Hydrogenaudio Knowledgebase - User contributions [en]

Replay Gain

2008-11-17T16:36:13Z

Bobulous: /* External links */

'''Replay Gain''' is the name of a technique invented to achieve the same playback volume of audio files. It specifies the reference level of 89dB and an algorithm to measure the '''perceived''' loudness of audio data.

Replay Gain is different from [[Normalization|peak normalization]]. In peak normalization, you merely ensure that the peak amplitude reaches a certain level. This does not ensure equal loudness. The Replay Gain technique measures the ''effective power'' (i.e. taking RMS after an ''Equal Loudness contour'') of the waveform, and amplifies the waveform accordingly. The result is that Replay Gained waveforms are usually more uniformly amplified then peak-normalized waveforms.

== Implementations ==
There are different Replay Gain implementations, each with its own uses and strength. Most of them use [[metadata]] to indicate the level of the volume change (Volume is adjusted on playback; needs player/decoder support) others modify the audio data itself. Generally it is recommended to use an implementation which uses the metadata and does not touch the audio itself.

In a metadata based solution, information on both types of Replay Gain can be stored, and the desired playback effect can be switched back and forth in the appropriate player. However, if the audio data is permanently modified, only one type of Replay Gain can be chosen. Furthermore, if the audio data is modified, you may not be able to restore the original data, especially if the Replay Gain technique produces a negative amplification.

Replay Gain has significant advantages over normalizing. It allows the loudness of a song to be consistant over an entire collection of audio, similar to (but more accurate than) RMS normalizing (this is called 'Track Gain', or 'Radio Gain' in earlier parlance). However, it also allows the loudness of an album to be consistant over a entire music collection, allowing the dynamics of album to remain (This is called 'Album Gain', or 'Audiophile Gain' in earlier parlance). This is usually very important in classical CDs, as there may be quiet segments and loud segments written into different tracks.

=== MP3Gain ===
[[MP3Gain]] is an implementation of Replay Gain. It either modifies target data reversibly, or attaches metadata.

* Format: [[MP3]]
* Method: Audio / Meta
* Limitations: Limited to 1.5dB steps mode, may become irreversible
* http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/

=== [[LAME]] ===
* Method: Header ([http://gabriel.mp3-tech.org/mp3infotag.html mp3infotag])
* Notes:
** Tags added during encoding; not supported by any player yet; Track Gain only
** Replay Gaining MP3's are usually done using MP3Gain (see [[Replay Gain#MP3Gain|above]]) or [[Replay Gain#foobar2000 Replay Gain scanner|foobar2000]]
* http://lame.sourceforge.net/

=== [[Musepack]] Replay Gain ===
* Method: Header (similar to Meta data method)
* Notes: Replay Gain values are stored in the header and Replay Gain is part of the Musepack specifications; therefore any Musepack decoder that does not support Replay Gain can be considered broken.
* http://www.musepack.net/

=== VorbisGain ===
* Format: (Ogg) [[Vorbis]]
* Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])
* http://www.sjeng.org/vorbisgain.html
** new compiles of VorbisGain at [http://www.rarewares.org/ogg.html www.rarewares.org]
:'''''Note:''' Andavari has provided a very useful script to integrate VorbisGain, which is a CLI tool, into Windows Explorer. Please (Ogg) [[Vorbis#Replay Gain|check this section]].

=== FLAC / METAFLAC ===
* Format: [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]]
* Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])
* http://flac.sf.net

=== WavPack / WVGAIN ===
* Format: [[WavPack]]
* Method: Meta (in [[APEv2]] tag)
* http://www.wavpack.com

=== Wavegain ===
* Format: waveform
* Method: Audio
* Limitations: Irreversible
* http://www.rarewares.org/files/others/wavegain.zip

=== [[foobar2000]] Replay Gain scanner ===
* Format:
** [[MP3]]: Values written to [[ID3v2]] (default) or [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[Musepack]]: Values written to header.
** (Ogg) [[Vorbis]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[WavPack]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[AAC]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[MP4]]: Uses its own iTunes-compatible tagging system (though iTunes does not support Replay Gain).
** [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** Modules ([[MOD]] etc.): Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags.

* http://foobar2000.org

=== [[MediaMonkey]] ===
* Format:
** [[MP3]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] or [[ID3v2]] tags.
** (Ogg) [[Vorbis]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[WMA]]: Values stored in MediaMonkey's MDB database.
** [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[WAV]]: Values stored in MediaMonkey's MDB database.
** [[MPC]]: Internal gain Structure.
* In addition to tags, all Replay Gain values are also stored in MediaMonkey's MDB database
* Does not support Album/Audiophile Replay Gain (Added to new [[MediaMonkey]] version 3
* Also capable of (irreversibly) changing the volume of MP3 tracks, similar to [[MP3Gain]]
* http://www.mediamonkey.com

=== [[Winamp]] Replay Gain scanner===
* Format:
** [[MP3]]: Values written to [[ID3v2]] tags.
** (Ogg) [[Vorbis]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[WMA]]: Values stored in Windows Media Audio tags.
** [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[AAC]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[MP4]]
** [[TAK]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* Support Album/Track Gain

== Players support ==
Replay Gain being present in the specs of FLAC, Musepack, and APE formats, any player that support those formats usually support Replay Gain.

The situation with MP3 is rather different, as it was not part of the MP3 specs. The APEv2 tags metadata implementation is somewhat becoming the de-facto standard.

=== Windows ===
* [[Foobar2000]] supports Replay Gain in all possible aspects.
* [[Winamp]] supports Replay Gain in album or track mode.
* [[MediaMonkey]] supports track Replay Gain only
* [[XMPlay]] recently implemented Replay Gain

''...and probably others.''

=== Linux ===
* [[XMMS]]. Reads Replay Gain from [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]], [[Musepack]], (Ogg) [[Vorbis]] ..
:For [[MP3]], use the CVS version of the [http://xmms-mad.sourceforge.net/ xmms-mad] mp3 plugin (it's not yet released as binary, furthermore not available in distribs' versions for now. Meanwhile binaries are available here: [http://perso.crans.org/~krempp/xmms-mad/ custom binaries])
* [[amarok]]. By using the amarok-script [http://kde-apps.org/content/show.php?content=26073 Replay Gain]
:And possibly others, since [http://developer.kde.org/~wheeler/taglib.html TagLib] added support for [[APEv2]] tags in [[MP3]] files, players using this library (like [[amaroK]] and [[JuK]]) might support that kind of Replay Gain tags in the near future.
* [http://www.sacredchao.net/quodlibet Quod Libet] reads Replay Gain from (Ogg) [[Vorbis]], [[MP3]], [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]], and [[Musepack]].
:Requires support to be enabled (via the appropriate python bindings and libraries) for the above formats. Does not support Replay Gain values stored in [[APEv2]] tags in [[MP3]]s. Replay Gain values are stored in RVA2 id3v2.4 frames. See the [http://www.sacredchao.net/quodlibet/wiki/Development/ID3Notes Quod Libet RVA2 / Replay Gain notes].
* [http://www.musicpd.org/ Music Player Daemon] (MPD) reads Replay Gain from (Ogg) [[Vorbis]], [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]], and [[Musepack]].
:Foobar2000 style TXXX frames in [[MP3]]s are also supported in the latest development releases.
* [http://www.mplayerhq.hu/ MPlayer]. Mplayer support for Replay Gain is codec dependent.
:Codecs that are known to support Replay Gain: vorbis
:Because of this, you need to prioritize the codecs that support it, or choose it individually on the command line. To add it to the command line, add an -ac [codec] option after each file that you want to choose the codec for, or at the beginning to make it apply to all files listed. To prioritize the codecs by default, list them in a line in mplayer.conf:
ac=[codec],[othercodec],vorbis,mad,

=== Portable devices ===
Current development builds of [http://www.rockbox.org/ Rockbox] support Replay Gain for some encoder formats. This is a rapidly evolving feature. Rockbox runs on a variety of portable players, including iRiver H100, H300 and H10 series; iPod 3rd gen, 4th gen (grayscale and color), 5th/5.5th gen video, 1st gen Nano and Mini 1st/2nd gen (Nano 2nd gen is not supported); Cowon iAudio X5 (including X5V and X5L)and M5 (including M5L); Toshiba Gigabeat X and F series (the S model is not supported); and SanDisk: Sansa E200 series (the R models are not supported).

