Hydrogenaudio Knowledgebase - User contributions [en]

MusikCube

2012-10-29T20:37:43Z

86.128.201.83: /* Download */ Download Header, Download link (dead link) , Removed.

{{stub}}

'''musikCube''' is a free audio player for Windows 2000 and XP only. It uses the musikCore multimedia management and playback system by the same author.

= Features =
== Supported audio formats ==
Out of the box:
* [[MP3]]
* (Ogg) [[Vorbis]]
* [[Free Lossless Audio Codec]] (FLAC)
* Audio CD ([[Compact Disc Digital Audio]], CDDA)
* Netstreams

Via Plugins:
* [[M4A]] (AAC, M4B, MP4)
* [[Module]]s (IT, XM, S3M, MTM, MOD, MO3, UMX)
* [[Windows Media Audio]] (WMA)
* [[WAV]] (Raw WAV files)
* [[Musepack]] (MPC)

== Supported platforms ==
* Windows 2000 and XP only. Windows 95, 98, and ME are not supported.

= License =
musikCube source code is available under the BSD license.

= Related software =
[[wxMusik]] was originally developed by Casey Langen, current author of musikCube, but is now maintained by another developer. [[wxMusik]] may in the future be powered by musikCore or be disbanded in favor of musikCube.

= External links =
* [http://musik.sourceforge.net/ musikCube: Homepage]
* [http://www.sf.net/projects/musik/ musikCube: SourceForge project page]

[[Category:Software]]
[[Category:Media Players]]

Download page

2012-10-29T12:23:29Z

86.128.201.83: /* Windows */

All programs mentioned anywhere in the wiki can be downloaded here.
See also the [[:Category:Software|Software Category]] article for more software not listed here.

==CD Rippers==
===Windows===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ccccff; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ccccff"
! style="width:150px;" | Name
! style="width:90px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:300px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | [[CDex]]
| GPL
| [http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/ here]
| align="left" | An open-source ripper for Windows that uses cdparanoia functionality
|
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[DBpowerAMP with AccurateRip|dBpoweramp]]
| commercial
| [http://www.dbpoweramp.com/ here]
| align="left" | A secure ripper for Windows that includes Accurate Stream functionality.
|-
! align="left" | DeepRipper
| GPL
| [http://www.deepburner.com/ here]
|
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[EAC]]
| Free
| [http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/ here]
| align="left" | A secure ripper for Windows, C2 error pointers, Accurate Stream, etc.
|-
! align="left" | [[fre:ac ]]
| GPL
| [http://www.freac.org/ here]
| align="left" |
fre:ac is a free audio converter and CD ripper with support for various popular formats and encoders. Plus supports the CDDB/freedb online CD database which allows you query song information.
|}

===Mac OS X===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #bbffbb; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#bbffbb;"
! style="width:150px;" | Name
! style="width:90px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:350px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | [[Max]]
| GPL
| [http://sbooth.org/Max/ here]
| align="left" | A secure ripper for OS X that uses additional cdparanoia functionality
|-
|- style="background-color:#eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[XLD]]
| GPL
| [http://tmkk.pv.land.to/xld/index_e.html here]
| align="left" | X Lossless Decoder(XLD) is a tool for Mac OS X that is able to decode/convert/play various 'lossless' audio files. The supported audio files can be split into some tracks with cue sheet when decoding. Can convert between many lossless and lossy formats. Plugin oriented design, for easy exchange for new encoders.
|}

===Linux===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ffcccc; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ffcccc;"
! style="width:150px;" | Name
! style="width:90px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:320px;" | Description
|- style="background-color:#eeeeee;"
! align="left" | abcde
| GPL
|[http://code.google.com/p/abcde/ here]
| align="left" | A command-line based ripper with cdparanoia functionality
|-
! align="left" | [[cdparanoia]]
| BSD, GPL
| [http://www.xiph.org/paranoia/ here]
| align="left" | One of the first secure standalone rippers for the Linux platform
|- style="background-color:#eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[Grip]]
| GPL
| [http://sourceforge.net/projects/grip/ here]
| align="left" | An open-source Gnome interface ripper that uses cdparanoia functionality
|-
! align="left" | [[Rubyripper]]
| GPL
| [http://code.google.com/p/rubyripper/ here]
| align="left" | A secure ripper for the Linux that uses additional cdparanoia functionality
|}

==CD/DVD Writers==
===Windows===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ccccff; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ccccff"
! style="width:185px;" | Name
! style="width:80px;" | Unicode
! style="width:90px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:270px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | [[Burrrn]] (CDA only)
| N
| Free
| [http://www.burrrn.net/ here]
|
|-
! align="left" | CDBurnerXP
|
| Free
| [http://www.cdburnerxp.se/ here]
|
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | DeepBurner Free
| N
| GPL
| [http://www.deepburner.com/ here]
|
|-
! align="left" | DeepBurner Pro
|
| Shareware
| [http://www.deepburner.com/ here]
|
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | Express Burn
| N
| non-commercial(free)
| [http://nch.com.au/burn/index.html here]
| align="left" | A free version of this software is available for non-commercial use only. The free version does not expire but will only burn normal CDs.
|
|-
! align="left" | Express Burn (Plus Edition)
|
| commercial
| [http://www.nch.com.au/burn/index.html here]
|
|-style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | InfraRecorder
| N
| GPL
| [http://infrarecorder.org/ here]
|
|-
! align="left" | [[Nero]]
| N
| commercial
| [http://www.nero.com/eng/ here]
| align="left" |
|-style="background-color: #eeeeee;"

|
|}

===Mac OS X===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #bbffbb; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#bbffbb;"
! style="width:130px;" | Name
! style="width:80px;" | Unicode
! style="width:90px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:310px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | [[DVD-Audio Tools]]
| Y
| GPL
| [http://dvd-audio.sourceforge.net/ here]
| align="left" | Open-source DVD-Audio authoring application
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | FireStarter FX
| N
| Free
| [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=FireStarter_FX here]
| align="left" | Free OS X Cocoa CD writing application
|-
! align="left" | [[X-CD-Roast]]
| N
| Free
| [http://www.xcdroast.org/xcdr098/xcdrosX.html here]
| align="left" | New OS X port of this Linux CD writing application
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | Burn
| N
| Free
| [http://burn-osx.sourceforge.net/Pages/English/home.html/ here]
| align="left" | Versatile CD/DVD authoring application
|}

