Hydrogenaudio Knowledgebase - User contributions [en]

Talk:Recommended Ogg Vorbis

2006-01-20T17:02:57Z

Fp:

Um, the history here. Shouldn't it be in the [[Ogg Vorbis]] page instead? And a linkback from the [[Ogg Vorbis]] page to this page.
--[[User:Pepoluan|pepoluan]] 20:22, 4 January 2006 (CST)

I have added linkback from [[Ogg Vorbis]] page. Do we need the green text? And can someone tell me if 4.51 has or hasn't became the recommended version? (I personally use 4.51 but no time nor desire to AB 4 and 4.51)
--[[User:Pepoluan|pepoluan]] 20:44, 4 January 2006 (CST)

Yes, we do need the green text, it add's color to the wiki and sticks with color scheme in the thread ;-D. I personally put the page together with my bare hands, adapted, and changed it. The History should be similiar to, but with less of an emphasis on the codec and more on the binaries. I need to add in the advanced-command line parameters and knowing what binary is which. A lot of the other stuff can be left out. Thanks for fixing the table btw. If you see any other articles you can add information to with a reference or a source feel to free to do so. --[[User:HotshotGG|HotshotGG]] 5:52, 5 January 2006 (EST).

:I'm all for color in the Wiki... but why must green :D
:BTW you are wrong about 4.51. 4.51 is bugfix of 4.5, which is improvement from 4.
:So from 4.5 to 4.51 there's no code change (other than bugfix), but from 4 to 4.5 there's improvement in quality.
:See the announcement [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=38517 here]. --[[User:Pepoluan|pepoluan]] 07:48, 6 January 2006 (CST)

Here is what I am thinking. I think we should remove the gree color's on the text and just use color's for syntax highlightening and important stuff. You can continue to edit the page and I will come back and check out it. It's look good for the most part there is a lot of stuff that nees to be edited though. --[[User:HotshotGG|HotshotGG]] 07:45, 7 January 2006 (EST).

:Tried to remove to greens. I think it looks overcolored now... black, then blue, then black, then green... the textblocks are too short I think to make it multicolored? --[[User:Pepoluan|pepoluan]] 07:30, 10 January 2006 (CST)

I really think there was too much green. The page is quickly degrading into a rainbow page. So I recolorized everything. And change the ugly vendor tag list to a table. --[[User:Pepoluan|pepoluan]] 13:56, 19 January 2006 (GMT)

Note: aoTuV beta 2 was merged in xiph.org libvorbis 1.1, but aoTuV beta 3 was never merged in xiph.org.

Recommended Ogg Vorbis

2006-01-20T08:43:05Z

Fp: /* Windows binaries */

[[image:fish_logo.png|right|]]
[[Ogg Vorbis|Vorbis]], being a continuously developed standard, improves all the time. Plus, being an open (i.e. patent-free) standard, it has many 'third-parties' that contribute, discuss, and work to improve the project.

Here you can find some guidelines on which utilities to use, and what settings will provide you with the best quality.

=History=

(For a highly detailed description of Vorbis history, check out OggZealot's [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15274&view=findpost&p=153268 Ogg Vorbis Historic] where Monty also adds a few more details too). Ogg Vorbis reached version 1.0 in '''July 2002'''. It is the official [http://www.xiph.org/ Xiph.org] encoder ''(the one you get from vorbis.com)''. HA codec developer, Garf, did his own tunings, based on version 1.0 to produce GT3b1 and GT3b2. Both encoders showed improved [[pre echo]] handling for ''q'' values of ''5 to 10''. It was later judged in an internal listening test that GT3b1 was the better of the two. There was a minor bugfix update earlier that year in March, which only appeared in the CVS at Xiph.org. This consisted of very minor bug fixes, which do more to correct odd problems that may occur rather than improving quality, including ''(garbled noise output and gaps in streams)''. This was referred to as Post 1.0 CVS. Quality problems that mainly affected low bitrates were later addressed in a new bugfix ''(1.0.1)'' that was released.

Post 1.0.1 CVS was released late '''December 2003''' by Monty at Xiph, and includes a true [[CBR]] template. In order to simplify the situation where we had two encoders ''(1.0.1 and GT3b1)'', OggDropXPd developer John33 merged the sources to give us GT3b2. Once the 128 kbps multiformat test was completed, Aoyumi's [[aoTuV]] Vorbis tuning was determined to be the best Vorbis encoder. After the success of aoTuV beta 2 encoder, Xiph.Org merged their tunings into the official CVS branch to produce the long-awaited Vorbis 1.1. Aoyumi's later release of '''aoTuV beta 4''' encoder as of '''November 2005''' significantly improves Vorbis' quality while enhancing the compression. It is now the recommended encoder by 3rd party developers at Hydrogenaudio. Aoyumi's latest is '''aoTuV beta 4.5''' (later bugfixed with '''aoTuV beta 4.51''') released in '''December 2005''', which improves low bit-rate quality even more. However, it is still undergoing peer review before it becomes the recommended encoder. Near the end of 2005, after aoTuV beta 4.51 was released, Xiph.org released '''Vorbis 1.1.2'''. Unfortunatly it only provides bugfixes to Vorbis 1.1.1. Although this is the 'official' version, it is '''not recommended''' by HA. If you are not interested in the latest "bleeding edge" improvements, you are welcome to use the latest release from Xiph.org '''Vorbis 1.1.2''' library.

''Note: Xiph.org does not maintain the binaries, but rather provides newest updates and releases to libogg and libvorbis, etc.''

=Recommended Vorbis Encoders=

''(adapted from [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15049 Recommended Encoder and Settings] post compiled by QuantumKnot)''

==Windows binaries==

John33's oggenc2.8 is a special version of the Ogg Vorbis encoder. "Features include compression from lossless files (Monkeys Audio, LPAC, FLAC, OptimFROG, WavPack and Shorten - requires presence of decoders), and the ability to specify 'padding' in the headers for subsequent insertion of Tags" (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares).

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=59 oggenc2.8 aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=60 oggenc2.8 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=61 oggenc2.8 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64))]'''

If you prefer a nice drag-and-drop interface, then you can try John33's OggDropXPd (Windows only). "Features include compression from lossless files ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[LPAC]], [[FLAC]] and [[OptimFROG]]), auto-tagging, renaming of encoded files, setting of advanced encoder parameters, use of VorbisGain tags on decode, Playlist (.m3u) creation, and others" (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares).

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=50 OggDropXPd v1.8.7 aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=51 OggDropXPd v1.8.7 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=52 OggDropXPd v1.8.7 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64)]'''

''(Work In Progress: Guide will be completed soon. Check [[OggDropXPd|here]])''

==Linux binaries==

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/quantumknot/oggenc-aotuv451.gz oggenc aoTuV beta 4.51 and libogg 1.1.3 (static gcc 4 compile)]''' '''with impulse_trigger_profile'''

This static GCC 4 binary was compiled by QuantumKnot.

''Note: There is no Linux Oggenc2.x that has been compiled with Lancer Optimizations as of yet (third-parties with a access to unix environment are encourage to try and compile one themselves if they have access to the sources).''

==3rd party source code==

These are other Ogg Vorbis encoders that were tuned by 3rd party developers (outside of Xiph.Org).

* '''[http://www.geocities.jp/aoyoume/aotuv/ aoTuV (Aoyumi's Tuned Vorbis)]''' -- contains modified source code written in C and downloads of binaries.

''The source-code contains modifications mostly to the psychoacoustics model and bitrate allocation, i.e psy.c''

'''aoTuV beta 4 -- Now the recommended encoder'''

Developed by Aoyumi and based on libvorbis 1.1.1, many people have reported this encoder to give better quality at low to medium bitrates. It includes a -q -2 option for the lowest bitrate. According to guruboolez' latest listening test on classical music, aoTuV beta 4 performed magnificently well at -q 6!! ''(see Aoyumi's website above for more information)''

'''aoTuV beta 4.51 -- The latest encoder'''

Many HydrogenAudio enthusiasts report that this version gives even better quality for low bit-rates. -q 1.5 becomes acceptable, even good enough, and -q 4 is now near-transparent! However, more peer review is needed before this version becomes the recommended encoder.