There are no other portable players known to support Replay Gain.

The iPod features ''Soundcheck'', which seems to produce roughly the same normalization gains as Replay Gain, but doesn't provide an Album Gain.

=== Hi-Fi ===
Slim Devices a company owned by Logitech Inc, supports Replay Gain on both of their hi-end audiophile players, known as the [[Slim Devices Transporter|Transporter]] and the [[Slim Devices Squeezebox|Squeezebox]].

== External links ==
* [http://replaygain.hydrogenaudio.org Original Replay Gain website]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replay_Gain Replay Gain] at Wikipedia
* [http://www.bobulous.org.uk/misc/Replay-Gain.html Replay Gain using foobar2000] (how to use Replay Gain in Windows using foobar2000).
* [http://www.bobulous.org.uk/misc/Replay-Gain-in-Linux.html Replay Gain in Linux] (how to use Replay Gain in Linux using foobar2000 and Wine, or using metaflac or vorbisgain).

[[Category:Technical]]
[[Category:Metadata]]

Replay Gain

2008-11-17T15:28:00Z

Bobulous: /* External links */

'''Replay Gain''' is the name of a technique invented to achieve the same playback volume of audio files. It specifies the reference level of 89dB and an algorithm to measure the '''perceived''' loudness of audio data.

Replay Gain is different from [[Normalization|peak normalization]]. In peak normalization, you merely ensure that the peak amplitude reaches a certain level. This does not ensure equal loudness. The Replay Gain technique measures the ''effective power'' (i.e. taking RMS after an ''Equal Loudness contour'') of the waveform, and amplifies the waveform accordingly. The result is that Replay Gained waveforms are usually more uniformly amplified then peak-normalized waveforms.

== Implementations ==
There are different Replay Gain implementations, each with its own uses and strength. Most of them use [[metadata]] to indicate the level of the volume change (Volume is adjusted on playback; needs player/decoder support) others modify the audio data itself. Generally it is recommended to use an implementation which uses the metadata and does not touch the audio itself.

In a metadata based solution, information on both types of Replay Gain can be stored, and the desired playback effect can be switched back and forth in the appropriate player. However, if the audio data is permanently modified, only one type of Replay Gain can be chosen. Furthermore, if the audio data is modified, you may not be able to restore the original data, especially if the Replay Gain technique produces a negative amplification.

Replay Gain has significant advantages over normalizing. It allows the loudness of a song to be consistant over an entire collection of audio, similar to (but more accurate than) RMS normalizing (this is called 'Track Gain', or 'Radio Gain' in earlier parlance). However, it also allows the loudness of an album to be consistant over a entire music collection, allowing the dynamics of album to remain (This is called 'Album Gain', or 'Audiophile Gain' in earlier parlance). This is usually very important in classical CDs, as there may be quiet segments and loud segments written into different tracks.

=== MP3Gain ===
[[MP3Gain]] is an implementation of Replay Gain. It either modifies target data reversibly, or attaches metadata.

* Format: [[MP3]]
* Method: Audio / Meta
* Limitations: Limited to 1.5dB steps mode, may become irreversible
* http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/

=== [[LAME]] ===
* Method: Header ([http://gabriel.mp3-tech.org/mp3infotag.html mp3infotag])
* Notes:
** Tags added during encoding; not supported by any player yet; Track Gain only
** Replay Gaining MP3's are usually done using MP3Gain (see [[Replay Gain#MP3Gain|above]]) or [[Replay Gain#foobar2000 Replay Gain scanner|foobar2000]]
* http://lame.sourceforge.net/

=== [[Musepack]] Replay Gain ===
* Method: Header (similar to Meta data method)
* Notes: Replay Gain values are stored in the header and Replay Gain is part of the Musepack specifications; therefore any Musepack decoder that does not support Replay Gain can be considered broken.
* http://www.musepack.net/

=== VorbisGain ===
* Format: (Ogg) [[Vorbis]]
* Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])
* http://www.sjeng.org/vorbisgain.html
** new compiles of VorbisGain at [http://www.rarewares.org/ogg.html www.rarewares.org]
:'''''Note:''' Andavari has provided a very useful script to integrate VorbisGain, which is a CLI tool, into Windows Explorer. Please (Ogg) [[Vorbis#Replay Gain|check this section]].

=== FLAC / METAFLAC ===
* Format: [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]]
* Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])
* http://flac.sf.net

=== WavPack / WVGAIN ===
* Format: [[WavPack]]
* Method: Meta (in [[APEv2]] tag)
* http://www.wavpack.com

=== Wavegain ===
* Format: waveform
* Method: Audio
* Limitations: Irreversible
* http://www.rarewares.org/files/others/wavegain.zip

=== [[foobar2000]] Replay Gain scanner ===
* Format:
** [[MP3]]: Values written to [[ID3v2]] (default) or [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[Musepack]]: Values written to header.
** (Ogg) [[Vorbis]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[WavPack]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[AAC]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[MP4]]: Uses its own iTunes-compatible tagging system (though iTunes does not support Replay Gain).
** [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** Modules ([[MOD]] etc.): Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags.

* http://foobar2000.org

=== [[MediaMonkey]] ===
* Format:
** [[MP3]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] or [[ID3v2]] tags.
** (Ogg) [[Vorbis]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[WMA]]: Values stored in MediaMonkey's MDB database.
** [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[WAV]]: Values stored in MediaMonkey's MDB database.
** [[MPC]]: Internal gain Structure.
* In addition to tags, all Replay Gain values are also stored in MediaMonkey's MDB database
* Does not support Album/Audiophile Replay Gain (Added to new [[MediaMonkey]] version 3
* Also capable of (irreversibly) changing the volume of MP3 tracks, similar to [[MP3Gain]]
* http://www.mediamonkey.com

=== [[Winamp]] Replay Gain scanner===
* Format:
** [[MP3]]: Values written to [[ID3v2]] tags.
** (Ogg) [[Vorbis]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[WMA]]: Values stored in Windows Media Audio tags.
** [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[AAC]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[MP4]]
** [[TAK]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* Support Album/Track Gain

== Players support ==
Replay Gain being present in the specs of FLAC, Musepack, and APE formats, any player that support those formats usually support Replay Gain.

The situation with MP3 is rather different, as it was not part of the MP3 specs. The APEv2 tags metadata implementation is somewhat becoming the de-facto standard.

=== Windows ===
* [[Foobar2000]] supports Replay Gain in all possible aspects.
* [[Winamp]] supports Replay Gain in album or track mode.
* [[MediaMonkey]] supports track Replay Gain only
* [[XMPlay]] recently implemented Replay Gain

''...and probably others.''