===Linux===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ffcccc; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ffcccc;"
! style="width:130px;" | Name
! style="width:80px;" | Unicode
! style="width:90px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! align="center" style="width:260px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | CDRDAO
| N
| GPL
| [http://cdrdao.sourceforge.net/ here]
| align="left" | Cdrdao records audio or data CD-Rs in disk-at-once (DAO) mode
|- style="background-color:#eeeeee;"
! align="left" | DVD-Audio Tools
| Y
| GPL
| [http://dvd-audio.sourceforge.net/ here]
| align="left" | Open-source DVD-Audio authoring application
|-
! align="left" | [[GnomeBaker]]
| N
| GPL
| [http://sourceforge.net/projects/gnomebaker/ here]
| align="left" | Popular open-source Gnome interface CD/DVD writing application
|- style="background-color:#eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[K3b]]
| N
| GPL
| [http://www.k3b.org/ here]
| align="left" | Popular open-source KDE CD writing application for Linux platform
|-
! align="left" | [[X-CD-Roast]]
| Y
| GPL
| [http://www.xcdroast.org here]
| align="left" | New open-source Gnome interface CD/DVD writing application
|- style="background-color:#eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[Brasero]]
| N
| GPL
| [http://projects.gnome.org/brasero/ here]
| align="left" | Brasero is a application to burn CD/DVD for the Gnome Desktop.(Gnome Default)
|}

==Multimedia Players==
===Windows===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ccccff; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ccccff"
! style="width:120px;" | Name
! style="width:100px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! align="center" style="width:220px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | [[foobar2000]]
| Free, BSD
| [http://www.foobar2000.org/ here]
| align="left" | Advanced tagging, plugin capabilities, and kernel streaming support
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[MediaMonkey]]
| Free, Shareware
| [http://www.mediamonkey.com/ here]
| align="left" | Supports many Winamp plugins
|-
! align="left" | VUplayer
| Free
| [http://www.vuplayer.com/ here]
| align="left" | Supports many popular digital audio codecs and MOD tracker formats
|-
! align="left" | [[Winamp]]
| Free, Shareware
| [http://www.winamp.com/ here]
| align="left" | Popular audio player for Windows
| align="left" |
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[VLC]]
| Free
| [http://www.videolan.org/vlc// here]
| align="left" | VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats as well as DVDs, Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols.
|}

===Players / Source code ===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ccccff; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ccccff"
! style="width:120px;" | Name
! style="width:100px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! align="center" style="width:220px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | MusikCube
| BSD
| [http://www.musikcube.com/ here]
| align="left" | Supports dynamic playlists and advanced SQL capabilities
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[wxMusik]]
| GPL
| [http://sourceforge.net/projects/musik.berlios/ here]
| align="left" |A cross-platform open-source audio player
|}

===Mac OS X===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #bbffbb; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#bbffbb;"
! style="width:120px;" | Name
! style="width:100px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:220px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | Cog
| GPL
| [http://cogosx.sourceforge.net/ here]
| align="left" | An open-source digital audio player for OS X.
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | Play
| GPL
| [http://sbooth.org/Play/ here]
| align="left" |Play is an application for playing and managing audio files.
|-
! align="left" | [[VLC]]
| Free
| [http://www.videolan.org/vlc// here]
| align="left" | VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats as well as DVDs, Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols.
|}

===Linux===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ffcccc; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ffcccc;"
! style="width:120px;" | Name
! style="width:100px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:220px;" | Description
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[Amarok]]
| GPL
| [http://amarok.kde.org/ here]
| align="left" | Popular open-source KDE audio player similiar to Foobar2000
|-
! align="left" | Audacious
| GPL
| [http://audacious-media-player.org/ here]
| align="left" |Audacious is an open source audio player
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[Clementine]]
| GPL
| [http://www.clementine-player.org/ here]
| align="left" | Cross platform media player, a port of [[Amarok]] 1.4 to the Qt 4 and GStreamer framework, can be controlled with a Wii remote
|-
! align="left" | [[DeaDBeeF]]
| GPL
| [http://deadbeef.sourceforge.net/ here]
| align="left" | Lightweight music player for Linux, GUI similar to [[Foobar2000]]
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[Rhythmbox]]
| GPL
| [http://projects.gnome.org/rhythmbox/ here]
| align="left" | GNOME music player
|-
! align="left" | [[VLC]]
| Free
| [http://www.videolan.org/vlc// here]
| align="left" | VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats as well as DVDs, |Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols.
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[XMMS]]
| GPL
| [http://www.xmms.org/ here]
| align="left" | Popular open-source audio player similiar to Winamp
|}

=== Console players ===
* mpg123 [http://www.mpg123.org/ Homepage] [http://www.mpg123.org/download.shtml Downloads]

===PocketPC===
''These players may not play all your media files. Check their websites for the format support.''
* GSPlayer: http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA032810/
* MortPlayer: http://www.sto-helit.de/
* TCPMP: http://tcpmp.corecodec.org/about