==Optimized binaries==

These are highly optimized encoders developed by the '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/index_e.htm Ogg Vorbis Acceleration Project]''' that are much faster than the standard binary builds with negligible to nearly no effects on audio quality, including sped-up routines, i.e ''mdct.c''

* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20050709.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4 (Lancer 20050709) (Win32 Build)]'''
* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20051121.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4.51 (Lancer 20051121) (Win32 Build)]''' -- ''Latest version''

See [[Lancer]] Information and downloads page above.

''Note: Output of Lancer may be slightly different from output of 'standard' aoTuV. This is due to the difference of floating-point rounding: Lancer uses 64-bit SSE, while standard aoTuV uses 80-bit FP. This difference, however, should not be audible at all. In fact, tests have proven that playback of Lancer's output is indistinguishable from playback of standard aoTuV output.'' 

=Released Binaries=

How do I know which encoder was used to make this particular Ogg Vorbis file?

Using either the ''ogginfo'' program or file info in your player, you can tell from the vendor tag:

{| border="0" style="margin-left:25px; color:black; background-color:white; border:1px dotted black; text-align:left;" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! Vendor Tag !! Encoder !! Note
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20000508 || '''1.0 beta 1 or beta 2 ''' ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20001031 || '''1.0 beta 3 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010225 || '''1.0 beta 4 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010615 || '''1.0 rc1 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010813 || '''1.0 rc2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010816 (gtune 1) || '''1.0 RC2 GT1 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011014 (GTune 2) || '''1.0 RC2 GT2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011217 || '''1.0 rc3 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011231 || '''1.0 rc3 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20020717 || '''1.0 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20020717 (GTune 3, beta 1) || '''GT3b1 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030308 || '''Post 1.0 CVS ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030909 || '''1.0.1 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (GTune 3, beta 2) EXPERIMENTAL || '''Experimental GT3b2 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (1.0.1) || '''Post 1.0.1 CVS ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (GTune 3, beta 2) || '''GT3b2 ||
|-
| AO; aoTuV b2 [20040420] (based on Xiph.Org's 1.0.1) || '''aoTuV beta 2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040629 || '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 RC1 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040920 || '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 with impulse_trigger_profile ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| AO; aoTuV b3 [20041120] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || ''' aoTuV beta 3 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20050304 || ''' Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| AO; aoTuV b4 [20050617] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || '''aoTuV beta 4 ||
|-
| BS; Lancer [20050709] (based on aoTuV b4 [20050617]) || '''Lancer based on aoTuV beta 4 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| AO; aoTuV b4a [20051105] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || '''aoTuV beta 4.5 ||
|-
| AO; aoTuV b4b [20051117] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || '''aoTuV beta 4.51 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| BS; Lancer [20051121] (based on aoTuV b4b [20051117]) || '''Lancer based on aoTuV beta 4.51 ||
|}

=Recommended Encoder Settings=

'''Refer to the table below. For best results, start at -q 4 and''' [[ABX]] '''your way up.''' 
''Ultimately, the best -q setting will depend on your specific needs. Feel free to experiment.'' 

'''General Command Line Usage:'''

'''oggenc -q n inputfile.wav '''

:''where'' '''n''' ''is a number from -1 to 10, fractions accepted (using comma or period, depending on where the tool is compiled)'' e.g. '''oggenc -q 5 inputfile.wav '''

'' '''Notes:'''
* Most standard oggenc binaries can input lossless FLAC, WavPack, etc files as well (depending upon oggenc version)
* ''oggenc2.7'' and later are the only versions of oggenc that conform to the '''WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE''' header for outputing and decoding multi-channel Vorbis files (3 to 6 channels) in compliance with the Vorbis I decoding specification. Encoding multi-channel content might still produce sub-optimal files if lossless channel coupling is not used, due to modification that need to be performed in the Vorbis libraries for proper channel coupling. Encoding assumes source material is CD audio content or PCM equivalent. ''
* The current oggenc and libvorbis API don't support the capabilities of full "bitrate peeling" yet. Experimental peelers exist, but only for testings purposes.

{| border="0" style="margin-left:50px; color:black; background-color:white; border:1px dotted black; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! Switch !! VBR target (kbit/s) !! VBR range (kbit/s) !! [[Channel coupling|Channel Coupling]] !! [[Noise normalization|Noise Normalization]] !! Note
|-
| -q -2 || ~32 || ~32 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (1)
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q -1 || ~48 || ~48 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (2)
|-
| -q 0 || ~64 || ~64 - ~80 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 1 || ~80 || ~80 - ~96 || point/lossless || yes || (3)
|-
| -q 2 || ~96 || ~96 - ~112 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 3 || ~112 || ~112 - ~128 || point/lossless || yes ||
|-
| -q 4 || ~128 || ~128 - ~160 || point/lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 5 || ~160 || ~160 - ~192 || point/lossless || no || (4)
|-
| -q 6 || ~192 || ~192 - ~224 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 7 || ~224 || ~224 - ~256 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 8 || ~256 || ~256 - ~320 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 9 || ~320 || ~320 - ~500 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 10 || ~500 || ~500 - ~1000 || lossless || no ||
|}

<div style="margin-left:3px;">
(1)'' Only supported on aoTuVb3 and newer '' 
(2)'' Bitrate of 48 kbit/s is only for aoTuVb3 and newer. Earlier versions and Xiph.org versions use a bitrate of 45 kbit/s '' 
(3)'' Reports seem to indicate that aoTuVb4.51 -q 1 provides good quality for streaming '' 
(4)'' Most users agree -q 5 achieves transparency''
</div>

=Advanced Encoder Settings=

===Reducing Pre-echo===
''This is applicable to Vorbis 1.1; it may or may not be applicable to aoTuVb4 or aoTuVb4.51.''

Generally, using the recommended settings above will give the best quality. There may be cases where Vorbis 1.1 will fail to reproduce sharp attacks or transients in your music, causing [[pre echo]]. In which case, you can use the '''impulse_noisetune''' advanced encode switch:

'''oggenc -q '''n''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p inputfile.wav'''
:'''where p is a number from 0 to -15'''
:e.g. '''oggenc -q '''5''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=-5 inputfile.wav'''

Note that the lower the number (toward -15) for impulse_noisetune, the higher the bitrate will fluctuate in passages of music filled with transient attacks (and the final average bitrate may be much higher than the nominal). Therefore, you should try a small value to start off (say '''-5''') and see if you get acceptable quality. If not, tweak it lower.

===Reducing noise due to microattacks===
''This is only valid for some Vorbis encoders that are marked as having '''''impulse_trigger_profile'''.

There are certain parts of some types of music, called "microattacks", where Vorbis will produce a noise (sort of like a puff of steam), which is due to inaccuracies in the block-switching algorithm ''(which can't be corrected)''. Due to the fact the attacks are so fine and close together, Vorbis doesn't switch to impulse short blocks enough, thus "smearing" the reproduction.

By default (with no additional switches), Vorbis selects a different profile for block switching (lower means less switching, higher means more switching) and the default values are shown in the table below:

{| border="0" style="margin-left: 150px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! Quality !! Profile !!   !! Quality !! Profile
|-
| -1 || 0 || || 5 || 2.5
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| 0 || 1 || || 6 || 2.7
|-
| 1 || 1 || || 7 || 3
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| 2 || 1.5 || || 8 || 3.7
|-
| 3 || 2 || || 9 || 4
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| 4 || 2 || || 10 || 4
|}

If you encounter this problem on microattacks, you may try the impulse_trigger_profile advanced encode switch, which will change (increase) the profile to your desired value.

'''oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile='''r''' inputfile.wav'''
:''where'' '''r''' ''is a number from 0 to 4, fractions accepted.''

