and mp3enc. The MusicMatch 5 "Alternate-bad" came out on top.
At 192kbs, I'm still able to identify all codecs. QDesign is still worst. All the other codecs are very close together in quality. FastEnc is a little worse than the rest, though.
| Encoder | bitrate | settings | ABX results | Comment |
| Xing in AudioCatalyst 2.1 | 128 | j-stereo, high freq | didn't bother | watery |
| Lame 3.87a (RH) | 128 | j-stereo, -h | didn't bother | watery and brighter than original |
| FhG 1.2 build 63i external codec (Radium) | 128 | j-stereo, hq | didn't bother | very bad warbling |
| FhG "Alternate" codec (Sound Forge 4.5h) | 128 | j-stereo, highest quality |
16 of 16 | watery hiss in left channel |
| FhG "Alternate-bad" codec (MusicMatch 5) | 128 | j-stereo, very high |
16 of 16 | brighter than original; more noticeable in left channel; best of the lot, though |
| FhG mp3enc 3.1 | 128 | j-stereo, qual 9 | 16 of 16 | brighter than original; more noticeable in left channel |
| FhG "FastEnc" codec (MusicMatch 5) |
128 | j-stereo, fastest | didn't bother | watery hiss in left channel |
| QDesign MVP 1.2 | 128 | j-stereo, hq | didn't bother | Oh my God, can anything be worse than this!? tinny and chirpy and totally appalling. |
| Liquifier 5.0 mp3 | 128 | j-stereo | didn't bother | bright watery hiss in left channel |
| Xing in AudioCatalyst 2.1 | 160 | j-stereo, high freq | 15 of 16 | hiss in left channel |
| Lame 3.87a (RH) | 160 | stereo, -h | 15 of 16 | bright in left channel |
| FhG 1.2 build 63i external codec (Radium) | 160 | j-stereo, hq | 16 of 16 | hiss in left channel |
| FhG "Alternate" codec (Sound Forge 4.5h) | 160 | stereo, highest quality |
14 of 16 | |
| FhG "Alternate-bad" codec (MusicMatch 5) | 160 | stereo, very high | 13 of 16 | |
| FhG mp3enc 3.1 | 160 | stereo, qual 9 | 15 of 16 | very subtle brightness |
| FhG "FastEnc" codec (MusicMatch 5) |
160 | j-stereo, fastest | didn't bother | swishing |
| QDesign MVP 1.2 | 160 | j-stereo, hq | didn't bother | chattering |
| Xing in AudioCatalyst 2.1 | 192 | j-stereo, high freq |
15 of 16 | slight waver in left channel |
| Lame 3.87a (RH) | 192 | stereo, -h | 15 of 16 | bright noise in left channel; slightly wavery |
| FhG 1.2 build 63i external codec (Radium) | 192 | stereo, hq | 15 of 16 | barely perceptible hissing |
| FhG "Alternate" codec (Sound Forge 4.5h) | 192 | stereo, highest quality |
13 of 16 | barely perceptible hissing, mostly on left channel |
| FhG "Alternate-bad" codec (MusicMatch 5) | 192 | stereo, very high |
15 of 16 | bright sound on left channel with a slight hint of pumping. |
| FhG mp3enc 3.1 | 192 | stereo, qual 9 | 15 of 16 | intermittent hiss |
| FhG "FastEnc" codec (MusicMatch 5) |
192 | j-stereo, fastest |
16 of 16 | bursts of noise in left channel; a tier down from the others |
| QDesign MVP 1.2 | 192 | stereo, hq | didn't bother | choppy noise, with some chirping |
| Liquifier 5.0 mp3 | 192 | j-stereo | 15 of 16 | hiss in left channel |