==Tagging Utilities==
===Windows===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ccccff; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ccccff"
! style="width:150px;" | Name
! style="width:100px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:270px;" | Description
|-
|-
! align="left" | Frontah
| Free
| [http://home.vxu.se/mdati00/frontah/ here]
| align="left" | Transcode and tag editor for ID3v1.x, ID3v2.x, Lyrics3, Vorbis Comment, APEv1 & APEv2 tags. Supports ANSI, UTF8 and UTF16 text encoding depends on tag type.
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
|-
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | MetatOGGer
| Free
| [http://www.luminescence-software.org/ here]
| align="left" | Tags MP3 ([[ID3]]), Ogg files (Vorbis comment, including Ogg FLAC and Speex), Musepack, Windows Media, WavPack et Monkey's Audio
|-
! align="left" | MP3 Book Helper
| Free
| [http://mp3bookhelper.sourceforge.net/ here]
| align="left" | Tags [[ID3v1]], ID3v2.3, and Vorbis comments. Features: FreeDB, unicode, guessing and matching, and supporting PAR, SFV, SV, and NFO generation.
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[MP3tag]]
| Free
| [http://www.mp3tag.de/ here]
| align="left" | Tags all files supporting [[ID3]], [[APEv2]], and [[Vorbis_Comment|Vorbis Comments]], not only MP3s
|-
! align="left" | MP3 Tag Editor
| Shareware
| [http://www.mp3-tag.com/ here]
| align="left" | Software to edit tags in audio files of [[MP3]], [[WMA]], [[OGG]], [[ASF]], and other music format.
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
|-
! align="left" | [[Tag.exe]]
| GPL
| [http://www.synthetic-soul.co.uk/tag/ here]
| align="left" | Command-line universal tagger for Windows
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | Tag & Rename
| Shareware
| [http://www.softpointer.com/tr.htm here]
|
|-
! align="left" | TagScanner
| Free
| [http://www.xdlab.ru/en/index.htm here]
|
|-
! align="left" | WMP Tag Plus 2.0
| Free
| [http://bmproductions.fixnum.org/wmptagplus/ here]
| align="left" | Software to integrate other tag format than [[ID3]] into Microsoft Windows Media Player 11.
|}

===Mac OS X===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #bbffbb; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#bbffbb;"
! style="width:150px;" | Name
! style="width:100px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:270px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | Tag
| GPL
| [http://sbooth.org/Tag/ here]
| align="left" | An open-source tagging application for OS X
|}

===Linux===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ffcccc; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ffcccc;"
! style="width:150px;" | Name
! style="width:100px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:270px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | [[Beets]]
| MIT
| [http://beets.radbox.org/ here]
| align="left" | Cross-platform open source tagging application written in Python, CLI only. Uses the Musicbrainz and Mutagen libraries, still in beta. Mostly automatic, minimal user input required. Many features and plugins. (Read the documentation)
|-
! align="left" | EasyTAG
| GPL
| [http://easytag.sourceforge.net/ here]
| align="left" | Gnome tagging utility
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" |
|}

==Encoders, Decoders, Etc.==
All basic tools needed to make use of the audio formats supported here.

===[[MP3]]===
* [[LAME]] encoder/decoder: [http://www.rarewares.org/mp3.html download pre-compiled binaries here]. Also check the [[Lame Compiles|Latest recommended version]] page.
* [[MP3Gain]], a ReplayGain-like utility: [http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/download.php download here]

===Ogg [[Vorbis]]===
Currently, all recommended Ogg Vorbis utilities are available at the [http://www.rarewares.org/ogg.html Rarewares Ogg Vorbis page]. The following tools are important:

* '''OggEnc2''': A command-line Ogg Vorbis encoder that can be used with most CD rippers.

* '''OggDec''': Command-line decoder.

* '''[[OggDropXPd]]''': An easy to use, drag'n'drop encoder/decoder with support for automatic tagging, renaming and playlist creation on encoding.

* ''Encoding DLLs'': For encoding within CDex or WinLame.

* '''VorbisGain''': The [[ReplayGain]] utility for Ogg Vorbis.

In addition, the [[Lancer]] suite — a highly SSE-optimized suite of utilities and libraries — are available at [http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/ this page] ''(in Japanese)''. See [[Lancer#Platform-specific Builds|this section]] for information about the different builds.

=== Opus ===
* http://www.opus-codec.org/
* http://rarewares.org/opus.php
* discussion at the [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=96954/ Forum]

===[[Musepack]] (MPC)===
* [http://www.musepack.net/index.php?pg=win Download MPC for Windows]
* [http://www.musepack.net/index.php?pg=lin Download MPC for Linux]
* [http://www.musepack.net/index.php?pg=osx Download MPC for Mac OS X]
* [http://www.musepack.net/index.php?pg=src Download MPC source code]

* [http://forum.musepack.net/showthread.php?t=395 Forum announcement of SV8 release]

===[[FLAC]]===
* CoolEdit / Adobe Audition Filter supporting FLAC: [http://www.vuplayer.com/other.php download here]
* Various FLAC-related utilities (incl. ReplayGain utility): [http://flac.sourceforge.net/download.html FLAC's SourceForge Download page]

==Transcoders==
''Note: Although these tools may convert from one encoding to another, please remember that [[transcoding]] to any [[lossy]] encoding will result in a degraded quality.''
* BeSweet: http://besweet.notrace.dk/
* [[fre:ac ]]
* dBpowerAMP Music Converter (dMC): http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm
* [[foobar2000]] - foobar2000 Free Encoder Pack http://www.foobar2000.org/encoderpack
* MediaCoder: http://www.mediacoderhq.com/
* [[Winamp]]
* WinLAME: http://winlame.sourceforge.net/