'''Notes:'''
* There is the possibility that relaxed block switching (higher profiles) may cause other quality problems and create suboptimal Vorbis files. Please use it sparingly and with caution. If in doubt, leave impulse_trigger_profile on default ''(that is, don't use it at all)''
* Setting the profile too high will make Vorbis switch to impulse short blocks more often, which will lead to higher bitrate fluctuations. So be conservative.
* This settings has no effect on reducing the level of pre-echo. It can be said to only reduce the ''likelihood'' of [[Pre echo|pre echo]], but the amount of pre-echo is tuned using the '''impulse_noisetune''' switch instead.
* You may try profiles 5 and 6 as substitutes for 3 and 4. Profile 5 and 6 came from 3 and 4 in GT3b2.

You can use both impulse_noisetune and impulse_trigger_profile at the same time, but you will need separate switches, e.g.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p
--advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile=r inputfile.wav

Recommended Ogg Vorbis

2006-01-20T08:42:38Z

Fp: /* Windows binaries */

[[image:fish_logo.png|right|]]
[[Ogg Vorbis|Vorbis]], being a continuously developed standard, improves all the time. Plus, being an open (i.e. patent-free) standard, it has many 'third-parties' that contribute, discuss, and work to improve the project.

Here you can find some guidelines on which utilities to use, and what settings will provide you with the best quality.

=History=

(For a highly detailed description of Vorbis history, check out OggZealot's [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15274&view=findpost&p=153268 Ogg Vorbis Historic] where Monty also adds a few more details too). Ogg Vorbis reached version 1.0 in '''July 2002'''. It is the official [http://www.xiph.org/ Xiph.org] encoder ''(the one you get from vorbis.com)''. HA codec developer, Garf, did his own tunings, based on version 1.0 to produce GT3b1 and GT3b2. Both encoders showed improved [[pre echo]] handling for ''q'' values of ''5 to 10''. It was later judged in an internal listening test that GT3b1 was the better of the two. There was a minor bugfix update earlier that year in March, which only appeared in the CVS at Xiph.org. This consisted of very minor bug fixes, which do more to correct odd problems that may occur rather than improving quality, including ''(garbled noise output and gaps in streams)''. This was referred to as Post 1.0 CVS. Quality problems that mainly affected low bitrates were later addressed in a new bugfix ''(1.0.1)'' that was released.

Post 1.0.1 CVS was released late '''December 2003''' by Monty at Xiph, and includes a true [[CBR]] template. In order to simplify the situation where we had two encoders ''(1.0.1 and GT3b1)'', OggDropXPd developer John33 merged the sources to give us GT3b2. Once the 128 kbps multiformat test was completed, Aoyumi's [[aoTuV]] Vorbis tuning was determined to be the best Vorbis encoder. After the success of aoTuV beta 2 encoder, Xiph.Org merged their tunings into the official CVS branch to produce the long-awaited Vorbis 1.1. Aoyumi's later release of '''aoTuV beta 4''' encoder as of '''November 2005''' significantly improves Vorbis' quality while enhancing the compression. It is now the recommended encoder by 3rd party developers at Hydrogenaudio. Aoyumi's latest is '''aoTuV beta 4.5''' (later bugfixed with '''aoTuV beta 4.51''') released in '''December 2005''', which improves low bit-rate quality even more. However, it is still undergoing peer review before it becomes the recommended encoder. Near the end of 2005, after aoTuV beta 4.51 was released, Xiph.org released '''Vorbis 1.1.2'''. Unfortunatly it only provides bugfixes to Vorbis 1.1.1. Although this is the 'official' version, it is '''not recommended''' by HA. If you are not interested in the latest "bleeding edge" improvements, you are welcome to use the latest release from Xiph.org '''Vorbis 1.1.2''' library.

''Note: Xiph.org does not maintain the binaries, but rather provides newest updates and releases to libogg and libvorbis, etc.''

=Recommended Vorbis Encoders=

''(adapted from [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15049 Recommended Encoder and Settings] post compiled by QuantumKnot)''

==Windows binaries==

John33's oggenc2.8 is a special version of the Ogg Vorbis encoder. "Features include compression from lossless files (Monkeys Audio, LPAC, FLAC, OptimFROG, WavPack and Shorten - requires presence of decoders), and the ability to specify 'padding' in the headers for subsequent insertion of Tags" (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares).

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=59 oggenc2.8 aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=60 oggenc2.8 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=61 oggenc2.8 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64))]'''

If you prefer a nice drag-and-drop interface, then you can try John33's OggDropXPd (Windows only). "Features include compression from lossless files ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[LPAC]], [[FLAC]] and [[OptimFROG]]), auto-tagging, renaming of encoded files, setting of advanced encoder parameters, use of VorbisGain tags on decode, Playlist (.m3u) creation, and others." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=50 OggDropXPd v1.8.7 aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=51 OggDropXPd v1.8.7 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=52 OggDropXPd v1.8.7 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64)]'''

''(Work In Progress: Guide will be completed soon. Check [[OggDropXPd|here]])''

==Linux binaries==

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/quantumknot/oggenc-aotuv451.gz oggenc aoTuV beta 4.51 and libogg 1.1.3 (static gcc 4 compile)]''' '''with impulse_trigger_profile'''

This static GCC 4 binary was compiled by QuantumKnot.

''Note: There is no Linux Oggenc2.x that has been compiled with Lancer Optimizations as of yet (third-parties with a access to unix environment are encourage to try and compile one themselves if they have access to the sources).''

==3rd party source code==

These are other Ogg Vorbis encoders that were tuned by 3rd party developers (outside of Xiph.Org).

* '''[http://www.geocities.jp/aoyoume/aotuv/ aoTuV (Aoyumi's Tuned Vorbis)]''' -- contains modified source code written in C and downloads of binaries.

''The source-code contains modifications mostly to the psychoacoustics model and bitrate allocation, i.e psy.c''

'''aoTuV beta 4 -- Now the recommended encoder'''

Developed by Aoyumi and based on libvorbis 1.1.1, many people have reported this encoder to give better quality at low to medium bitrates. It includes a -q -2 option for the lowest bitrate. According to guruboolez' latest listening test on classical music, aoTuV beta 4 performed magnificently well at -q 6!! ''(see Aoyumi's website above for more information)''

'''aoTuV beta 4.51 -- The latest encoder'''

Many HydrogenAudio enthusiasts report that this version gives even better quality for low bit-rates. -q 1.5 becomes acceptable, even good enough, and -q 4 is now near-transparent! However, more peer review is needed before this version becomes the recommended encoder.

==Optimized binaries==

These are highly optimized encoders developed by the '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/index_e.htm Ogg Vorbis Acceleration Project]''' that are much faster than the standard binary builds with negligible to nearly no effects on audio quality, including sped-up routines, i.e ''mdct.c''

* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20050709.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4 (Lancer 20050709) (Win32 Build)]'''
* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20051121.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4.51 (Lancer 20051121) (Win32 Build)]''' -- ''Latest version''

See [[Lancer]] Information and downloads page above.

''Note: Output of Lancer may be slightly different from output of 'standard' aoTuV. This is due to the difference of floating-point rounding: Lancer uses 64-bit SSE, while standard aoTuV uses 80-bit FP. This difference, however, should not be audible at all. In fact, tests have proven that playback of Lancer's output is indistinguishable from playback of standard aoTuV output.'' 

=Released Binaries=

How do I know which encoder was used to make this particular Ogg Vorbis file?