=== Linux ===
* [[XMMS]]. Reads Replay Gain from [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]], [[Musepack]], (Ogg) [[Vorbis]] ..
:For [[MP3]], use the CVS version of the [http://xmms-mad.sourceforge.net/ xmms-mad] mp3 plugin (it's not yet released as binary, furthermore not available in distribs' versions for now. Meanwhile binaries are available here: [http://perso.crans.org/~krempp/xmms-mad/ custom binaries])
* [[amarok]]. By using the amarok-script [http://kde-apps.org/content/show.php?content=26073 Replay Gain]
:And possibly others, since [http://developer.kde.org/~wheeler/taglib.html TagLib] added support for [[APEv2]] tags in [[MP3]] files, players using this library (like [[amaroK]] and [[JuK]]) might support that kind of Replay Gain tags in the near future.
* [http://www.sacredchao.net/quodlibet Quod Libet] reads Replay Gain from (Ogg) [[Vorbis]], [[MP3]], [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]], and [[Musepack]].
:Requires support to be enabled (via the appropriate python bindings and libraries) for the above formats. Does not support Replay Gain values stored in [[APEv2]] tags in [[MP3]]s. Replay Gain values are stored in RVA2 id3v2.4 frames. See the [http://www.sacredchao.net/quodlibet/wiki/Development/ID3Notes Quod Libet RVA2 / Replay Gain notes].
* [http://www.musicpd.org/ Music Player Daemon] (MPD) reads Replay Gain from (Ogg) [[Vorbis]], [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]], and [[Musepack]].
:Foobar2000 style TXXX frames in [[MP3]]s are also supported in the latest development releases.
* [http://www.mplayerhq.hu/ MPlayer]. Mplayer support for Replay Gain is codec dependent.
:Codecs that are known to support Replay Gain: vorbis
:Because of this, you need to prioritize the codecs that support it, or choose it individually on the command line. To add it to the command line, add an -ac [codec] option after each file that you want to choose the codec for, or at the beginning to make it apply to all files listed. To prioritize the codecs by default, list them in a line in mplayer.conf:
ac=[codec],[othercodec],vorbis,mad,

=== Portable devices ===
Current development builds of [http://www.rockbox.org/ Rockbox] support Replay Gain for some encoder formats. This is a rapidly evolving feature. Rockbox runs on a variety of portable players, including iRiver H100, H300 and H10 series; iPod 3rd gen, 4th gen (grayscale and color), 5th/5.5th gen video, 1st gen Nano and Mini 1st/2nd gen (Nano 2nd gen is not supported); Cowon iAudio X5 (including X5V and X5L)and M5 (including M5L); Toshiba Gigabeat X and F series (the S model is not supported); and SanDisk: Sansa E200 series (the R models are not supported).

There are no other portable players known to support Replay Gain.

The iPod features ''Soundcheck'', which seems to produce roughly the same normalization gains as Replay Gain, but doesn't provide an Album Gain.

=== Hi-Fi ===
Slim Devices a company owned by Logitech Inc, supports Replay Gain on both of their hi-end audiophile players, known as the [[Slim Devices Transporter|Transporter]] and the [[Slim Devices Squeezebox|Squeezebox]].

== External links ==
* [http://replaygain.hydrogenaudio.org Original Replay Gain website]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replay_Gain Replay Gain] at Wikipedia
* [http://www.bobulous.org.uk/misc/Replay-Gain.html Replay Gain using foobar2000] (how to use Replay Gain in Windows using foobar2000).
* [http://www.bobulous.org.uk/misc/Replay-Gain-in-Linux.html Replay Gain in Linux] (how to use Replay Gain in Linux using foobar2000 and Wine, or using metaflac, vorbisgain or mp3gain).

[[Category:Technical]]
[[Category:Metadata]]

Replay Gain

2008-11-17T15:23:16Z

Bobulous: /* External links */

'''Replay Gain''' is the name of a technique invented to achieve the same playback volume of audio files. It specifies the reference level of 89dB and an algorithm to measure the '''perceived''' loudness of audio data.

Replay Gain is different from [[Normalization|peak normalization]]. In peak normalization, you merely ensure that the peak amplitude reaches a certain level. This does not ensure equal loudness. The Replay Gain technique measures the ''effective power'' (i.e. taking RMS after an ''Equal Loudness contour'') of the waveform, and amplifies the waveform accordingly. The result is that Replay Gained waveforms are usually more uniformly amplified then peak-normalized waveforms.

== Implementations ==
There are different Replay Gain implementations, each with its own uses and strength. Most of them use [[metadata]] to indicate the level of the volume change (Volume is adjusted on playback; needs player/decoder support) others modify the audio data itself. Generally it is recommended to use an implementation which uses the metadata and does not touch the audio itself.

In a metadata based solution, information on both types of Replay Gain can be stored, and the desired playback effect can be switched back and forth in the appropriate player. However, if the audio data is permanently modified, only one type of Replay Gain can be chosen. Furthermore, if the audio data is modified, you may not be able to restore the original data, especially if the Replay Gain technique produces a negative amplification.

Replay Gain has significant advantages over normalizing. It allows the loudness of a song to be consistant over an entire collection of audio, similar to (but more accurate than) RMS normalizing (this is called 'Track Gain', or 'Radio Gain' in earlier parlance). However, it also allows the loudness of an album to be consistant over a entire music collection, allowing the dynamics of album to remain (This is called 'Album Gain', or 'Audiophile Gain' in earlier parlance). This is usually very important in classical CDs, as there may be quiet segments and loud segments written into different tracks.

=== MP3Gain ===
[[MP3Gain]] is an implementation of Replay Gain. It either modifies target data reversibly, or attaches metadata.

* Format: [[MP3]]
* Method: Audio / Meta
* Limitations: Limited to 1.5dB steps mode, may become irreversible
* http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/

=== [[LAME]] ===
* Method: Header ([http://gabriel.mp3-tech.org/mp3infotag.html mp3infotag])
* Notes:
** Tags added during encoding; not supported by any player yet; Track Gain only
** Replay Gaining MP3's are usually done using MP3Gain (see [[Replay Gain#MP3Gain|above]]) or [[Replay Gain#foobar2000 Replay Gain scanner|foobar2000]]
* http://lame.sourceforge.net/

=== [[Musepack]] Replay Gain ===
* Method: Header (similar to Meta data method)
* Notes: Replay Gain values are stored in the header and Replay Gain is part of the Musepack specifications; therefore any Musepack decoder that does not support Replay Gain can be considered broken.
* http://www.musepack.net/

=== VorbisGain ===
* Format: (Ogg) [[Vorbis]]
* Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])
* http://www.sjeng.org/vorbisgain.html
** new compiles of VorbisGain at [http://www.rarewares.org/ogg.html www.rarewares.org]
:'''''Note:''' Andavari has provided a very useful script to integrate VorbisGain, which is a CLI tool, into Windows Explorer. Please (Ogg) [[Vorbis#Replay Gain|check this section]].

=== FLAC / METAFLAC ===
* Format: [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]]
* Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])
* http://flac.sf.net

=== WavPack / WVGAIN ===
* Format: [[WavPack]]
* Method: Meta (in [[APEv2]] tag)
* http://www.wavpack.com

=== Wavegain ===
* Format: waveform
* Method: Audio
* Limitations: Irreversible
* http://www.rarewares.org/files/others/wavegain.zip

=== [[foobar2000]] Replay Gain scanner ===
* Format:
** [[MP3]]: Values written to [[ID3v2]] (default) or [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[Musepack]]: Values written to header.
** (Ogg) [[Vorbis]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[WavPack]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[AAC]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[MP4]]: Uses its own iTunes-compatible tagging system (though iTunes does not support Replay Gain).
** [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** Modules ([[MOD]] etc.): Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags.