==Processing utilities==
===Windows===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ccccff; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ccccff;"
! style="width:120px;" | Name
! style="width:100px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:400px;" | Description
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[lossyWAV]]
| GPL
| [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=56129&view=findpost&p=504087 here]
| align="left" | lossyWAV is a lossy pre-processor for [[Wikipedia:Pulse-code modulation|PCM]] (uncompressed) WAV files. It reduces [[Wikipedia:Audio bit depth|bit depth]] of the input signal, which, when used in conjunction with certain lossless codecs, reduces the bitrate of the encoded file significantly.
|}

==Drivers==
===ASPI===
* Ahead Nero ASPI Driver: [ftp://ftp6.nero.com/wnaspi32.dll download]
* Adaptec Windows ASPI Package: [http://www.adaptec.com/en-us/support/_eol/scsi_sw/aspi-4.70/ official website]
* ForceASPI [http://radified.com/ASPI/forceaspi.htm radified.com]
* ASPI4all [http://www.cdr-zone.com/software/aspi_layers/aspi4all.html CDR-Zone.COM]
* FrogAspi [http://www.frogaspi.org/ official website]
* VOB ASAPI Driver 1.3: [http://www.rarewares.org/files/ASAPI.exe download]

===Sound===
* ALSA Project [http://www.alsa-project.org/ official website]
* kX Project [http://kxproject.lugosoft.com/ official website]

==Links==
* [http://www.rarewares.org/ RareWares]

[[Category:Software]]

Download page

2012-10-28T20:47:41Z

86.128.201.83: /* Multimedia Players */ Players / Source code , Added due to some players being abandoned.

All programs mentioned anywhere in the wiki can be downloaded here.
See also the [[:Category:Software|Software Category]] article for more software not listed here.

==CD Rippers==
===Windows===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ccccff; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ccccff"
! style="width:150px;" | Name
! style="width:90px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:300px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | [[CDex]]
| GPL
| [http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/ here]
| align="left" | An open-source ripper for Windows that uses cdparanoia functionality
|
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[DBpowerAMP with AccurateRip|dBpoweramp]]
| commercial
| [http://www.dbpoweramp.com/ here]
| align="left" | A secure ripper for Windows that includes Accurate Stream functionality.
|-
! align="left" | DeepRipper
| GPL
| [http://www.deepburner.com/ here]
|
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[EAC]]
| Free
| [http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/ here]
| align="left" | A secure ripper for Windows, C2 error pointers, Accurate Stream, etc.
|-
! align="left" | [[fre:ac ]]
| GPL
| [http://www.freac.org/ here]
| align="left" |
fre:ac is a free audio converter and CD ripper with support for various popular formats and encoders. Plus supports the CDDB/freedb online CD database which allows you query song information.
|}

===Mac OS X===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #bbffbb; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#bbffbb;"
! style="width:150px;" | Name
! style="width:90px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:350px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | [[Max]]
| GPL
| [http://sbooth.org/Max/ here]
| align="left" | A secure ripper for OS X that uses additional cdparanoia functionality
|-
|- style="background-color:#eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[XLD]]
| GPL
| [http://tmkk.pv.land.to/xld/index_e.html here]
| align="left" | X Lossless Decoder(XLD) is a tool for Mac OS X that is able to decode/convert/play various 'lossless' audio files. The supported audio files can be split into some tracks with cue sheet when decoding. Can convert between many lossless and lossy formats. Plugin oriented design, for easy exchange for new encoders.
|}

===Linux===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ffcccc; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ffcccc;"
! style="width:150px;" | Name
! style="width:90px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:320px;" | Description
|- style="background-color:#eeeeee;"
! align="left" | abcde
| GPL
|[http://code.google.com/p/abcde/ here]
| align="left" | A command-line based ripper with cdparanoia functionality
|-
! align="left" | [[cdparanoia]]
| BSD, GPL
| [http://www.xiph.org/paranoia/ here]
| align="left" | One of the first secure standalone rippers for the Linux platform
|- style="background-color:#eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[Grip]]
| GPL
| [http://sourceforge.net/projects/grip/ here]
| align="left" | An open-source Gnome interface ripper that uses cdparanoia functionality
|-
! align="left" | [[Rubyripper]]
| GPL
| [http://code.google.com/p/rubyripper/ here]
| align="left" | A secure ripper for the Linux that uses additional cdparanoia functionality
|}

==CD/DVD Writers==
===Windows===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ccccff; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ccccff"
! style="width:185px;" | Name
! style="width:80px;" | Unicode
! style="width:90px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:270px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | BurnAtOnce
| N
| Free
| [http://www.videohelp.com/tools/burnatonce here]
| align="left" | CD writing application based upon CDRDAO
|
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[Burrrn]] (CDA only)
| N
| Free
| [http://www.burrrn.net/ here]
|
|-
! align="left" | CDBurnerXP
|
| Free
| [http://www.cdburnerxp.se/ here]
|
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | DeepBurner Free
| N
| GPL
| [http://www.deepburner.com/ here]
|
|-
! align="left" | DeepBurner Pro
|
| Shareware
| [http://www.deepburner.com/ here]
|
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | Express Burn
| N
| non-commercial(free)
| [http://nch.com.au/burn/index.html here]
| align="left" | A free version of this software is available for non-commercial use only. The free version does not expire but will only burn normal CDs.
|
|-
! align="left" | Express Burn (Plus Edition)
|
| commercial
| [http://www.nch.com.au/burn/index.html here]
|
|-style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | InfraRecorder
| N
| GPL
| [http://infrarecorder.org/ here]
|
|-
! align="left" | [[Nero]]
| N
| commercial
| [http://www.nero.com/eng/ here]
| align="left" |
|-style="background-color: #eeeeee;"

|
|}

===Mac OS X===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #bbffbb; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#bbffbb;"
! style="width:130px;" | Name
! style="width:80px;" | Unicode
! style="width:90px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:310px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | [[DVD-Audio Tools]]
| Y
| GPL
| [http://dvd-audio.sourceforge.net/ here]
| align="left" | Open-source DVD-Audio authoring application
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | FireStarter FX
| N
| Free
| [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=FireStarter_FX here]
| align="left" | Free OS X Cocoa CD writing application
|-
! align="left" | [[X-CD-Roast]]
| N
| Free
| [http://www.xcdroast.org/xcdr098/xcdrosX.html here]
| align="left" | New OS X port of this Linux CD writing application
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | Burn
| N
| Free
| [http://burn-osx.sourceforge.net/Pages/English/home.html/ here]
| align="left" | Versatile CD/DVD authoring application
|}

