sound quality

[PULLY6]

I just came across a .aac file format - obviously its comparable to mp3. My question is - I ripped a song in .aac format, at 66kbps. A comparable song in mp3 format at 192kbps sounds almost the same?

Does aac have a higher compression ratio or something? I've never come across this format before.

[Fairlane]

Never heard of aac, but this situation doesnt suprise me. Mp3 codec dates back to 1987 and is now pipe and slippers. I find WMA and OGG to be considerably better codecs than than Mp3, it just that Mp3 is more common, but in most respects vastly inferior and in my opinion sounds like a telephone quatlity

[kinggee]

AAC files are what iTunes can encode, as well as mp3 etc. I've read the a 128kbps AAC is about equivalent to 160kbps mp3. AAC is also known as mp4. From the Apple support website:

iTunes 4: AAC and MP3 Codecs Compared
This document explains differences in the AAC and MP3 codecs that can be used in iTunes 4.

AAC-encoded files sound as good as or better than MP3 files encoded at the same or even a higher bit rate.

For example, a 128-kilobit-per-second (kbit/s) AAC file should sound as good as or better than a 160 kbit/s MP3 file. Because the bit rate is lower, the AAC file will also be smaller than the MP3 file. AAC files allow you to store the most music on your hard disk or iPod. The High Quality AAC setting creates files that are usually less than 1 MB for each minute of music.

Note: AAC files encoded from a source other than the iTunes Music Store (such as an audio CD) work the same as an MP3 file encoded from the same source. No authorization required to play or burn them. So, AAC files you encode yourself in iTunes 4 can be burned as many times as you want and the songs do not require authorization to play on multiple computers.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93013


I encode all my CDs into 128kbps AAC (using a mac). The quality is good enough for the stereo hardware I have, Not worth the extra storage space, but any mp3 I did was 160kbps.

Also this:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93012