* http://foobar2000.org

=== [[MediaMonkey]] ===
* Format:
** [[MP3]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] or [[ID3v2]] tags.
** (Ogg) [[Vorbis]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[WMA]]: Values stored in MediaMonkey's MDB database.
** [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[WAV]]: Values stored in MediaMonkey's MDB database.
** [[MPC]]: Internal gain Structure.
* In addition to tags, all Replay Gain values are also stored in MediaMonkey's MDB database
* Does not support Album/Audiophile Replay Gain (Added to new [[MediaMonkey]] version 3
* Also capable of (irreversibly) changing the volume of MP3 tracks, similar to [[MP3Gain]]
* http://www.mediamonkey.com

=== [[Winamp]] Replay Gain scanner===
* Format:
** [[MP3]]: Values written to [[ID3v2]] tags.
** (Ogg) [[Vorbis]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[WMA]]: Values stored in Windows Media Audio tags.
** [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[AAC]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[MP4]]
** [[TAK]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* Support Album/Track Gain

== Players support ==
Replay Gain being present in the specs of FLAC, Musepack, and APE formats, any player that support those formats usually support Replay Gain.

The situation with MP3 is rather different, as it was not part of the MP3 specs. The APEv2 tags metadata implementation is somewhat becoming the de-facto standard.

=== Windows ===
* [[Foobar2000]] supports Replay Gain in all possible aspects.
* [[Winamp]] supports Replay Gain in album or track mode.
* [[MediaMonkey]] supports track Replay Gain only
* [[XMPlay]] recently implemented Replay Gain

''...and probably others.''

=== Linux ===
* [[XMMS]]. Reads Replay Gain from [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]], [[Musepack]], (Ogg) [[Vorbis]] ..
:For [[MP3]], use the CVS version of the [http://xmms-mad.sourceforge.net/ xmms-mad] mp3 plugin (it's not yet released as binary, furthermore not available in distribs' versions for now. Meanwhile binaries are available here: [http://perso.crans.org/~krempp/xmms-mad/ custom binaries])
* [[amarok]]. By using the amarok-script [http://kde-apps.org/content/show.php?content=26073 Replay Gain]
:And possibly others, since [http://developer.kde.org/~wheeler/taglib.html TagLib] added support for [[APEv2]] tags in [[MP3]] files, players using this library (like [[amaroK]] and [[JuK]]) might support that kind of Replay Gain tags in the near future.
* [http://www.sacredchao.net/quodlibet Quod Libet] reads Replay Gain from (Ogg) [[Vorbis]], [[MP3]], [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]], and [[Musepack]].
:Requires support to be enabled (via the appropriate python bindings and libraries) for the above formats. Does not support Replay Gain values stored in [[APEv2]] tags in [[MP3]]s. Replay Gain values are stored in RVA2 id3v2.4 frames. See the [http://www.sacredchao.net/quodlibet/wiki/Development/ID3Notes Quod Libet RVA2 / Replay Gain notes].
* [http://www.musicpd.org/ Music Player Daemon] (MPD) reads Replay Gain from (Ogg) [[Vorbis]], [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]], and [[Musepack]].
:Foobar2000 style TXXX frames in [[MP3]]s are also supported in the latest development releases.
* [http://www.mplayerhq.hu/ MPlayer]. Mplayer support for Replay Gain is codec dependent.
:Codecs that are known to support Replay Gain: vorbis
:Because of this, you need to prioritize the codecs that support it, or choose it individually on the command line. To add it to the command line, add an -ac [codec] option after each file that you want to choose the codec for, or at the beginning to make it apply to all files listed. To prioritize the codecs by default, list them in a line in mplayer.conf:
ac=[codec],[othercodec],vorbis,mad,

=== Portable devices ===
Current development builds of [http://www.rockbox.org/ Rockbox] support Replay Gain for some encoder formats. This is a rapidly evolving feature. Rockbox runs on a variety of portable players, including iRiver H100, H300 and H10 series; iPod 3rd gen, 4th gen (grayscale and color), 5th/5.5th gen video, 1st gen Nano and Mini 1st/2nd gen (Nano 2nd gen is not supported); Cowon iAudio X5 (including X5V and X5L)and M5 (including M5L); Toshiba Gigabeat X and F series (the S model is not supported); and SanDisk: Sansa E200 series (the R models are not supported).

There are no other portable players known to support Replay Gain.

The iPod features ''Soundcheck'', which seems to produce roughly the same normalization gains as Replay Gain, but doesn't provide an Album Gain.

=== Hi-Fi ===
Slim Devices a company owned by Logitech Inc, supports Replay Gain on both of their hi-end audiophile players, known as the [[Slim Devices Transporter|Transporter]] and the [[Slim Devices Squeezebox|Squeezebox]].

== External links ==
* [http://replaygain.hydrogenaudio.org Original Replay Gain website]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replay_Gain Replay Gain] at Wikipedia
* [http://www.bobulous.org.uk/misc/Replay-Gain.html Replay Gain using Foobar 2000] (how-to).
* [http://www.bobulous.org.uk/misc/Replay-Gain-in-Linux.html Replay Gain in Linux] (how-to).

[[Category:Technical]]
[[Category:Metadata]]

Replay Gain

2006-09-18T20:28:34Z

Bobulous: /* Additional reading */

'''Replaygain''' is the name of a technique invented to achieve the same playback volume of audio files. It specifies the reference level of 89dB and an algorithm to measure the '''perceived''' loudness of audio data.

Replaygain is different from [[Normalization|peak normalization]]. In peak normalization, you merely ensure that the peak amplitude reaches a certain level. This does not ensure equal loudness. The replaygain technique measures the ''effective power'' (i.e. RMS after an ''Equal Loudness Filter'') of the waveform, and amplifies the waveform accordingly. The result is that replaygained waveforms are usually more uniformly amplified that peak-normalized waveforms.

==Implementations==

There are different replaygain implementations, each with its own uses and strength. Most of them use [[metadata]] to indicate the level of the volume change (Volume is adjusted on playback; needs player/decoder support) others modify the audio data itself. Generally it is recommended to use an implementation which uses the metadata and does not touch the audio itself.

In a metadata based solution, information on both types of replaygain can be stored, and the desired playback effect can be switched back and forth in the appropriate player. However, if the audio data is permanently modified, only one type of replaygain can be chosen. Furthermore, if the audio data is modified, you may not be able to restore the original data, especially if the replaygain technique produces a negative amplification.

Replaygain has significant advantages over normalizing. It allows the loudness of a song to be consistant over an entire collection of audio, similar to (but more accurate than) RMS normalizing (this is called 'Track Gain', or 'Radio Gain' in earlier parlance). However, it also allows the loudness of an album to be consistant over a entire music collection, allowing the dynamics of album to remain (This is called 'Album Gain', or 'Audiophile Gain' in earlier parlance). This is usually very important in classical CDs, as there may be quiet segments and loud segments written into different tracks.

===MP3Gain===
[[MP3Gain]] is an implementation of Replaygain. It either modifies target data reversibly, or attaches metadata.

* Format: [[MP3]]
* Method: Audio / Meta
* Limitations: Limited to 1.5dB steps mode, may become irreversible
* http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/

===[[LAME]]===

* Method: Header ([http://gabriel.mp3-tech.org/mp3infotag.html mp3infotag])
* Notes:
** Tags added during encoding; not supported by any player yet; Track Gain only
** ReplayGaining MP3's are usually done using MP3Gain (see [[Replaygain#MP3Gain|above]]) or [[Replaygain#foobar2000 replaygain scanner|foobar2000]]
* http://lame.sourceforge.net/

===[[MPC]] replaygain===

* Method: Header (similar to Meta data method)
* Notes: Replaygain values are stored in the header and replaygain is part of the Musepack specifications; therefore any Musepack decoder that does not support replaygain can be considered broken.
* http://rarewares.org/mpc.html

===VorbisGain===

* Format: [[Ogg Vorbis]]
* Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])
* http://www.sjeng.org/vorbisgain.html
:'''''Note:''' Andavari has provided a very useful script to integrate VorbisGain, which is a CLI tool, into Windows Explorer. Please [[Ogg Vorbis#ReplayGain|check this section]].

