Notes by ff123
The Spahm clip can be found at the Lame Test Samples Page. This clip is interesting because Lame easily beats the FhG codecs. The artifacts in the Alternate codec and in mp3enc sound remarkably alike -- I suspect that the Alternate codec is a descendant of mp3enc.
At 128kbs, both of the "Alternate" codecs as well as mp3enc are astonishingly bad. Lame is an order of magnitude better on this clip at this bitrate. You'll notice that I still didn't bother to make any ABX runs on any codec at 128kbs -- they all produced easily recognizable artifacts.
At 160kbs, the "Alternate" codec and mp3enc are still faring worse than the others. The best codecs (Lame, FhG 1.263i) are still clearly different from the original.
Lame is still among the top at 192kbs. The other codecs are doing much better at this bitrate, so I actually did perform ABX tests.
At 256kbs, all codecs except FhG 1.263i and Xing are indistinguishable from the original.
| Encoder | bitrate | settings | ABX results | Comment |
| Xing in AudioCatalyst 2.1 | 128 | j-stereo, high freq | didn't bother | slightly worse than FhG 1.263i |
| Lame 3.87a (RH) | 128 | j-stereo, -h | didn't bother | best of the bunch; slightly better than FhG 1.263i |
| FhG 1.2 build 63i external codec (Radium) | 128 | j-stereo, hq | didn't bother | not too bad; but still noticeable |
| FhG "Alternate" codec (Sound Forge 4.5h) | 128 | j-stereo, highest quality |
didn't bother | sounds like blowing bubbles in water; tied for worst along with the "Alternate-bad" and mp3enc |
| FhG "Alternate-bad" codec (MusicMatch 5) | 128 | j-stereo, very high |
didn't bother | same as above |
| FhG mp3enc 3.1 | 128 | j-stereo, qual 9 | didn't bother | same as above |
| FhG "FastEnc" codec (MusicMatch 5) |
128 | j-stereo, fastest | didn't bother | not as bad as the "alternate" codecs or mp3enc, but worse than Xing, FhG 1.263i, and Lame |
| QDesign MVP 1.2 | 128 | j-stereo, hq | didn't bother | hissing noise; not as annoying as the bubbling noises of the "alternate" codecs or mp3enc |
| Xing in AudioCatalyst 2.1 | 160 | j-stereo, high freq | didn't bother | noisy |
| Lame 3.87a (RH) | 160 | stereo, -h | didn't bother | noisy |
| FhG 1.2 build 63i external codec (Radium) | 160 | j-stereo, hq | didn't bother | noisy; Xing, Lame, and FhG 1.263 are all similar in quality |
| FhG "Alternate" codec (Sound Forge 4.5h) | 160 | stereo, highest quality |
didn't bother | noisy; worse than Xing or Lame or FhG 1.263 |
| FhG "Alternate-bad" codec (MusicMatch 5) | 160 | stereo, very high | didn't bother | same as above |
| FhG mp3enc 3.1 | 160 | stereo, qual 9 | didn't bother | same as above |
| FhG "FastEnc" codec (MusicMatch 5) |
160 | j-stereo, fastest | didn't bother | noisy; on a par with "Alternate" or mp3enc |
| QDesign MVP 1.2 | 160 | j-stereo, hq | didn't bother | still hear hiss |
| Xing in AudioCatalyst 2.1 | 192 | j-stereo, high freq |
16 of 16 | can hear pre-echo, which makes the opening sound mushy |
| Lame 3.87a (RH) | 192 | stereo, -h | 13 of 16 | harder to detect than others |
| FhG 1.2 build 63i external codec (Radium) | 192 | j-stereo, hq | 15 of 16 | "Tinkling" noise at very beginning of clip |
| FhG "Alternate" codec (Sound Forge 4.5h) | 192 | stereo, highest quality |
16 of 16 | faint "tinkling" noise in right channel; also slightly noiser than original |
| FhG "Alternate-bad" codec (MusicMatch 5) | 192 | stereo, very high |
15 of 16 | faint "tinkling" noise in right channel; also slightly noiser than original |
| FhG mp3enc 3.1 | 192 | stereo, qual 9 | 16 of 16 | "tinkling" noise is louder than with "Alternative" |
| FhG "FastEnc" codec (MusicMatch 5) |
192 | j-stereo, fastest |
16 of 16 | sounds "fat" right at beginning of clip |
| QDesign MVP 1.2 | 192 | stereo, hq | 13 of 16 | harder to detect than others |
| Xing in AudioCatalyst 2.1 | 256 | j-stereo, high freq | 16 of 16 | noisy (more noticeable in right channel) |
| Lame 3.87a (RH) | 256 | stereo, -h | 9 of 16 | indistinguishable |
| FhG 1.2 build 63i external codec (Radium) | 256 | stereo, hq | 15 of 16 | sounds slightly "fatter" near beginning |
| FhG "Alternate" codec (Sound Forge 4.5h) | 256 | stereo, highest quality | 8 ov 16 | indistinguishable |
| FhG "Alternate-bad" codec (MusicMatch 5) | 256 | stereo, very high | 8 of 16 | indistinguishable |
| FhG mp3enc 3.1 | 256 | stereo, qual 9 | 9 of 16 | indistinguishable |
| FhG "FastEnc" codec (MusicMatch 5) |
256 | j-stereo, fastest | 10 of 16 | indistinguishable |
| QDesign MVP 1.2 | 256 | stereo, hq | 6 of 16 | indistinguishable |