===Linux===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ffcccc; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ffcccc;"
! style="width:130px;" | Name
! style="width:80px;" | Unicode
! style="width:90px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! align="center" style="width:260px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | CDRDAO
| N
| GPL
| [http://cdrdao.sourceforge.net/ here]
| align="left" | Cdrdao records audio or data CD-Rs in disk-at-once (DAO) mode
|- style="background-color:#eeeeee;"
! align="left" | DVD-Audio Tools
| Y
| GPL
| [http://dvd-audio.sourceforge.net/ here]
| align="left" | Open-source DVD-Audio authoring application
|-
! align="left" | [[GnomeBaker]]
| N
| GPL
| [http://sourceforge.net/projects/gnomebaker/ here]
| align="left" | Popular open-source Gnome interface CD/DVD writing application
|- style="background-color:#eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[K3b]]
| N
| GPL
| [http://www.k3b.org/ here]
| align="left" | Popular open-source KDE CD writing application for Linux platform
|-
! align="left" | [[X-CD-Roast]]
| Y
| GPL
| [http://www.xcdroast.org here]
| align="left" | New open-source Gnome interface CD/DVD writing application
|- style="background-color:#eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[Brasero]]
| N
| GPL
| [http://projects.gnome.org/brasero/ here]
| align="left" | Brasero is a application to burn CD/DVD for the Gnome Desktop.(Gnome Default)
|}

==Multimedia Players==
===Windows===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ccccff; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ccccff"
! style="width:120px;" | Name
! style="width:100px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! align="center" style="width:220px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | [[foobar2000]]
| Free, BSD
| [http://www.foobar2000.org/ here]
| align="left" | Advanced tagging, plugin capabilities, and kernel streaming support
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[MediaMonkey]]
| Free, Shareware
| [http://www.mediamonkey.com/ here]
| align="left" | Supports many Winamp plugins
|-
! align="left" | VUplayer
| Free
| [http://www.vuplayer.com/ here]
| align="left" | Supports many popular digital audio codecs and MOD tracker formats
|-
! align="left" | [[Winamp]]
| Free, Shareware
| [http://www.winamp.com/ here]
| align="left" | Popular audio player for Windows
| align="left" |
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[VLC]]
| Free
| [http://www.videolan.org/vlc// here]
| align="left" | VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats as well as DVDs, Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols.
|}

===Players / Source code ===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ccccff; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ccccff"
! style="width:120px;" | Name
! style="width:100px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! align="center" style="width:220px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | MusikCube
| BSD
| [http://www.musikcube.com/ here]
| align="left" | Supports dynamic playlists and advanced SQL capabilities
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[wxMusik]]
| GPL
| [http://sourceforge.net/projects/musik.berlios/ here]
| align="left" |A cross-platform open-source audio player
|}

===Mac OS X===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #bbffbb; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#bbffbb;"
! style="width:120px;" | Name
! style="width:100px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:220px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | Cog
| GPL
| [http://cogosx.sourceforge.net/ here]
| align="left" | An open-source digital audio player for OS X.
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | Play
| GPL
| [http://sbooth.org/Play/ here]
| align="left" |Play is an application for playing and managing audio files.
|-
! align="left" | [[VLC]]
| Free
| [http://www.videolan.org/vlc// here]
| align="left" | VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats as well as DVDs, Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols.
|}

===Linux===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ffcccc; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ffcccc;"
! style="width:120px;" | Name
! style="width:100px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:220px;" | Description
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[Amarok]]
| GPL
| [http://amarok.kde.org/ here]
| align="left" | Popular open-source KDE audio player similiar to Foobar2000
|-
! align="left" | Audacious
| GPL
| [http://audacious-media-player.org/ here]
| align="left" |Audacious is an open source audio player
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[Clementine]]
| GPL
| [http://www.clementine-player.org/ here]
| align="left" | Cross platform media player, a port of [[Amarok]] 1.4 to the Qt 4 and GStreamer framework, can be controlled with a Wii remote
|-
! align="left" | [[DeaDBeeF]]
| GPL
| [http://deadbeef.sourceforge.net/ here]
| align="left" | Lightweight music player for Linux, GUI similar to [[Foobar2000]]
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[Rhythmbox]]
| GPL
| [http://projects.gnome.org/rhythmbox/ here]
| align="left" | GNOME music player
|-
! align="left" | [[VLC]]
| Free
| [http://www.videolan.org/vlc// here]
| align="left" | VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats as well as DVDs, |Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols.
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[XMMS]]
| GPL
| [http://www.xmms.org/ here]
| align="left" | Popular open-source audio player similiar to Winamp
|}

=== Console players ===
* mpg123 [http://www.mpg123.org/ Homepage] [http://www.mpg123.org/download.shtml Downloads]

===PocketPC===
''These players may not play all your media files. Check their websites for the format support.''
* GSPlayer: http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA032810/
* MortPlayer: http://www.sto-helit.de/
* TCPMP: http://tcpmp.corecodec.org/about