Using either the ''ogginfo'' program or file info in your player, you can tell from the vendor tag:

{| border="0" style="margin-left:25px; color:black; background-color:white; border:1px dotted black; text-align:left;" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! Vendor Tag !! Encoder !! Note
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20000508 || '''1.0 beta 1 or beta 2 ''' ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20001031 || '''1.0 beta 3 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010225 || '''1.0 beta 4 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010615 || '''1.0 rc1 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010813 || '''1.0 rc2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010816 (gtune 1) || '''1.0 RC2 GT1 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011014 (GTune 2) || '''1.0 RC2 GT2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011217 || '''1.0 rc3 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011231 || '''1.0 rc3 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20020717 || '''1.0 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20020717 (GTune 3, beta 1) || '''GT3b1 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030308 || '''Post 1.0 CVS ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030909 || '''1.0.1 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (GTune 3, beta 2) EXPERIMENTAL || '''Experimental GT3b2 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (1.0.1) || '''Post 1.0.1 CVS ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (GTune 3, beta 2) || '''GT3b2 ||
|-
| AO; aoTuV b2 [20040420] (based on Xiph.Org's 1.0.1) || '''aoTuV beta 2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040629 || '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 RC1 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040920 || '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 with impulse_trigger_profile ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| AO; aoTuV b3 [20041120] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || ''' aoTuV beta 3 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20050304 || ''' Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| AO; aoTuV b4 [20050617] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || '''aoTuV beta 4 ||
|-
| BS; Lancer [20050709] (based on aoTuV b4 [20050617]) || '''Lancer based on aoTuV beta 4 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| AO; aoTuV b4a [20051105] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || '''aoTuV beta 4.5 ||
|-
| AO; aoTuV b4b [20051117] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || '''aoTuV beta 4.51 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| BS; Lancer [20051121] (based on aoTuV b4b [20051117]) || '''Lancer based on aoTuV beta 4.51 ||
|}

=Recommended Encoder Settings=

'''Refer to the table below. For best results, start at -q 4 and''' [[ABX]] '''your way up.''' 
''Ultimately, the best -q setting will depend on your specific needs. Feel free to experiment.'' 

'''General Command Line Usage:'''

'''oggenc -q n inputfile.wav '''

:''where'' '''n''' ''is a number from -1 to 10, fractions accepted (using comma or period, depending on where the tool is compiled)'' e.g. '''oggenc -q 5 inputfile.wav '''

'' '''Notes:'''
* Most standard oggenc binaries can input lossless FLAC, WavPack, etc files as well (depending upon oggenc version)
* ''oggenc2.7'' and later are the only versions of oggenc that conform to the '''WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE''' header for outputing and decoding multi-channel Vorbis files (3 to 6 channels) in compliance with the Vorbis I decoding specification. Encoding multi-channel content might still produce sub-optimal files if lossless channel coupling is not used, due to modification that need to be performed in the Vorbis libraries for proper channel coupling. Encoding assumes source material is CD audio content or PCM equivalent. ''
* The current oggenc and libvorbis API don't support the capabilities of full "bitrate peeling" yet. Experimental peelers exist, but only for testings purposes.

{| border="0" style="margin-left:50px; color:black; background-color:white; border:1px dotted black; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! Switch !! VBR target (kbit/s) !! VBR range (kbit/s) !! [[Channel coupling|Channel Coupling]] !! [[Noise normalization|Noise Normalization]] !! Note
|-
| -q -2 || ~32 || ~32 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (1)
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q -1 || ~48 || ~48 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (2)
|-
| -q 0 || ~64 || ~64 - ~80 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 1 || ~80 || ~80 - ~96 || point/lossless || yes || (3)
|-
| -q 2 || ~96 || ~96 - ~112 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 3 || ~112 || ~112 - ~128 || point/lossless || yes ||
|-
| -q 4 || ~128 || ~128 - ~160 || point/lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 5 || ~160 || ~160 - ~192 || point/lossless || no || (4)
|-
| -q 6 || ~192 || ~192 - ~224 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 7 || ~224 || ~224 - ~256 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 8 || ~256 || ~256 - ~320 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 9 || ~320 || ~320 - ~500 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 10 || ~500 || ~500 - ~1000 || lossless || no ||
|}

<div style="margin-left:3px;">
(1)'' Only supported on aoTuVb3 and newer '' 
(2)'' Bitrate of 48 kbit/s is only for aoTuVb3 and newer. Earlier versions and Xiph.org versions use a bitrate of 45 kbit/s '' 
(3)'' Reports seem to indicate that aoTuVb4.51 -q 1 provides good quality for streaming '' 
(4)'' Most users agree -q 5 achieves transparency''
</div>

=Advanced Encoder Settings=

===Reducing Pre-echo===
''This is applicable to Vorbis 1.1; it may or may not be applicable to aoTuVb4 or aoTuVb4.51.''

Generally, using the recommended settings above will give the best quality. There may be cases where Vorbis 1.1 will fail to reproduce sharp attacks or transients in your music, causing [[pre echo]]. In which case, you can use the '''impulse_noisetune''' advanced encode switch:

'''oggenc -q '''n''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p inputfile.wav'''
:'''where p is a number from 0 to -15'''
:e.g. '''oggenc -q '''5''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=-5 inputfile.wav'''

Note that the lower the number (toward -15) for impulse_noisetune, the higher the bitrate will fluctuate in passages of music filled with transient attacks (and the final average bitrate may be much higher than the nominal). Therefore, you should try a small value to start off (say '''-5''') and see if you get acceptable quality. If not, tweak it lower.

===Reducing noise due to microattacks===
''This is only valid for some Vorbis encoders that are marked as having '''''impulse_trigger_profile'''.

There are certain parts of some types of music, called "microattacks", where Vorbis will produce a noise (sort of like a puff of steam), which is due to inaccuracies in the block-switching algorithm ''(which can't be corrected)''. Due to the fact the attacks are so fine and close together, Vorbis doesn't switch to impulse short blocks enough, thus "smearing" the reproduction.

By default (with no additional switches), Vorbis selects a different profile for block switching (lower means less switching, higher means more switching) and the default values are shown in the table below:

{| border="0" style="margin-left: 150px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! Quality !! Profile !!   !! Quality !! Profile
|-
| -1 || 0 || || 5 || 2.5
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| 0 || 1 || || 6 || 2.7
|-
| 1 || 1 || || 7 || 3
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| 2 || 1.5 || || 8 || 3.7
|-
| 3 || 2 || || 9 || 4
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| 4 || 2 || || 10 || 4
|}

If you encounter this problem on microattacks, you may try the impulse_trigger_profile advanced encode switch, which will change (increase) the profile to your desired value.

'''oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile='''r''' inputfile.wav'''
:''where'' '''r''' ''is a number from 0 to 4, fractions accepted.''

'''Notes:'''
* There is the possibility that relaxed block switching (higher profiles) may cause other quality problems and create suboptimal Vorbis files. Please use it sparingly and with caution. If in doubt, leave impulse_trigger_profile on default ''(that is, don't use it at all)''
* Setting the profile too high will make Vorbis switch to impulse short blocks more often, which will lead to higher bitrate fluctuations. So be conservative.
* This settings has no effect on reducing the level of pre-echo. It can be said to only reduce the ''likelihood'' of [[Pre echo|pre echo]], but the amount of pre-echo is tuned using the '''impulse_noisetune''' switch instead.
* You may try profiles 5 and 6 as substitutes for 3 and 4. Profile 5 and 6 came from 3 and 4 in GT3b2.

You can use both impulse_noisetune and impulse_trigger_profile at the same time, but you will need separate switches, e.g.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p
--advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile=r inputfile.wav

Recommended Ogg Vorbis

2006-01-20T08:41:26Z

Fp: /* Windows binaries */

[[image:fish_logo.png|right|]]
[[Ogg Vorbis|Vorbis]], being a continuously developed standard, improves all the time. Plus, being an open (i.e. patent-free) standard, it has many 'third-parties' that contribute, discuss, and work to improve the project.

Here you can find some guidelines on which utilities to use, and what settings will provide you with the best quality.

=History=

(For a highly detailed description of Vorbis history, check out OggZealot's [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15274&view=findpost&p=153268 Ogg Vorbis Historic] where Monty also adds a few more details too). Ogg Vorbis reached version 1.0 in '''July 2002'''. It is the official [http://www.xiph.org/ Xiph.org] encoder ''(the one you get from vorbis.com)''. HA codec developer, Garf, did his own tunings, based on version 1.0 to produce GT3b1 and GT3b2. Both encoders showed improved [[pre echo]] handling for ''q'' values of ''5 to 10''. It was later judged in an internal listening test that GT3b1 was the better of the two. There was a minor bugfix update earlier that year in March, which only appeared in the CVS at Xiph.org. This consisted of very minor bug fixes, which do more to correct odd problems that may occur rather than improving quality, including ''(garbled noise output and gaps in streams)''. This was referred to as Post 1.0 CVS. Quality problems that mainly affected low bitrates were later addressed in a new bugfix ''(1.0.1)'' that was released.