===FLAC / METAFLAC===

* Format: [[FLAC]]
* Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])
* http://flac.sf.net

===WavPack / WVGAIN===

* Format: [[WavPack]]
* Method: Meta (in [[APEv2]] tag)
* http://www.wavpack.com

===Wavegain===

* Format: waveform
* Method: Audio
* Limitations: Irreversible
* http://www.rarewares.org/files/others/wavegain.zip

===[[foobar2000]] replaygain scanner===

* Format:
** [[MP3]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] or [[ID3v2]] tags.
** [[MPC]]: Values written to header.
** [[Ogg Vorbis]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[WavPack]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[AAC]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[MP4]]: Uses its own itunes-compatible tagging system (though itunes does not support replaygain).
** [[FLAC]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[WAV]]: Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.
** Modules ([[MOD]] etc.): Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.
** All other formats are supported but the replaygain values are saved to the foobar2000 database.

* You can also choose to only have the replaygain values saved in the foobar2000 database and leave the files untouched.

* http://foobar2000.org

===[[MediaMonkey]]===

* Format:
** [[MP3]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] or [[ID3v2]] tags.
** [[Ogg Vorbis]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[WMA]]: Values stored in MediaMonkey's MDB database.
** [[FLAC]]: Values written to [[Vorbis comment]].
** [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
** [[WAV]]: Values stored in MediaMonkey's MDB database.
* In addition to tags, all ReplayGain values are also stored in MediaMonkey's MDB database
* Does not support Album/Audiophile replaygain
* Also capable of (irreversibly) changing the volume of MP3 tracks, similar to [[MP3Gain]]
* http://www.mediamonkey.com

==Players support==

Replaygain being present in the specs of FLAC, MPC, and APE formats, any player that support those formats usually support replaygain.

The situation with MP3 is rather different, as it was not part of the MP3 specs. The APEv2 tags metadata implementation is somewhat becoming the de-facto standard.

===Windows===

* [[Foobar2000]] supports replaygain in all possible aspects.
* [[Winamp]]
** MP3 replaygain support with adequate plugins (e.g. [http://otachan.com/in_!mpg123.html Otachan's in_!mpg123] - if you can't read japanese, you can find details [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=18530 in this thread])
** [[Ogg Vorbis]] replaygain support
* [[MediaMonkey]] supports track replaygain only
* [[XMPlay]] recently implemented replaygain

''...and probably others.''

===Linux===

* [[XMMS]]. Reads replaygain from [[FLAC]], [[MPC]], [[Ogg Vorbis]] ..
:For [[MP3]], use the CVS version of the [http://xmms-mad.sourceforge.net/ xmms-mad] mp3 plugin (it's not yet released as binary, furthermore not available in distribs' versions for now. Meanwhile binaries are available here: [http://perso.crans.org/~krempp/xmms-mad/ custom binaries])
* [[amaroK]]. By using the amaroK-script [http://kde-apps.org/content/show.php?content=26073 ReplayGain]
:And possibly others, since [http://developer.kde.org/~wheeler/taglib.html TagLib] added support for [[APEv2]] tags in [[MP3]] files, players using this library (like [[amaroK]] and [[JuK]]) might support that kind of replaygain tags in the near future.
* [http://www.sacredchao.net/quodlibet Quod Libet] reads replaygain from [[Ogg Vorbis]], [[MP3]], [[FLAC]], and [[MPC]].
:Requires support to be enabled (via the appropriate python bindings and libraries) for the above formats. Does not support replaygain values stored in [[APEv2]] tags in [[MP3]]s. Replaygain values are stored in RVA2 id3v2.4 frames. See the [http://www.sacredchao.net/quodlibet/wiki/Development/ID3Notes Quod Libet RVA2 / ReplayGain notes].
* [http://www.musicpd.org/ Music Player Daemon] (MPD) reads replaygain from [[Ogg Vorbis]], [[FLAC]], and [[MPC]].
:Foobar2000 style TXXX frames in [[MP3]]s are also supported in the latest development releases.

===Portable devices===

Current development builds of [http://www.rockbox.org/ Rockbox] for the iRiver H100 and H300 series players support replaygain for some encoder formats. This is a rapidly evolving feature. There are no other portable players known to support replaygain.

The iPod features ''Soundcheck'', which seems to produce roughly the same normalization gains as replaygain, but doesn't provide an Album Gain.

==Additional reading==
* [http://replaygain.hydrogenaudio.org Original Replay Gain website]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replay_Gain Replay Gain] at Wikipedia
* [http://www.bobulous.org.uk/misc/Replay-Gain.html Replay Gain using Foobar 2000] (how-to).

[[Category:Signal Processing]]

Foobar2000:Foobar2000

2006-09-18T20:24:37Z

Bobulous: External Guides

__NOEDITSECTION__
{|cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse;"|
|style="border: 1px solid #777777; padding: 10px; border-bottom: 0px;" colspan="2"|
<h1 style="border: 0px; font-weight: normal; padding-left: 5px; margin: 0px;">[[Image:foobar2000 Logo.png]] the foobar2000 wiki</h1>
|-
|style="border: 1px solid #777777; padding: 10px; border-right: 0px;"|
'''foobar2000''' is a freeware audio player, and more. Apart from audio playback, it also supports media libraries, file conversion, CD ripping, and many more powerful features.
<div style="border: 1px solid #CCCCCC; padding: 5px 10px;">
'''The latest stable version is:''' [http://foobar2000.org/foobar2000_0.9.3.1.exe v0.9.3.1]<br />
'''The latest beta version is:''' [http://foobar2000.org/beta/foobar2000_0.9.4%20beta%203.exe v0.9.4 beta 3]
</div>
==Features==

* Open component architecture allowing third-party developers to extend functionality of the player
* Full Unicode support
* [[Replaygain]] support
* Low memory footprint, efficient handling of really large playlists
* Advanced file info processing capabilities (generic file info box and masstagger)
* Highly customizable playlist display
* Customizable keyboard shortcuts
* Gapless playback
* Multiple playlists
* Music library
* Streaming Support
* Freeware

==Supported Audio Formats==

Native Support ("out-of-the-box"):
* [[MP1]], [[MP2]], [[MP3]], [[MP4]], [[Musepack]], [[AAC]], [[Ogg Vorbis]], [[FLAC]] / Ogg FLAC, [[Speex]], [[WavPack]], [[WAV]], [[AIFF]], [[AU]], [[SND]], [[CDDA]], [[WMA]].

Supported through plug-ins:
* [[TTA]], [[Monkey's Audio]], [[ALAC]], [[Mod]], [[SPC]], [[TFMX]], [[Shorten]], [[OptimFROG]], [[LPAC]], [[AC3]], [[PSF]], [[NSF]], [[XID]], [[XA]], [[Matroska]], etc.

In addition, foobar2000 can also play music directly from compressed RAR, ZIP archives without requiring the user to extract the files prior to playing.

Foobar2000 has been coded exclusively for the Windows platform with an English interface. The author does not intend to provide alternate language versions nor alternate platform versions. However, several people have had success running foobar2000 on x86 Linux systems by using [http://www.winehq.org/ Wine], although the Columns UI plugin is known to be problematic.