==Tagging Utilities==
===Windows===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ccccff; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ccccff"
! style="width:150px;" | Name
! style="width:100px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:270px;" | Description
|-
|-
! align="left" | Frontah
| Free
| [http://home.vxu.se/mdati00/frontah/ here]
| align="left" | Transcode and tag editor for ID3v1.x, ID3v2.x, Lyrics3, Vorbis Comment, APEv1 & APEv2 tags. Supports ANSI, UTF8 and UTF16 text encoding depends on tag type.
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
|-
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | MetatOGGer
| Free
| [http://www.luminescence-software.org/ here]
| align="left" | Tags MP3 ([[ID3]]), Ogg files (Vorbis comment, including Ogg FLAC and Speex), Musepack, Windows Media, WavPack et Monkey's Audio
|-
! align="left" | MP3 Book Helper
| Free
| [http://mp3bookhelper.sourceforge.net/ here]
| align="left" | Tags [[ID3v1]], ID3v2.3, and Vorbis comments. Features: FreeDB, unicode, guessing and matching, and supporting PAR, SFV, SV, and NFO generation.
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[MP3tag]]
| Free
| [http://www.mp3tag.de/ here]
| align="left" | Tags all files supporting [[ID3]], [[APEv2]], and [[Vorbis_Comment|Vorbis Comments]], not only MP3s
|-
! align="left" | MP3 Tag Editor
| Shareware
| [http://www.mp3-tag.com/ here]
| align="left" | Software to edit tags in audio files of [[MP3]], [[WMA]], [[OGG]], [[ASF]], and other music format.
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
|-
! align="left" | [[Tag.exe]]
| GPL
| [http://www.synthetic-soul.co.uk/tag/ here]
| align="left" | Command-line universal tagger for Windows
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | Tag & Rename
| Shareware
| [http://www.softpointer.com/tr.htm here]
|
|-
! align="left" | TagScanner
| Free
| [http://www.xdlab.ru/en/index.htm here]
|
|-
! align="left" | WMP Tag Plus 2.0
| Free
| [http://bmproductions.fixnum.org/wmptagplus/ here]
| align="left" | Software to integrate other tag format than [[ID3]] into Microsoft Windows Media Player 11.
|}

===Mac OS X===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #bbffbb; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#bbffbb;"
! style="width:150px;" | Name
! style="width:100px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:270px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | Tag
| GPL
| [http://sbooth.org/Tag/ here]
| align="left" | An open-source tagging application for OS X
|}

===Linux===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ffcccc; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ffcccc;"
! style="width:150px;" | Name
! style="width:100px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:270px;" | Description
|-
! align="left" | [[Beets]]
| MIT
| [http://beets.radbox.org/ here]
| align="left" | Cross-platform open source tagging application written in Python, CLI only. Uses the Musicbrainz and Mutagen libraries, still in beta. Mostly automatic, minimal user input required. Many features and plugins. (Read the documentation)
|-
! align="left" | EasyTAG
| GPL
| [http://easytag.sourceforge.net/ here]
| align="left" | Gnome tagging utility
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" |
|}

==Encoders, Decoders, Etc.==
All basic tools needed to make use of the audio formats supported here.

===[[MP3]]===
* [[LAME]] encoder/decoder: [http://www.rarewares.org/mp3.html download pre-compiled binaries here]. Also check the [[Lame Compiles|Latest recommended version]] page.
* [[MP3Gain]], a ReplayGain-like utility: [http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/download.php download here]

===Ogg [[Vorbis]]===
Currently, all recommended Ogg Vorbis utilities are available at the [http://www.rarewares.org/ogg.html Rarewares Ogg Vorbis page]. The following tools are important:

* '''OggEnc2''': A command-line Ogg Vorbis encoder that can be used with most CD rippers.

* '''OggDec''': Command-line decoder.

* '''[[OggDropXPd]]''': An easy to use, drag'n'drop encoder/decoder with support for automatic tagging, renaming and playlist creation on encoding.

* ''Encoding DLLs'': For encoding within CDex or WinLame.

* '''VorbisGain''': The [[ReplayGain]] utility for Ogg Vorbis.

In addition, the [[Lancer]] suite — a highly SSE-optimized suite of utilities and libraries — are available at [http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/ this page] ''(in Japanese)''. See [[Lancer#Platform-specific Builds|this section]] for information about the different builds.

=== Opus ===
* http://www.opus-codec.org/
* http://rarewares.org/opus.php
* discussion at the [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=96954/ Forum]

===[[Musepack]] (MPC)===
* [http://www.musepack.net/index.php?pg=win Download MPC for Windows]
* [http://www.musepack.net/index.php?pg=lin Download MPC for Linux]
* [http://www.musepack.net/index.php?pg=osx Download MPC for Mac OS X]
* [http://www.musepack.net/index.php?pg=src Download MPC source code]

* [http://forum.musepack.net/showthread.php?t=395 Forum announcement of SV8 release]

===[[FLAC]]===
* CoolEdit / Adobe Audition Filter supporting FLAC: [http://www.vuplayer.com/other.php download here]
* Various FLAC-related utilities (incl. ReplayGain utility): [http://flac.sourceforge.net/download.html FLAC's SourceForge Download page]

==Transcoders==
''Note: Although these tools may convert from one encoding to another, please remember that [[transcoding]] to any [[lossy]] encoding will result in a degraded quality.''
* BeSweet: http://besweet.notrace.dk/
* [[fre:ac ]]
* dBpowerAMP Music Converter (dMC): http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm
* [[foobar2000]] - foobar2000 Free Encoder Pack http://www.foobar2000.org/encoderpack
* MediaCoder: http://www.mediacoderhq.com/
* [[Winamp]]
* WinLAME: http://winlame.sourceforge.net/