Post 1.0.1 CVS was released late '''December 2003''' by Monty at Xiph, and includes a true [[CBR]] template. In order to simplify the situation where we had two encoders ''(1.0.1 and GT3b1)'', OggDropXPd developer John33 merged the sources to give us GT3b2. Once the 128 kbps multiformat test was completed, Aoyumi's [[aoTuV]] Vorbis tuning was determined to be the best Vorbis encoder. After the success of aoTuV beta 2 encoder, Xiph.Org merged their tunings into the official CVS branch to produce the long-awaited Vorbis 1.1. Aoyumi's later release of '''aoTuV beta 4''' encoder as of '''November 2005''' significantly improves Vorbis' quality while enhancing the compression. It is now the recommended encoder by 3rd party developers at Hydrogenaudio. Aoyumi's latest is '''aoTuV beta 4.5''' (later bugfixed with '''aoTuV beta 4.51''') released in '''December 2005''', which improves low bit-rate quality even more. However, it is still undergoing peer review before it becomes the recommended encoder. Near the end of 2005, after aoTuV beta 4.51 was released, Xiph.org released '''Vorbis 1.1.2'''. Unfortunatly it only provides bugfixes to Vorbis 1.1.1. Although this is the 'official' version, it is '''not recommended''' by HA. If you are not interested in the latest "bleeding edge" improvements, you are welcome to use the latest release from Xiph.org '''Vorbis 1.1.2''' library.

''Note: Xiph.org does not maintain the binaries, but rather provides newest updates and releases to libogg and libvorbis, etc.''

=Recommended Vorbis Encoders=

''(adapted from [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15049 Recommended Encoder and Settings] post compiled by QuantumKnot)''

==Windows binaries==

John33's oggenc2.8 is a special version of the Ogg Vorbis encoder. "Features include compression from lossless files (Monkeys Audio, LPAC, FLAC, OptimFROG, WavPack and Shorten - requires presence of decoders), and the ability to specify 'padding' in the headers for subsequent insertion of Tags" (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares).

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=59 oggenc2.8 aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=60 oggenc2.8 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=61 oggenc2.8 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64))]'''

If you prefer a nice drag-and-drop interface, then you can try John33's OggDropXPd (Windows only). "Features include compression from lossless files ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[LPAC]], [[FLAC]] and [[OptimFROG]]), auto-tagging, renaming of encoded files, setting of advanced encoder parameters, use of VorbisGain tags on decode, Playlist (.m3u) creation, and others." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=50 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=51 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=52 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64)]'''

''(Work In Progress: Guide will be completed soon. Check [[OggDropXPd|here]])''

==Linux binaries==

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/quantumknot/oggenc-aotuv451.gz oggenc aoTuV beta 4.51 and libogg 1.1.3 (static gcc 4 compile)]''' '''with impulse_trigger_profile'''

This static GCC 4 binary was compiled by QuantumKnot.

''Note: There is no Linux Oggenc2.x that has been compiled with Lancer Optimizations as of yet (third-parties with a access to unix environment are encourage to try and compile one themselves if they have access to the sources).''

==3rd party source code==

These are other Ogg Vorbis encoders that were tuned by 3rd party developers (outside of Xiph.Org).

* '''[http://www.geocities.jp/aoyoume/aotuv/ aoTuV (Aoyumi's Tuned Vorbis)]''' -- contains modified source code written in C and downloads of binaries.

''The source-code contains modifications mostly to the psychoacoustics model and bitrate allocation, i.e psy.c''

'''aoTuV beta 4 -- Now the recommended encoder'''

Developed by Aoyumi and based on libvorbis 1.1.1, many people have reported this encoder to give better quality at low to medium bitrates. It includes a -q -2 option for the lowest bitrate. According to guruboolez' latest listening test on classical music, aoTuV beta 4 performed magnificently well at -q 6!! ''(see Aoyumi's website above for more information)''

'''aoTuV beta 4.51 -- The latest encoder'''

Many HydrogenAudio enthusiasts report that this version gives even better quality for low bit-rates. -q 1.5 becomes acceptable, even good enough, and -q 4 is now near-transparent! However, more peer review is needed before this version becomes the recommended encoder.

==Optimized binaries==

These are highly optimized encoders developed by the '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/index_e.htm Ogg Vorbis Acceleration Project]''' that are much faster than the standard binary builds with negligible to nearly no effects on audio quality, including sped-up routines, i.e ''mdct.c''

* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20050709.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4 (Lancer 20050709) (Win32 Build)]'''
* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20051121.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4.51 (Lancer 20051121) (Win32 Build)]''' -- ''Latest version''

See [[Lancer]] Information and downloads page above.

''Note: Output of Lancer may be slightly different from output of 'standard' aoTuV. This is due to the difference of floating-point rounding: Lancer uses 64-bit SSE, while standard aoTuV uses 80-bit FP. This difference, however, should not be audible at all. In fact, tests have proven that playback of Lancer's output is indistinguishable from playback of standard aoTuV output.'' 

=Released Binaries=

How do I know which encoder was used to make this particular Ogg Vorbis file?

Using either the ''ogginfo'' program or file info in your player, you can tell from the vendor tag:

{| border="0" style="margin-left:25px; color:black; background-color:white; border:1px dotted black; text-align:left;" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! Vendor Tag !! Encoder !! Note
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20000508 || '''1.0 beta 1 or beta 2 ''' ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20001031 || '''1.0 beta 3 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010225 || '''1.0 beta 4 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010615 || '''1.0 rc1 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010813 || '''1.0 rc2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010816 (gtune 1) || '''1.0 RC2 GT1 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011014 (GTune 2) || '''1.0 RC2 GT2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011217 || '''1.0 rc3 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011231 || '''1.0 rc3 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20020717 || '''1.0 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20020717 (GTune 3, beta 1) || '''GT3b1 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030308 || '''Post 1.0 CVS ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030909 || '''1.0.1 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (GTune 3, beta 2) EXPERIMENTAL || '''Experimental GT3b2 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (1.0.1) || '''Post 1.0.1 CVS ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (GTune 3, beta 2) || '''GT3b2 ||
|-
| AO; aoTuV b2 [20040420] (based on Xiph.Org's 1.0.1) || '''aoTuV beta 2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040629 || '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 RC1 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040920 || '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 with impulse_trigger_profile ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| AO; aoTuV b3 [20041120] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || ''' aoTuV beta 3 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20050304 || ''' Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| AO; aoTuV b4 [20050617] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || '''aoTuV beta 4 ||
|-
| BS; Lancer [20050709] (based on aoTuV b4 [20050617]) || '''Lancer based on aoTuV beta 4 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| AO; aoTuV b4a [20051105] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || '''aoTuV beta 4.5 ||
|-
| AO; aoTuV b4b [20051117] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || '''aoTuV beta 4.51 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| BS; Lancer [20051121] (based on aoTuV b4b [20051117]) || '''Lancer based on aoTuV beta 4.51 ||
|}

=Recommended Encoder Settings=

'''Refer to the table below. For best results, start at -q 4 and''' [[ABX]] '''your way up.''' 
''Ultimately, the best -q setting will depend on your specific needs. Feel free to experiment.'' 

'''General Command Line Usage:'''

'''oggenc -q n inputfile.wav '''

:''where'' '''n''' ''is a number from -1 to 10, fractions accepted (using comma or period, depending on where the tool is compiled)'' e.g. '''oggenc -q 5 inputfile.wav '''

'' '''Notes:'''
* Most standard oggenc binaries can input lossless FLAC, WavPack, etc files as well (depending upon oggenc version)
* ''oggenc2.7'' and later are the only versions of oggenc that conform to the '''WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE''' header for outputing and decoding multi-channel Vorbis files (3 to 6 channels) in compliance with the Vorbis I decoding specification. Encoding multi-channel content might still produce sub-optimal files if lossless channel coupling is not used, due to modification that need to be performed in the Vorbis libraries for proper channel coupling. Encoding assumes source material is CD audio content or PCM equivalent. ''
* The current oggenc and libvorbis API don't support the capabilities of full "bitrate peeling" yet. Experimental peelers exist, but only for testings purposes.

