deadnail
i define my reality through misery
Posts: 2144
Registered: 06-00 |
what is wrong with MP3?
You'll see.
it is a god damn good format for music, it sounds great and it can remain small.
MP3 audibly damages music at anything less than 256kbps. Using RazorLame is the best way to guarantee your music is in perfect condition. It's a shitty format for computer generated music, though.
what would u prefer?
A freeware format the does the job better. Ha, I must be crazy. Oh wait, Ogg Vorbis has smaller files and uses such different algorhythms for compression that the stuff that's squeezed out is usually inaudible to the human ear.
wav files, and its large size,
Use LPAC. You get 100% lossless compression and it takes the wavfiles down to half their size. Hardly a good transferable format but if you're a quality nut (like Lüt) this is probably the way to go.
or some other shit the microsoft may try to push.
WMA8 is a decent format but I have two issues with it. First and foremost, Microsoft has complete control on the software and hardware that uses it. Encoding and decoding. Unless they say it's okay you could pay out the ass for it. Second, although superior to MP3 in terms of compression it's still not the best format for archiving music.
MP3 is a good way to download music,
I never contended that. However, there's no such thing as a free MP3 encoder... just one that Fraunhofer's lawyers haven't dickwhipped yet.
i hate streaming audio or any of that other stuff out now. either it is too large or sounds terrible.
It's generally intended for high bandwidth users, then it sounds as good or better than Radio... assuming the site can handle the traffic.
As of right now, though, the Ogg Vorbis WinAMP plugin is at 1.0... so it might not ever have to change (except for optimizations in the code). The format is designed to be backwards and forwards compatible. However, the encoder is not at 1.0 yet... and you might get some weird errors in your songs. I've done quite a few songs and haven't had any trouble with it. It's also about as fast to encode and decode as MP3... and it hasn't had 4 years in the limelight for speed optimization either so the future for Ogg Vorbis is bright.
Some things you should know:
#1 MP3 ain't free, it's a strictly controlled format... just not as strictly as WMA, VQF or ACC.
#2 The makers of those portable MP3 players have to pay millions in royalties to Fraunhofer for a format that is thirteen years old.
#3 You know how much it costs for a business MP3 stream? $2k a pop. If you're running a huge internet subscription radio and trying to satisfy all your customers you simply can't afford to fuck up.
#4 To make a generally accepted CD quality sound takes 256kbps. Anything less is clearly inferior to the untrained ear.
To contest this:
#1 Ogg Vorbis is as free as free can be. You can go to their website right now and download all the sources and use it as you will. Some commercial games already utilize it (like Hitman). In fact, the FMOD sound engine uses Ogg too. ZDoom uses FMOD. Make your wads with MP3 soundtracks half as small or twice as clear.
#2 In fact, because of the costs, some portable MP3 players getting firmware updates will support Ogg before MP3Pro, simply because they don't have the $7.50 to pay Fraunhofer for each unit manufactured!
#3 Ogg is better in every way than MP3 for streaming. Higher quality sound at the same bitrate and with no fines or royalties to pay for using it. People don't even have to change software, WinAMP does it perfectly.
#4 Right now Ogg Vorbis can hit CD quality in half the size. When the 1.0 encoder hits they makers are hoping to hit CD quality at 96kbps.
Why? Because they're not competing with MP3. It's already a lame horse. They're competing with the MP4 formats, like VQF. Think about it. If MP3 costs this much how much will a better format cost?
What if there was a better format that was free?
There is not one single way that MP3 is superior to Ogg Vorbis, other than software. Ogg isn't even two years old, although the project is. It's still a puppy next to MP3 and it's whupping that old dog's ass.
I think of Fraunhofer the same way I think about Microsoft.
Fuck 'em.
Oh, and Fraunhofer is NOT the best encoder you can use. Remember Blade? Well, Fraunhofer kicked Blade in the balls with a huge lawsuit. Blade folded, but realized, it could still just release the source code instead. Lame picks up where Blade left off. Lame is faster at encoding and has a higher quality finished product. Lame is updated very often with new optimizations. It can fully use your P4 or Athlon Thunderbird.
EVEN IF you're still going to blindly follow MP3 at the very least don't use Fraunhofer. Download RazorLame from http://www.r3mix.net instead. Before Fraunhofer tries to sue them for a few million dollars.
Fucking Germans.
|
07-15-01 16:51 