==Processing utilities==
===Windows===
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="text-align:center; border:2px solid #ccccff; margin-bottom: 20px;"
|- style="background:#ccccff;"
! style="width:120px;" | Name
! style="width:100px;" | License
! style="width:100px;" | Website
! style="width:400px;" | Description
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! align="left" | [[lossyWAV]]
| GPL
| [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=56129&view=findpost&p=504087 here]
| align="left" | lossyWAV is a lossy pre-processor for [[Wikipedia:Pulse-code modulation|PCM]] (uncompressed) WAV files. It reduces [[Wikipedia:Audio bit depth|bit depth]] of the input signal, which, when used in conjunction with certain lossless codecs, reduces the bitrate of the encoded file significantly.
|}

==Drivers==
===ASPI===
* Ahead Nero ASPI Driver: [ftp://ftp6.nero.com/wnaspi32.dll download]
* Adaptec Windows ASPI Package: [http://www.adaptec.com/en-us/support/_eol/scsi_sw/aspi-4.70/ official website]
* ForceASPI [http://radified.com/ASPI/forceaspi.htm radified.com]
* ASPI4all [http://www.cdr-zone.com/software/aspi_layers/aspi4all.html CDR-Zone.COM]
* FrogAspi [http://www.frogaspi.org/ official website]
* VOB ASAPI Driver 1.3: [http://www.rarewares.org/files/ASAPI.exe download]

===Sound===
* ALSA Project [http://www.alsa-project.org/ official website]
* kX Project [http://kxproject.lugosoft.com/ official website]

==Links==
* [http://www.rarewares.org/ RareWares]

[[Category:Software]]

Joint stereo

2012-10-28T17:44:13Z

86.128.201.83: /* External Links */ Joint stereo myths and realities link (broken).

'''Joint stereo''' is a property of an audio data stream and means that the stream supports more than one method of stereo coding, such as SS ("simple" or "L/R" stereo), MS ("mid-side" stereo), or IS ("intensity" stereo). A joint stereo stream may still only employ a single coding method, but for the sake of efficiency or quality may switch between methods on a frame or even sub-frame basis.

For example, a high-[[bitrate]] "joint stereo" [[MP3]] file may contain a mixture of SS and MS frames, or it may contain all SS frames or all MS frames. A non-"joint stereo" MP3 will never contain a mixture of frame types.

"Joint stereo coding methods" in prose generally refers to whatever alternatives to simple (L/R) stereo coding are supported by a particular format, even though simple stereo is also an option.

==Stereo coding methods or "modes"==

===Left-Right (L/R) or "Simple" Stereo (SS)===
Simple stereo is the most straightforward method of coding a stereo signal: each channel is treated as a completely separate entity. This can be inefficient and may adversely impact quality (as compared to other modes) when both channels contain nearly identical signals (i.e., are mono or nearly so).

===Mid-side Stereo (MS)===
Mid-side stereo coding calculates a "mid"-channel by addition of left and right channel, and a "side"-channel, i.e.:

<center><math>Left = L \qquad Right = R\,</math></center>

<center><math>Middle=\frac{L+R}{2} \qquad Side=\frac{L-R}{2}</math></center>

<center> <math>Left=Middle+Side \qquad Right=Middle-Side</math></center>

Whenever a signal is concentrated in the middle of the stereo image (i.e. more mono-like), mid-side stereo can achieve a significant saving in bitrate, since one can use fewer bits to encode the side-channel. Even more important is the fact that by applying the inverse matrix in the decoder, the quantization noise becomes correlated and falls in the middle of the stereo image, where it is masked by the signal.

Unlike [[Joint stereo#intensity stereo|intensity stereo]] which destroys phase information, mid-side coding keeps the phase information pretty much intact. Correctly implemented mid-side stereo does very little or no damage to the stereo image and increases compression efficiency either by reducing size or increasing overall quality.

===Intensity Stereo===

Intensity stereo coding is a method that achieves a saving in bitrate by replacing the left and the right signal by a single representing signal plus directional information. This replacement is psychoacoustically justified in the higher [[frequency]] range since the human auditory system is insensitive to the signal phase at frequencies above approximately 2kHz.

Intensity stereo is by definition a [[lossy]] coding method thus it is primarily useful at low bitrates. For coding at higher bitrates only mid-side stereo should be used.

==Additional information==

Some early MP3 encoders didn't make ideal decisions about what mode to use from frame to frame in joint stereo files, or how much bandwidth to allocate to encoding the side channel. This led to a widespread but mistaken belief that an abundance of M/S frames, or the use of joint stereo in general, always negatively impacts channel separation and other measures of audio quality. This is not an issue with modern encoders. Modern, optimized encoders will switch between mid-side coding or simple stereo coding as necessary, depending on the correlation between the left and right channels, and will allocate channel bandwidth appropriately to ensure the best mode is used for each frame.

==External Links==
* <s>[http://harmsy.freeuk.com/mostync/ Joint stereo myths and realities]</s> ''(very important read, but fails to observe that a "joint stereo" file may very well contain 100% simple stereo data!)''

* [http://www.audiocoding.com/ Audiocoding] -- written by Menno Bakker

* [http://www.High-Quality.ch.vu/ High Quality Audio guides] -- written by user Note: Recommendation of MPC is his preference.

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_stereo joint stereo at wikipedia]

[[Category:Technical]]

Advanced Audio Coding

2012-10-28T17:32:29Z

86.128.201.83: /* External References */ Roberto's listening tests page / rjamorim link (dead link).

= Introduction =
'''Advanced Audio Coding''' ('''AAC''') forms part of the latest specifications from the MPEG committee, and is their official successor to the popular [[MP3]] format. As with MP3, the AAC format is an international standard, and is backed by several big-name companies, including Dolby, Sony and Nokia.