==Using foobar2000==
* [[foobar2000:components 0.9|foobar2000 0.9.x Components]]
* [[foobar2000:Directories|foobar2000 Directories]]
* [[foobar2000:FAQ|foobar2000 FAQ]]
* [[foobar2000:Encouraged Tag Standards|foobar2000 Encouraged Tag Standards]]
* [[foobar2000:Tips & Tricks|foobar2000 Tips & Tricks]]

===Technical Information===
* [[Foobar2000:ID3 Tag Mapping|ID3 Tag Mapping]]

===General Guides===
''Note'' All '''general''' guides were written for 0.8.3 version and could contain outdated information. For 0.9 version, check out the External Guides below.
* [[foobar2000:Newbie User Guide|Newbie User Guide]]
* [[foobar2000:Intermediate User Guide|Intermediate User Guide]]
* [[foobar2000:Advanced User Guide|Advanced User Guide]]

===Specific Guides===

* [[foobar2000:Preferences|Preferences Dialog]]
* [[foobar2000:Titleformat Introduction|Introduction to titleformat scripts]]
* [[foobar2000:Titleformat Reference|Titleformat Reference]] - Quick-Reference for fields and functions
* [[foobar2000:Masstaggers User Guide|Masstagger]]
* [[foobar2000:Commandline Guide|Commandline Usage]]
* [[foobar2000:Increasing Performance|Increasing Performance]] - Tips

The following articles contain outdated information that does not apply to Foobar2000 v0.9:
* [[foobar2000:Tagz|Tagz (Simple Syntax)]]
* [[foobar2000:Tagscript|Tagscript (Script-like Syntax)]]
* [[foobar2000:Autoplaylist|Autoplaylist]] Guide and Cookbook

===External Guides===

* [http://eolindel.free.fr/foobar0.9/index.shtml Bachi-Bouzouk's guide] Complete manual about foobar2000 {{foobar2000v09}}, Replaygain, the masstagger (with a tutorial) and common plugins.Two rather extensive FAQ for UI columns and overall use. Step by step guide to help new users.
* [http://eolindel.free.fr/foobar/ Bachi-Bouzouk's guide] {{foobar2000v08}}
* [http://foobar2000.audiohq.de/ Frank Bicking's German-language guide]
* [http://www.dizwell.com/html/foobar.htm Howard Rogers' Beginners' Configuration Guide]
* [http://shsc.info/foobar2000#titelanker2 SH/SC New user guide]
* [http://www.techspot.com/tweaks/foobar/ TechSpot's "complete guide to Foobar2000"]
* [http://www.bobulous.org.uk/misc/Replay-Gain.html Replay Gain] focusing on Foobar 2000 0.9x.

==== Scripting Tutorials ====

* [http://eolindel.free.fr/foobar0.9/tutorial.shtml Bachi-Bouzouk's Scripting Tutorial] Color schemes detailed. Main functions explained, basic and complex code for your columns. Several .fcs explained, detailed FAQ.
* [http://tagz.brother-john.net/ Brother John's Foobar2000 Scripting Tutorial]

==Important Links==

===Official Site===

* [http://www.foobar2000.org foobar2000.org: Homepage]
* [http://www.foobar2000.org foobar2000.org: Download]
* [http://www.foobar2000.org/requirements.html foobar2000.org: Requirements]

===Community===

* [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showforum=28 Official foobar2000 forum]
* [http://www.fforum.ru/index.php?showforum=59 Russian-language forum]
* [http://www.foobar.prv.pl/ Polish-language forum]
* [http://foobar2000.fo.funpic.de/ German Support Forum]
* [http://www.foobar2000.tk Portuguese forum]

===Appearance===

* [[Foobar2000:Preferences:Columns UI/Appearance|Appearance]] Guides to customizing the look of your Foobar2000
* [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=43077 Foobar Gallery 0.9]: screenshot thread {{foobar2000v09}}
* [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=30988 Foobar Gallery 0.8]: screenshot thread {{foobar2000v08}}
* [http://pelit.koillismaa.fi/fb2k/index.php Default UI formatting strings]: cut-n-paste ready
* [http://foobar.nub4life.net/columns/ Columns UI configs]: .fcs file format
|style="border: 1px solid #777777; padding: 10px;" valign="top"|
{{Software Infobox|
|name = foobar2000
|screenshot = [[Image:Foobar2000v0.9.png|250px]]
|caption = Screenshot of foobar2000 v0.9 using the default user interface
|maintainer = Peter Pawlowski
|stable_release = 0.9.3.1
|preview_release = 0.9.4 beta 3
|operating_system = Windows
|use = Audio player
|license = Proprietary, BSD
|website = [http://www.foobar2000.org/ www.foobar2000.org]
}}<br clear="both" />
<div style="margin-left: 17px;">__TOC__</div>
|}
[[Category: foobar2000]]

Lossless comparison

2006-06-06T11:58:05Z

Bobulous: /* Other lossless compressions comparisons */

Given the enormous amount of [[lossless]] audio compressor choices available, it is a very difficult task to choose the one most suited for each person's needs.

Several people only take into consideration compression performance when choosing a codec. But as the following table and article shows, there are several other features worth taking into consideration when making that choice.

For example, users wanting good multiplatform compatibility and robustness (E.G, people sharing live recordings) would favour [[WavPack]] or [[FLAC]]. Another user, looking for the very highest compression available, would go with [[OptimFROG]]. Someone wanting portable support would use [[FLAC]] or [[ALAC]], and so on.

En fin, this is not a matter worth getting too worked up about. If you later find out the codec you chose isn't the best for your needs, you can just transcompress to another format, without risk of losing quality.

'''Note:''' for latest comparison of lossless compression, scroll down to the [[Lossless comparison#Links|Links section of this page]].

==Comparison Table==



{| border="0" cellspacing="0"
| '''Features''' || {{Turquoise}} WavPack || {{Turquoise}} ALAC || {{Turquoise}} FLAC || {{Turquoise}} Monkey's || {{Turquoise}} OptimFROG || {{Turquoise}} Shorten
|-
| {{yellow}} Encoding speed || {{green}} very fast || {{white}} average || {{light-green}} fast || {{light-green}} fast || {{orange}} slow || {{green}} very fast
|-|
| {{yellow}} Decoding speed || {{green}} very fast || {{green}} very fast || {{green}} very fast || {{light-green}} fast || {{orange}} slow || {{green}} very fast
|-|
| {{yellow}} Compression* || {{light-green}} 58% || {{light-green}} 58,50% || {{light-green}} 58,70% || {{green}} 55,50% || {{green}} 54,70% || {{orange}} 63,50%
|-|
| {{yellow}} Flexibility** || {{green}} very good || {{orange}} bad || {{green}} very good || {{green}} very good || {{green}} very good || {{orange}} bad
|-
| {{white}}  
|-
| {{yellow}} Error handling || {{green}} yes || {{white}}   || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} Seeking || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes
|-|
| {{yellow}} Tagging || {{green}} ID3/APE || {{green}} QT tags || {{green}} FLAC tags || {{green}} ID3/APE || {{green}} ID3/APE || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} Hardware support || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes
|-|
| {{yellow}} Software support || {{light-green}} good || {{orange}} bad || {{green}} very good || {{light-green}} good || {{white}} average || {{green}} very good
|-|
| {{yellow}} Hybrid/lossy || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} ReplayGain || {{green}} yes || {{white}} sort of || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} RIFF chunks || {{green}} yes || {{white}}   || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes
|-|
| {{yellow}} Streaming || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} Pipe support || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes
|-|
| {{yellow}} Open source || {{green}} yes || {{light-green}} Yes (decoding) || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes
|-|
| {{yellow}} Multichannel || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} High resolution || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} OS support || {{green}} All || {{light-green}} Win/Mac || {{green}} All || {{green}} All || {{green}} Win/Mac/Linux || {{green}} All
|-|
| {{gray}}   || {{gray}}   || {{gray}}   || {{gray}}   || {{gray}}   || {{gray}}   || {{gray}}  
|-|
| '''Features''' || {{Turquoise}} WMA || {{Turquoise}} LA || {{Turquoise}} TTA || {{Turquoise}} LPAC || {{Turquoise}} MPEG4 ALS || {{Turquoise}} Real Lossless
|-|
| {{yellow}} Encoding speed || {{white}} average || {{orange}} slow || {{green}} very fast || {{white}} average || {{orange}} slow || {{white}} average
|-|
| {{yellow}} Decoding speed || {{white}} average || {{orange}} slow || {{green}} very fast || {{green}} very fast || {{orange}} slow || {{light-green}} fast
|-|
| {{yellow}} Compression* || {{green}} 56,30% || {{green}} 53,50% || {{light-green}} 57,10% || {{light-green}} 57,20% || {{white}}   || {{white}}  
|-|
| {{yellow}} Flexibility** || {{orange}} bad || {{white}} average || {{orange}} bad || {{orange}} bad || {{green}} very good || {{orange}} bad
|-
| {{white}}  
|-
| {{yellow}} Error handling || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{white}}  
|-|
| {{yellow}} Seeking || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} slow || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes
|-|
| {{yellow}} Tagging || {{light-green}} Proprietary || {{light-green}} ID3v1 || {{light-green}} ID3 || {{orange}} no || {{green}} MP4 tags || {{light-green}} Proprietary
|-|
| {{yellow}} Hardware support || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} Software support || {{light-green}} good || {{orange}} bad || {{white}} average || {{white}} average || {{orange}} none yet || {{orange}} bad
|-|
| {{yellow}} Hybrid/lossy || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} ReplayGain || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} RIFF chunks || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{white}}   || {{white}}  
|-|
| {{yellow}} Streaming || {{green}} yes || {{white}}   || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes
|-|
| {{yellow}} Pipe support || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{white}}   || {{white}}   || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} Open source || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} Multichannel || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} High resolution || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} OS support || {{light-green}} Win/Mac || {{light-green}} Win/Linux || {{green}} All || {{light-green}} Win/Linux/Sol || {{green}} All || {{green}} Win/Mac/Linux
|}