{| border="0" style="margin-left:50px; color:black; background-color:white; border:1px dotted black; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! Switch !! VBR target (kbit/s) !! VBR range (kbit/s) !! [[Channel coupling|Channel Coupling]] !! [[Noise normalization|Noise Normalization]] !! Note
|-
| -q -2 || ~32 || ~32 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (1)
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q -1 || ~48 || ~48 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (2)
|-
| -q 0 || ~64 || ~64 - ~80 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 1 || ~80 || ~80 - ~96 || point/lossless || yes || (3)
|-
| -q 2 || ~96 || ~96 - ~112 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 3 || ~112 || ~112 - ~128 || point/lossless || yes ||
|-
| -q 4 || ~128 || ~128 - ~160 || point/lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 5 || ~160 || ~160 - ~192 || point/lossless || no || (4)
|-
| -q 6 || ~192 || ~192 - ~224 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 7 || ~224 || ~224 - ~256 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 8 || ~256 || ~256 - ~320 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 9 || ~320 || ~320 - ~500 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 10 || ~500 || ~500 - ~1000 || lossless || no ||
|}

<div style="margin-left:3px;">
(1)'' Only supported on aoTuVb3 and newer '' 
(2)'' Bitrate of 48 kbit/s is only for aoTuVb3 and newer. Earlier versions and Xiph.org versions use a bitrate of 45 kbit/s '' 
(3)'' Reports seem to indicate that aoTuVb4.51 -q 1 provides good quality for streaming '' 
(4)'' Most users agree -q 5 achieves transparency''
</div>

=Advanced Encoder Settings=

===Reducing Pre-echo===
''This is applicable to Vorbis 1.1; it may or may not be applicable to aoTuVb4 or aoTuVb4.51.''

Generally, using the recommended settings above will give the best quality. There may be cases where Vorbis 1.1 will fail to reproduce sharp attacks or transients in your music, causing [[pre echo]]. In which case, you can use the '''impulse_noisetune''' advanced encode switch:

'''oggenc -q '''n''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p inputfile.wav'''
:'''where p is a number from 0 to -15'''
:e.g. '''oggenc -q '''5''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=-5 inputfile.wav'''

Note that the lower the number (toward -15) for impulse_noisetune, the higher the bitrate will fluctuate in passages of music filled with transient attacks (and the final average bitrate may be much higher than the nominal). Therefore, you should try a small value to start off (say '''-5''') and see if you get acceptable quality. If not, tweak it lower.

===Reducing noise due to microattacks===
''This is only valid for some Vorbis encoders that are marked as having '''''impulse_trigger_profile'''.

There are certain parts of some types of music, called "microattacks", where Vorbis will produce a noise (sort of like a puff of steam), which is due to inaccuracies in the block-switching algorithm ''(which can't be corrected)''. Due to the fact the attacks are so fine and close together, Vorbis doesn't switch to impulse short blocks enough, thus "smearing" the reproduction.

By default (with no additional switches), Vorbis selects a different profile for block switching (lower means less switching, higher means more switching) and the default values are shown in the table below:

{| border="0" style="margin-left: 150px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! Quality !! Profile !!   !! Quality !! Profile
|-
| -1 || 0 || || 5 || 2.5
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| 0 || 1 || || 6 || 2.7
|-
| 1 || 1 || || 7 || 3
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| 2 || 1.5 || || 8 || 3.7
|-
| 3 || 2 || || 9 || 4
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| 4 || 2 || || 10 || 4
|}

If you encounter this problem on microattacks, you may try the impulse_trigger_profile advanced encode switch, which will change (increase) the profile to your desired value.

'''oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile='''r''' inputfile.wav'''
:''where'' '''r''' ''is a number from 0 to 4, fractions accepted.''

'''Notes:'''
* There is the possibility that relaxed block switching (higher profiles) may cause other quality problems and create suboptimal Vorbis files. Please use it sparingly and with caution. If in doubt, leave impulse_trigger_profile on default ''(that is, don't use it at all)''
* Setting the profile too high will make Vorbis switch to impulse short blocks more often, which will lead to higher bitrate fluctuations. So be conservative.
* This settings has no effect on reducing the level of pre-echo. It can be said to only reduce the ''likelihood'' of [[Pre echo|pre echo]], but the amount of pre-echo is tuned using the '''impulse_noisetune''' switch instead.
* You may try profiles 5 and 6 as substitutes for 3 and 4. Profile 5 and 6 came from 3 and 4 in GT3b2.

You can use both impulse_noisetune and impulse_trigger_profile at the same time, but you will need separate switches, e.g.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p
--advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile=r inputfile.wav

Recommended Ogg Vorbis

2006-01-20T08:34:07Z

Fp: Please don't go to a new line for these strings, the string should be the same as in the header. Better: put the strings between ""

[[image:fish_logo.png|right|]]
[[Ogg Vorbis|Vorbis]], being a continuously developed standard, improves all the time. Plus, being an open (i.e. patent-free) standard, it has many 'third-parties' that contribute, discuss, and work to improve the project.

Here you can find some guidelines on which utilities to use, and what settings will provide you with the best quality.

=History=

(For a highly detailed description of Vorbis history, check out OggZealot's [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15274&view=findpost&p=153268 Ogg Vorbis Historic] where Monty also adds a few more details too). Ogg Vorbis reached version 1.0 in '''July 2002'''. It is the official [http://www.xiph.org/ Xiph.org] encoder ''(the one you get from vorbis.com)''. HA codec developer, Garf, did his own tunings, based on version 1.0 to produce GT3b1 and GT3b2. Both encoders showed improved [[pre echo]] handling for ''q'' values of ''5 to 10''. It was later judged in an internal listening test that GT3b1 was the better of the two. There was a minor bugfix update earlier that year in March, which only appeared in the CVS at Xiph.org. This consisted of very minor bug fixes, which do more to correct odd problems that may occur rather than improving quality, including ''(garbled noise output and gaps in streams)''. This was referred to as Post 1.0 CVS. Quality problems that mainly affected low bitrates were later addressed in a new bugfix ''(1.0.1)'' that was released.

Post 1.0.1 CVS was released late '''December 2003''' by Monty at Xiph, and includes a true [[CBR]] template. In order to simplify the situation where we had two encoders ''(1.0.1 and GT3b1)'', OggDropXPd developer John33 merged the sources to give us GT3b2. Once the 128 kbps multiformat test was completed, Aoyumi's [[aoTuV]] Vorbis tuning was determined to be the best Vorbis encoder. After the success of aoTuV beta 2 encoder, Xiph.Org merged their tunings into the official CVS branch to produce the long-awaited Vorbis 1.1. Aoyumi's later release of '''aoTuV beta 4''' encoder as of '''November 2005''' significantly improves Vorbis' quality while enhancing the compression. It is now the recommended encoder by 3rd party developers at Hydrogenaudio. Aoyumi's latest is '''aoTuV beta 4.5''' (later bugfixed with '''aoTuV beta 4.51''') released in '''December 2005''', which improves low bit-rate quality even more. However, it is still undergoing peer review before it becomes the recommended encoder. Near the end of 2005, after aoTuV beta 4.51 was released, Xiph.org released '''Vorbis 1.1.2'''. Unfortunatly it only provides bugfixes to Vorbis 1.1.1. Although this is the 'official' version, it is '''not recommended''' by HA. If you are not interested in the latest "bleeding edge" improvements, you are welcome to use the latest release from Xiph.org '''Vorbis 1.1.2''' library.

''Note: Xiph.org does not maintain the binaries, but rather provides newest updates and releases to libogg and libvorbis, etc.''

