Notes by ff123
4/3/01: Redid the listening tests of Lame using 3.88 beta. The sound of --nspsytune has not changed appreciably since I last listened to it with this sample.
3/20/01: Using Grado SR325 headphones. Fanless computer operation. Decoding with Fraunhofer decoder within Winamp 2.72.
This is a short 7 second sample cut from the Eagles's "Lyin' Eyes." You can download the clip (lyin.flac) from my Audio Samples Page. The file has been losslessly compressed using the FLAC format.
I am still interested in low bitrate mp3's and in verifying --nspsytune's somewhat noisy quality. I decided to throw in all the other codecs as well. I haven't tested Xing in a while, but it's still definitely the worst-sounding. Lame with --nspsytune trades flanging on the guitar strums for low-frequency noise, which affects the clarity of the midrange. FastEnc is the mp3 winner here, in my opinion, while Ogg Vorbis beta 4 wins overall out of the codecs tested.
| Encoder | bitrate | settings | ABX results | Comment |
| Xing in AudioCatalyst 2.1 | 128 | no high freq | didn't bother | very obvious flanging; a "warped" kind of sound (worst) |
| FhG "Alternate" codec (Sound Forge 5.0) | 128 | highest quality | didn't bother | cymbal crash is warped (second worst) |
| FhG 1.2 build 63i external codec (Radium) | 128 | 15 of 16 | some flanging around cymbal crash; worse than FastEnc | |
| Lame 3.88b | 128 | -h --nspsytune --athtype 2 --lowpass 16 | 16 of 16 | low frequency noise modulation; makes it "not clear" |
| Lame 3.88b | 126 (average) | -h --nspsytune --abr 134 --athtype 2 --lowpass 16 -b112 | didn't bother | worse noise than for Lame CBR 128 |
| Lame 3.88a10 (Mar 16, 2001) | 128 | -h --lowpass 16 (athtype 1 by default) | 16 of 16 | obvious flanging |
| FhG "FastEnc" codec (EasyMP3 1.1.0) | 128 | "Faster" | 16 of 16 | concentrating on first second, which is worst part of the sample; otherwise ties for best-sounding of the mp3 codecs tested at this bitrate |
| FhG "FastEnc" codec VBR 50% (EasyMP3 1.1.0) | 132 (average) | Using CBR 128 to set max bandwidth | 15 of 16 | tie between this and FastEnc CBR 128 for best-sounding mp3 |
| Ogg Vorbis beta 4 | 128 average | 11 of 16 | Best sounding overall; unable to distinguish from original |