With the 13 years that had passed since the creation of the MP3 format, many improvements had been realised leading to a seemingly complex specification with several flavours of AAC available. To potentially add to the confusion, AAC is usually wrapped inside an [[MP4]] container to provide tagging and seeking benefits. For this reason, AAC can also be referred to as MP4 audio.

There are several AAC encoders to choose from, coming from large names such as Apple ([[iTunes]] and [[QuickTime AAC]]), Real Networks and Nero AG (Creators of Nero Burning Rom), or the open source [http://www.audiocoding.com FAAC] which is analogous to the [[LAME]] encoder. AAC is supported on some hardware players, most notably the [[Apple iPod]] and some cell phones, and is available in Apple's online store.

In terms of quality, the AAC format is on par with (Ogg) [[Vorbis]], [[LAME]] MP3, [[WMA]] Pro and other modern codecs, and with added SBR coding (HE AAC) it can provide quite high quality at low bitrates.

Recent developments have led to [[AACplus]] which is able to give subjectively good results at low bitrates. The website [http://www.tuner2.com Tuner2] has several Internet radio stations which are sending out streams at low rates – such as 40 kbps – and some of these are surprisingly good considering the bit rates used.

== Pros ==
* An international standard approved by the [http://www.iso.ch ISO]
* Flexible: supports several [[sampling rate]]s (8000–96000 Hz), bit depths, and [[multichannel]] (up to 48 channels)
* Several implementations, including free and high quality ones ([http://www.itunes.com iTunes] or [http://www.nero.com/nerodigital/eng/Nero_Digital_Audio.html Nero Digital])
* Reaches transparency in most samples and for most users at around 150 kbps
* Part of [[MPEG-4]] specs
* Anyone can create its own implementation (specifications and demo sources available)
* Some portable players support it (Philips Expanium, [[Apple iPod]], cell phones from Nokia, Sony Jukebox)

== Cons ==
* Problem cases that trip out all transform codecs
* Heavily patented
* Increased complexity
* '''AAC''' comes in different "flavors" (object types: '''AAC LC''', '''AAC HE''', '''AAC PS''' etc.). Many (especially portable) players only support LC (at the moment) so you can have files that are valid but your player won't play them or play at a reduced quality.

== Technical Information ==
'''AAC''' stands for 'Advanced Audio Coding' and is part of the [[MPEG-4]] Systems Standard. Originally known as MPEG-2 Non-Backwards Compatible (As apposed to MPEG-2 Backwards Compatible) it is the succesor to MPEG-1/2 Layer III ([[MP3]]). It uses the [[MP4]] [[container]] (which is based on Apple's [[MOV]] container) to store metadata (i.e. tag information).

As part of the MPEG-4 Systems Standard, an '''AAC''' encoded file can include up to 48 full-bandwith audio channels (up to 96 kHz) and 15 Low Frequency Enhancement channels (limited to 120 Hz) plus 15 data streams.

'''AAC''' encoding methods are organised into Profiles (MPEG-2) or Object Types (MPEG-4). These different Object Types are not necessarily compatible with each other and may not be playable with various decoders. Some of the various Object Types are:

* MPEG-2 AAC LC / Low Complexity
* MPEG-2 AAC Main
* MPEG-2 AAC SSR / Scalable Sampling Rate
* MPEG-4 AAC LC / Low Complexity
* MPEG-4 AAC Main
* MPEG-4 AAC SSR / Scalable Sampling Rate
* MPEG-4 AAC LTP / Long Term Prediction
* MPEG-4 AAC HE / High Efficiency
* MPEG-4 AAC LD / Low Delay

Different Object Types vary in complexity. Some take longer to encode/decode as a result of the different complexities. Furthermore, the benefits of the more complex profiles are often not worth the CPU power required to encode/decode them. As a result the Low Complexity/LC Object Type has become the profile used by most encoders and supported by most decoders. However, the High Efficiency (HE) Object Type has become more popular recently with its addition to the Nero and Quicktime '''AAC''' encoder.

Currently all players support the LC Object Type, although some will work on only MPEG2 or MPEG4 streams. Players based on the FAAD2 decoder (eg. [[foobar2000]], [[Winamp]] plugins) support almost all Object Types including HE '''AAC'''. 3ivX also supports all Object Types except SSR.

== Technologies used for compression ==
* [[Huffman coding]]
* [[Quantization]] and scaling
* [[Joint stereo|M/S matrixing]]
* [[Intensity stereo]]
* Channel coupling
* Backward adaptive prediction
* Temporal Noise Shaping (TNS)
* Modified Discrete Cosine Transform (I[[MDCT]])
* Gain control and hybrid filter bank (polyphase quadrature filter (IPQF)+IMDCT)
* Long Term Prediction (LTP) – MPEG4 '''AAC''' only
* Perceptual Noise Substitution (PNS) – MPEG4 '''AAC''' only
* Spectral Band Replication ([[SBR]]) – HE '''AAC'''
* Parametric Stereo (PS) – HE '''AAC'''

== Encoders / Decoders (Supported Platforms) ==
* [[Nero AAC]] (Win32 and [[Linux_and_Nero_AAC|Linux under Wine]])
* [[QuickTime AAC]] (Win32/MacOS X)
* [[FAAC]] [[FAAD]] (Multiplatform)
* HHI/zPlane [[Compaact!]] (Win32)
* [[PsyTEL]] (Win32)
* [[aacplusenc]] (Multiplatform)

== External References ==
* [[AAC FAQ]]
* Known [[AAC implementations]].
* Read the [[AAC guide]] to learn how to obtain '''AAC'''/[[MP4]] files out of WAV files and CDs.
* Detailed '''AAC''' comparisons can be found at <s>[http://www.rjamorim.com/test/ Roberto's listening tests page]</s>.

[[Category:Codecs]]
[[Category:Lossy]]