=Recommended Vorbis Encoders=

''(adapted from [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15049 Recommended Encoder and Settings] post compiled by QuantumKnot)''

==Windows binaries==

John33's oggenc2.8 is a special version of the Ogg Vorbis encoder. "Features include compression from lossless files (Monkeys Audio, LPAC, FLAC, OptimFROG, WavPack and Shorten - requires presence of decoders), and the ability to specify 'padding' in the headers for subsequent insertion of Tags." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=59 aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=60 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=61 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64))]'''

If you prefer a nice drag-and-drop interface, then you can try John33's OggDropXPd (Windows only). "Features include compression from lossless files ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[LPAC]], [[FLAC]] and [[OptimFROG]]), auto-tagging, renaming of encoded files, setting of advanced encoder parameters, use of VorbisGain tags on decode, Playlist (.m3u) creation, and others." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=50 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=51 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=52 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64)]'''

''(Work In Progress: Guide will be completed soon. Check [[OggDropXPd|here]])''

==Linux binaries==

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/quantumknot/oggenc-aotuv451.gz oggenc aoTuV beta 4.51 and libogg 1.1.3 (static gcc 4 compile)]''' '''with impulse_trigger_profile'''

This static GCC 4 binary was compiled by QuantumKnot.

''Note: There is no Linux Oggenc2.x that has been compiled with Lancer Optimizations as of yet (third-parties with a access to unix environment are encourage to try and compile one themselves if they have access to the sources).''

==3rd party source code==

These are other Ogg Vorbis encoders that were tuned by 3rd party developers (outside of Xiph.Org).

* '''[http://www.geocities.jp/aoyoume/aotuv/ aoTuV (Aoyumi's Tuned Vorbis)]''' -- contains modified source code written in C and downloads of binaries.

''The source-code contains modifications mostly to the psychoacoustics model and bitrate allocation, i.e psy.c''

'''aoTuV beta 4 -- Now the recommended encoder'''

Developed by Aoyumi and based on libvorbis 1.1.1, many people have reported this encoder to give better quality at low to medium bitrates. It includes a -q -2 option for the lowest bitrate. According to guruboolez' latest listening test on classical music, aoTuV beta 4 performed magnificently well at -q 6!! ''(see Aoyumi's website above for more information)''

'''aoTuV beta 4.51 -- The latest encoder'''

Many HydrogenAudio enthusiasts report that this version gives even better quality for low bit-rates. -q 1.5 becomes acceptable, even good enough, and -q 4 is now near-transparent! However, more peer review is needed before this version becomes the recommended encoder.

==Optimized binaries==

These are highly optimized encoders developed by the '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/index_e.htm Ogg Vorbis Acceleration Project]''' that are much faster than the standard binary builds with negligible to nearly no effects on audio quality, including sped-up routines, i.e ''mdct.c''

* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20050709.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4 (Lancer 20050709) (Win32 Build)]'''
* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20051121.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4.51 (Lancer 20051121) (Win32 Build)]''' -- ''Latest version''

See [[Lancer]] Information and downloads page above.

''Note: Output of Lancer may be slightly different from output of 'standard' aoTuV. This is due to the difference of floating-point rounding: Lancer uses 64-bit SSE, while standard aoTuV uses 80-bit FP. This difference, however, should not be audible at all. In fact, tests have proven that playback of Lancer's output is indistinguishable from playback of standard aoTuV output.'' 

=Released Binaries=

How do I know which encoder was used to make this particular Ogg Vorbis file?

Using either the ''ogginfo'' program or file info in your player, you can tell from the vendor tag:

{| border="0" style="margin-left:25px; color:black; background-color:white; border:1px dotted black; text-align:left;" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! Vendor Tag !! Encoder !! Note
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20000508 || '''1.0 beta 1 or beta 2 ''' ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20001031 || '''1.0 beta 3 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010225 || '''1.0 beta 4 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010615 || '''1.0 rc1 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010813 || '''1.0 rc2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010816 (gtune 1) || '''1.0 RC2 GT1 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011014 (GTune 2) || '''1.0 RC2 GT2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011217 || '''1.0 rc3 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011231 || '''1.0 rc3 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20020717 || '''1.0 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20020717 (GTune 3, beta 1) || '''GT3b1 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030308 || '''Post 1.0 CVS ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030909 || '''1.0.1 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (GTune 3, beta 2) EXPERIMENTAL || '''Experimental GT3b2 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (1.0.1) || '''Post 1.0.1 CVS ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (GTune 3, beta 2) || '''GT3b2 ||
|-
| AO; aoTuV b2 [20040420] (based on Xiph.Org's 1.0.1) || '''aoTuV beta 2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040629 || '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 RC1 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040920 || '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 with impulse_trigger_profile ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| AO; aoTuV b3 [20041120] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || ''' aoTuV beta 3 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20050304 || ''' Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| AO; aoTuV b4 [20050617] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || '''aoTuV beta 4 ||
|-
| BS; Lancer [20050709] (based on aoTuV b4 [20050617]) || '''Lancer based on aoTuV beta 4 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| AO; aoTuV b4a [20051105] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || '''aoTuV beta 4.5 ||
|-
| AO; aoTuV b4b [20051117] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || '''aoTuV beta 4.51 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| BS; Lancer [20051121] (based on aoTuV b4b [20051117]) || '''Lancer based on aoTuV beta 4.51 ||
|}

=Recommended Encoder Settings=

'''Refer to the table below. For best results, start at -q 4 and''' [[ABX]] '''your way up.''' 
''Ultimately, the best -q setting will depend on your specific needs. Feel free to experiment.'' 

'''General Command Line Usage:'''

'''oggenc -q n inputfile.wav '''

:''where'' '''n''' ''is a number from -1 to 10, fractions accepted (using comma or period, depending on where the tool is compiled)'' e.g. '''oggenc -q 5 inputfile.wav '''

'' '''Notes:'''
* Most standard oggenc binaries can input lossless FLAC, WavPack, etc files as well (depending upon oggenc version)
* ''oggenc2.7'' and later are the only versions of oggenc that conform to the '''WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE''' header for outputing and decoding multi-channel Vorbis files (3 to 6 channels) in compliance with the Vorbis I decoding specification. Encoding multi-channel content might still produce sub-optimal files if lossless channel coupling is not used, due to modification that need to be performed in the Vorbis libraries for proper channel coupling. Encoding assumes source material is CD audio content or PCM equivalent. ''
* The current oggenc and libvorbis API don't support the capabilities of full "bitrate peeling" yet. Experimental peelers exist, but only for testings purposes.

{| border="0" style="margin-left:50px; color:black; background-color:white; border:1px dotted black; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! Switch !! VBR target (kbit/s) !! VBR range (kbit/s) !! [[Channel coupling|Channel Coupling]] !! [[Noise normalization|Noise Normalization]] !! Note
|-
| -q -2 || ~32 || ~32 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (1)
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q -1 || ~48 || ~48 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (2)
|-
| -q 0 || ~64 || ~64 - ~80 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 1 || ~80 || ~80 - ~96 || point/lossless || yes || (3)
|-
| -q 2 || ~96 || ~96 - ~112 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 3 || ~112 || ~112 - ~128 || point/lossless || yes ||
|-
| -q 4 || ~128 || ~128 - ~160 || point/lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 5 || ~160 || ~160 - ~192 || point/lossless || no || (4)
|-
| -q 6 || ~192 || ~192 - ~224 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 7 || ~224 || ~224 - ~256 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 8 || ~256 || ~256 - ~320 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 9 || ~320 || ~320 - ~500 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 10 || ~500 || ~500 - ~1000 || lossless || no ||
|}

<div style="margin-left:3px;">
(1)'' Only supported on aoTuVb3 and newer '' 
(2)'' Bitrate of 48 kbit/s is only for aoTuVb3 and newer. Earlier versions and Xiph.org versions use a bitrate of 45 kbit/s '' 
(3)'' Reports seem to indicate that aoTuVb4.51 -q 1 provides good quality for streaming '' 
(4)'' Most users agree -q 5 achieves transparency''
</div>

=Advanced Encoder Settings=

===Reducing Pre-echo===
''This is applicable to Vorbis 1.1; it may or may not be applicable to aoTuVb4 or aoTuVb4.51.''

