Notes by ff123
NOTICE: The listening tests performed with Lame 3.88 are for an alpha version, and are not necessarily representative of the Lame 3.88 beta version.
12/09/00: Using Grado SR325 headphones. Decoding with Fraunhofer decoder within Winamp 2.666 -- switched back from MAD for this test because MAD has an audible glitch at the end of the file.
The Test For Echo clip can be found at r3mix's Public Test Signal Database, and was contributed by finnjorma.
I was mainly interested in testing Lame CBR 128 with --nspsytune and FhG VBR with this test. At CBR 128, --nspsytune does seem to improve the sound of the cymbals, but adds a blurry quality to the sound. Nevertheless, it was easier for me to pick out the funny sounding cymbals in Lame 3.87RH. The settings for Lame 3.88a for CBR 128 were recommended by Hans Heijden for an earlier CVS version. I assumed I could use the same settings for this version.
At CBR 192 and for both VBR modes I tested, I couldn't pick out the encode from the original. My tests at these bitrates say nothing useful about the differences in sound quality between the encoders used, except that none of them sound bad enough for me to notice.
| Encoder | bitrate | settings | ABX results | Comment |
| Lame 3.87a (RH) | 128 kbs | -h (j-stereo) | 16 of 16 | cymbals in right channel sound warped |
| Lame 3.88a (2-15-01) | 128 kbs | --nspsytune -q2 --athtype 2 --lowpass 16 (j-stereo) | 14 of 16 | low frequency noise; sounds more blurry than original |
| Lame 3.87a (RH) | 192 kbs | -h (stereo) | 12 of 16 | can't really tell a difference |
| Lame 3.88a (2-15-01) | 198 kbs average | --r3mix (j-stereo) | 12 of 16 | can't really tell a difference |
| FhG VBR (Cool Edit Pro with MP3 ME plugin) | 201 kbs average | no crc, max bw = 21000 Hz (stereo) | 9 of 16 | can't really tell a difference |