<nowiki>*</nowiki> The Compression ratio is calculated with the division of compressed size by uncompressed size * 100. So, lower is better.

Encoding speed, Decoding speed and Compression ratio are based on each encoder's default settings.

<nowiki>**</nowiki> Flexibility refers to the amount of encoding choices offered to the users (Fast/low compression, Slow/high compression and everything inbetween)

These are the most popular lossless codecs, in alphabetical order:

==ALAC - Apple Lossless Audio Codec== http://www.apple.com/itunes/import.html

[[ALAC]] is a codec developed by Apple for usage in [[Apple iPod|iPod]] and AirPort Express.

===ALAC PROS===
* Very fast decoding
* [[Open source]] ([http://craz.net/programs/itunes/alac.html decoding only])
* Hardware support ([[Apple iPod|iPod]], AirPort Express)
* Streaming support
* Tagging support (QT tags)
* Excellent hardware-software-lossy format integration with [[iTunes]]/iPod.
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s

===ALAC CONS===
* Closed source (encoding)
* Limited software support
* Compression efficiency not on par with other lossless codecs
* No hybrid/lossy mode

===ALAC Other features===
* Fits in the [[MP4]] container
* Can be used with the AirPort Express gadget

==FLAC - Free Lossless Audio Codec== http://flac.sourceforge.net/

[[FLAC]] is a lossless codec developed by Josh Coalson. It's part of the Xiph multimedia portfolio, along with [[Ogg]], [[Vorbis]], [[Speex]] and [[Theora]].

===FLAC PROS===
* [[Open source]]
* Very fast decoding
* Fast encoding
* Hardware support ([[Rio Karma|Karma]], Phatbox, etc.)
* Very good software support
* Error robustness
* Streaming support
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* Tagging support (FLAC tags)
* Pipe support
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible

===FLAC CONS===
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* Doesn't support [[RIFF]] chunks

===FLAC Other features===
* Supports embedded CUE sheets (with [http://flac.sourceforge.net/faq.html#general__no_cuesheet_tags limitations])
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking
* Fits the [[Ogg]] and [[Matroska]] containers

==LA - LosslessAudio== http://www.lossless-audio.com/

[[LA]] is a lossless codec developed by Michael Bevin.

===LA PROS===
* Very high compression
* Tagging support ([[ID3v1]])
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* Pipe support

===LA CONS===
* Closed source
* Very slow encoding and decoding
* Doesn't support [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* No hardware support
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* Bad software support
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

'''''It's important to mention that the LA foobar plugin is buggy and doesn't produce lossless streams!'''''

==LPAC== http://www.nue.tu-berlin.de/wer/liebchen/lpac.html

Lossless Predictive Audio Coder ([[LPAC]]) is a lossless codec developed by Tilman Liebchen. Development of it has been halted in favour of development of [[MPEG-4]] ALS.

===LPAC PROS===
* Reasonable compression ratios
* [[High resolution]] audio support
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks

===LPAC CONS===
* Closed source
* No error robustness
* Slow seeking
* No tagging
* No [[multichannel]] support
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* No hardware support
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

==Monkey's Audio== http://www.monkeysaudio.com/

[[Monkey's Audio]] is a very efficient lossless compressor developed by Matt Ashland.

===APE PROS===
* [[Open source]]
* High efficiency
* Good software support
* Simple and user friendly. Official GUI provided.
* Java version (multiplatform)
* Tagging support ([[ID3v1]], [[APE tags]])
* [[High resolution]] audio support
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks (only in the GUI encoder)
* Pipe support (only in a [http://www.etree.org/shnutils/shntool/ special] version)

===APE CONS===
* No [[multichannel]] support
* No error robustness
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* No hardware support
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

===APE Other features===
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking
* Supports APL image link files (similar to CUE sheets)

==OptimFROG== http://losslessaudiocompression.com/

[[OptimFROG]] is a lossless format developed by Florin Ghido to become the champion in audio compression.

===OFR PROS===
* Very high compression
* Good software support
* Error robustness
* Streaming support
* Supports [[high resolution]]s
* Hybrid/lossy mode
* Tagging support ([[ID3]], [[APE tags]])
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible

===OFR CONS===
* Closed source
* No [[multichannel]] audio support
* No hardware support
* Quite slow decoding

===OFR Other features===
* Supports 32bit float streams
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking

==RealAudio Lossless== http://www.realnetworks.com/products/codecs/realaudio.html

RealAudio lossless is the lossless codec developed by Real Networks for their multimedia portfolio

===RAL PROS===
* Very fast decoding
* Streaming support
* Tagging support (proprietary)

===RAL CONS===
* Closed source
* No [[multichannel]] and [[high resolution]] audio support
* Little software support (Real Player)
* No hardware support
* Compression efficiency not on par with other lossless codecs
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* No pipe support
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

==Shorten== http://www.etree.org/shnutils/shorten/

[[Shorten]] is a very old and featureless lossless codec developed by Tony Robinson at SoftSound.

===SHN PROS===
* [[Open source]]
* Fast decoding
* Very good software support
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* Pipe support

===SHN CONS===
* Quite inefficient
* No [[multichannel]] or [[high resolution]] audio support
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* No error robustness
* Not streamable
* No hardware support
* No native tagging
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

==True Audio (TTA)== http://www.true-audio.com/

[[TTA]] is a new lossless codec developed by a team of russian programmers.

===TTA PROS===
* [[Open source]]
* Good efficiency
* Hardware support (obscure DVD player)
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* Tagging support ([[ID3]])
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible
* Error robustness

===TTA CONS===
* No streaming support
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* Doesn't support [[RIFF]] chunks
* No pipe support

===TTA Other features===
* Fits the [[Matroska]] container

==WavPack== http://www.wavpack.com/

[[WavPack]] is a fast and featureful lossless codec developed by David Bryant.

===WV PROS===
* [[Open source]]
* Very fast decoding
* Very fast encoding
* Good efficiency
* Error robustness
* Streaming support
* Hardware support ([http://www.rockbox.org/ RockBox])
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* Hybrid/lossy mode
* Tagging support ([[ID3v1]], [[APE tags]])
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* Ability to create self extracting files for Win32 platform
* Pipe support
* Good software support
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible

===WV CONS===
* Limited player support

===WV Other features===
* Supports 32bit float streams
* Supports embedded CUE sheets
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking
* Can encode in both symmetrical and assymmetrical modes.
* Fits the [[Matroska]] container

==Windows Media Audio Lossless== http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/codecs/audio.aspx

WMA Lossless is the lossless codec developed by Microsoft to be featured in their Windows Media codec portfolio.

===WMAL PROS===
* Streaming support
* Very good software support
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s.
* Tagging support (proprietary)
* Pipe support

===WMAL CONS===
* Closed source
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* No hardware support (but it's likely to appear sooner or later)
* Doesn't support [[RIFF]] chunks
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

===WMAL Other features===
* Fits the [[ASF]] container

==Oddball Formats==

There are several old lossless formats that aren't being featured in the article above. Reasons are: lack of widespread support, lack of features, bad efficiency and, most importantly, it seems noone is really interested in them.

Most of those would have disappeared by now, but they are being preserved for posterity at [[User:Rjamorim|rjamorim]]'s [http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/ ReallyRareWares]

===Advanced Digital Audio (ADA)===

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/ada.html

===Bonk===

* http://www.logarithmic.net/pfh/bonk

===Marian's a-Pac===

* http://www.marian.de/en/downloads#APAC
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/apac.html

===AudioZip===

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/audiozip.html

===Dakx WAV===

* http://www.dakx.com/
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/daxwav.html

===Entis Lab MIO===

* http://www.entis.gr.jp/eri/frame.html
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/mio.html

===LiteWave===

* http://www.clearjump.com/products/LiteWave.html
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/litewave.html

===Pegasus SPS===

* http://www.krishnasoft.com/sps.htm
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/pegasussps.html

===RKaudio===

* http://www.msoftware.co.nz/downloads_page.php
* http://rksoft.virtualave.net/rkau.html

===Split2000===

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/split2000.html

===Sonarc===

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/sonarc.html

===VocPack===

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/vocpack.html

===WavArc===

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/wavarc.html

===WaveZip/MUSICompress===

* http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/sndspace/
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/wavezip.html

==Links==

===Other lossless compressions comparisons===

* [http://www.bobulous.org.uk/misc/lossless_audio_2006.html Lossless audio comparison] — a look at six lossless formats in terms of speed and file size (last updated 2006-05-22).
* [http://synthetic-soul.co.uk/comparison/josef/ Josef Pohm's comparison, hosted by Synthetic Soul] (last update 2006-05-29)
* [http://synthetic-soul.co.uk/comparison/lossless/ Synthetic Soul's comparison] (last update 2006-05-27)
* [http://members.home.nl/w.speek/comparison.htm Speek's] (last updated 2005-02-07)
* [http://guruboolez.free.fr/lossless/ Guruboolez'] -- comparing only classical music (last updated 2005-02-27)
* [http://web.inter.nl.net/users/hvdh/lossless/lossless.htm Hans Heijden's] -- used as reference to build the table (last updated 2003-06-04)
* [http://uclc.info/lossless_audio_compression_test.htm Johan de Bock's] - aimed only at the maximum compression setting for each codec (based on a somewhat limited set of samples, however) (last updated ????-??-??)

===More on lossless compressions===
* [http://losslessaudio.blogspot.com/ Lossless Audio Blog] - by windmiller, is a reliable and complete source of news about lossless compression.
* Go to the [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=33226 Hydrogenaudio thread] to discuss this article.

Lossless

2006-06-06T11:53:31Z

Bobulous: /* Comparisons */

'''Lossless compression''' is a compression methodology in which the result of the compression can be restored faithfully, i.e. bit-by-bit identical with the uncompressed data.

In a nutshell, it is somewhat like compressing a Waveform file with ZIP or RAR.

The difference between 'mere' ZIP/RAR is that lossless compression algorithms are especially tuned and designed for the characteristics of Waveform data, thus achieving compression far greater than can be achieved by generic compression utilities.

As lossless compression preserves all information of the original Waveform file, audio compressed with lossless compression will unavoidably be larger than audio compressed with [[lossy]] compression. However, this disadvantage is more than offset by lossless' ability to be [[transcoding|transcoded]] to other lossless format <u>without</u> any quality degradation.

=Popular lossless formats=
* [[Apple Lossless]] ([[ALAC]])

* [[FLAC]]

* [[Lossless Audio]] ([[LA]])

* [[LPAC]]

* [[MLP]]

* [[Monkey's Audio]] ([[APE]])

* [[OptimFROG]]

* [[RKAU]]

* [[Shorten]] ([[SHN]])

* [[TTA]]

* [[WavPack]]

* [[WMA | WMA lossless]]

=Oddball Formats=
There are several old lossless formats that aren't really deserving of having an article all for themselves. Reasons are: lack of widespread support, lack of features, bad efficiency and, most importantly, it seems noone is really interested in them.

Most of those would have disappeared by now, but they are being preserved for posterity at [[User:Rjamorim|rjamorim]]'s [http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/ ReallyRareWares]

; Advanced Digital Audio (ADA)

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/ada.html

; Marian's a-Pac

* http://www.marian.de/en/downloads#APAC
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/apac.html

; AudioZip

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/audiozip.html

; Dakx WAV

* http://www.dakx.com/
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/daxwav.html

; Entis Lab MIO

* http://www.entis.gr.jp/eri/frame.html
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/mio.html

; LiteWave

* http://www.clearjump.com/products/LiteWave.html
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/litewave.html

; Pegasus SPS

* http://www.krishnasoft.com/sps.htm
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/pegasussps.html

; RKaudio

* http://www.msoftware.co.nz/downloads_page.php
* http://rksoft.virtualave.net/rkau.html

; Split2000

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/split2000.html

; Sonarc

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/sonarc.html

; VocPack

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/vocpack.html

; WavArc

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/wavarc.html

; WaveZip/MUSICompress

* http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/sndspace/
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/wavezip.html

Note that currently '''no single format can be considered best for all applications'''. Rather, the best format depends on the ''intended use'', as well as a number of other factors (such as licensing and file structure). For example, Shorten and FLAC are widely used for sharing live music because of their cross-platform support and speed. Monkey's Audio is popular among Windows users for its superior compression ratio.

=Comparisons=
''Note the specific assumptions and limitations of each comparison; in particular, results are sensitive to the music selected'''

; http://web.inter.nl.net/users/hvdh/lossless/lossless.htm : Includes an interesting graph of encode/decode speeds vs. file size on the All Albums page

; [[Lossless comparison]] : A comparision focusing more on codec features and less on absolute encoding efficiency. Also features a table comparing most popular codecs based on their features.

; http://members.home.nl/w.speek/comparison.htm : Performance Comparison of Lossless Audio Compressors - Compares file size, encode speed, decode speed for [[APE]], [[FLAC]], [[LPAC]], [[WavPack]], Shorten ([[SHN]]), [[RKAU]], [[OptimFROG]], [[LA]], [[WMA | WMA Lossless]]. Updated 5-2003

; http://www.bobulous.org.uk/misc/lossless_audio_2006.html : Lossless audio formats - A comparison of the rip-and-encode speed and album file size of six different lossless formats: [[WAV|uncompressed Wave]], [[FLAC]], [[WavPack]], [[SHN|Shorten]], [[APE|Monkey's Audio]], and [[OptimFROG]]. First published on 22nd May 2006.