Generally, using the recommended settings above will give the best quality. There may be cases where Vorbis 1.1 will fail to reproduce sharp attacks or transients in your music, causing [[pre echo]]. In which case, you can use the '''impulse_noisetune''' advanced encode switch:

'''oggenc -q '''n''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p inputfile.wav'''
:'''where p is a number from 0 to -15'''
:e.g. '''oggenc -q '''5''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=-5 inputfile.wav'''

Note that the lower the number (toward -15) for impulse_noisetune, the higher the bitrate will fluctuate in passages of music filled with transient attacks (and the final average bitrate may be much higher than the nominal). Therefore, you should try a small value to start off (say '''-5''') and see if you get acceptable quality. If not, tweak it lower.

===Reducing noise due to microattacks===
''This is only valid for some Vorbis encoders that are marked as having '''''impulse_trigger_profile'''.

There are certain parts of some types of music, called "microattacks", where Vorbis will produce a noise (sort of like a puff of steam), which is due to inaccuracies in the block-switching algorithm ''(which can't be corrected)''. Due to the fact the attacks are so fine and close together, Vorbis doesn't switch to impulse short blocks enough, thus "smearing" the reproduction.

By default (with no additional switches), Vorbis selects a different profile for block switching (lower means less switching, higher means more switching) and the default values are shown in the table below:

{| border="0" style="margin-left: 150px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! Quality !! Profile !!   !! Quality !! Profile
|-
| -1 || 0 || || 5 || 2.5
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| 0 || 1 || || 6 || 2.7
|-
| 1 || 1 || || 7 || 3
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| 2 || 1.5 || || 8 || 3.7
|-
| 3 || 2 || || 9 || 4
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| 4 || 2 || || 10 || 4
|}

If you encounter this problem on microattacks, you may try the impulse_trigger_profile advanced encode switch, which will change (increase) the profile to your desired value.

'''oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile='''r''' inputfile.wav'''
:''where'' '''r''' ''is a number from 0 to 4, fractions accepted.''

'''Notes:'''
* There is the possibility that relaxed block switching (higher profiles) may cause other quality problems and create suboptimal Vorbis files. Please use it sparingly and with caution. If in doubt, leave impulse_trigger_profile on default ''(that is, don't use it at all)''
* Setting the profile too high will make Vorbis switch to impulse short blocks more often, which will lead to higher bitrate fluctuations. So be conservative.
* This settings has no effect on reducing the level of pre-echo. It can be said to only reduce the ''likelihood'' of [[Pre echo|pre echo]], but the amount of pre-echo is tuned using the '''impulse_noisetune''' switch instead.
* You may try profiles 5 and 6 as substitutes for 3 and 4. Profile 5 and 6 came from 3 and 4 in GT3b2.

You can use both impulse_noisetune and impulse_trigger_profile at the same time, but you will need separate switches, e.g.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p
--advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile=r inputfile.wav

Recommended Ogg Vorbis

2006-01-20T08:30:38Z

Fp: AoTuV beta 3 is NOT in 1.1.2

[[image:fish_logo.png|right|]]
[[Ogg Vorbis|Vorbis]], being a continuously developed standard, improves all the time. Plus, being an open (i.e. patent-free) standard, it has many 'third-parties' that contribute, discuss, and work to improve the project.

Here you can find some guidelines on which utilities to use, and what settings will provide you with the best quality.

=History=

(For a highly detailed description of Vorbis history, check out OggZealot's [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15274&view=findpost&p=153268 Ogg Vorbis Historic] where Monty also adds a few more details too). Ogg Vorbis reached version 1.0 in '''July 2002'''. It is the official [http://www.xiph.org/ Xiph.org] encoder ''(the one you get from vorbis.com)''. HA codec developer, Garf, did his own tunings, based on version 1.0 to produce GT3b1 and GT3b2. Both encoders showed improved [[pre echo]] handling for ''q'' values of ''5 to 10''. It was later judged in an internal listening test that GT3b1 was the better of the two. There was a minor bugfix update earlier that year in March, which only appeared in the CVS at Xiph.org. This consisted of very minor bug fixes, which do more to correct odd problems that may occur rather than improving quality, including ''(garbled noise output and gaps in streams)''. This was referred to as Post 1.0 CVS. Quality problems that mainly affected low bitrates were later addressed in a new bugfix ''(1.0.1)'' that was released.

Post 1.0.1 CVS was released late '''December 2003''' by Monty at Xiph, and includes a true [[CBR]] template. In order to simplify the situation where we had two encoders ''(1.0.1 and GT3b1)'', OggDropXPd developer John33 merged the sources to give us GT3b2. Once the 128 kbps multiformat test was completed, Aoyumi's [[aoTuV]] Vorbis tuning was determined to be the best Vorbis encoder. After the success of aoTuV beta 2 encoder, Xiph.Org merged their tunings into the official CVS branch to produce the long-awaited Vorbis 1.1. Aoyumi's later release of '''aoTuV beta 4''' encoder as of '''November 2005''' significantly improves Vorbis' quality while enhancing the compression. It is now the recommended encoder by 3rd party developers at Hydrogenaudio. Aoyumi's latest is '''aoTuV beta 4.5''' (later bugfixed with '''aoTuV beta 4.51''') released in '''December 2005''', which improves low bit-rate quality even more. However, it is still undergoing peer review before it becomes the recommended encoder. Near the end of 2005, after aoTuV beta 4.51 was released, Xiph.org released '''Vorbis 1.1.2'''. Unfortunatly it only provides bugfixes to Vorbis 1.1.1. Although this is the 'official' version, it is '''not recommended''' by HA. If you are not interested in the latest "bleeding edge" improvements, you are welcome to use the latest release from Xiph.org '''Vorbis 1.1.2''' library.

''Note: Xiph.org does not maintain the binaries, but rather provides newest updates and releases to libogg and libvorbis, etc.''

=Recommended Vorbis Encoders=

''(adapted from [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15049 Recommended Encoder and Settings] post compiled by QuantumKnot)''

==Windows binaries==

John33's oggenc2.8 is a special version of the Ogg Vorbis encoder. "Features include compression from lossless files (Monkeys Audio, LPAC, FLAC, OptimFROG, WavPack and Shorten - requires presence of decoders), and the ability to specify 'padding' in the headers for subsequent insertion of Tags." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=59 aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=60 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=61 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64))]'''

If you prefer a nice drag-and-drop interface, then you can try John33's OggDropXPd (Windows only). "Features include compression from lossless files ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[LPAC]], [[FLAC]] and [[OptimFROG]]), auto-tagging, renaming of encoded files, setting of advanced encoder parameters, use of VorbisGain tags on decode, Playlist (.m3u) creation, and others." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=50 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=51 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=52 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64)]'''

''(Work In Progress: Guide will be completed soon. Check [[OggDropXPd|here]])''

==Linux binaries==

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/quantumknot/oggenc-aotuv451.gz oggenc aoTuV beta 4.51 and libogg 1.1.3 (static gcc 4 compile)]''' '''with impulse_trigger_profile'''

This static GCC 4 binary was compiled by QuantumKnot.

''Note: There is no Linux Oggenc2.x that has been compiled with Lancer Optimizations as of yet (third-parties with a access to unix environment are encourage to try and compile one themselves if they have access to the sources).''

==3rd party source code==

These are other Ogg Vorbis encoders that were tuned by 3rd party developers (outside of Xiph.Org).

* '''[http://www.geocities.jp/aoyoume/aotuv/ aoTuV (Aoyumi's Tuned Vorbis)]''' -- contains modified source code written in C and downloads of binaries.

''The source-code contains modifications mostly to the psychoacoustics model and bitrate allocation, i.e psy.c''

'''aoTuV beta 4 -- Now the recommended encoder'''

Developed by Aoyumi and based on libvorbis 1.1.1, many people have reported this encoder to give better quality at low to medium bitrates. It includes a -q -2 option for the lowest bitrate. According to guruboolez' latest listening test on classical music, aoTuV beta 4 performed magnificently well at -q 6!! ''(see Aoyumi's website above for more information)''

'''aoTuV beta 4.51 -- The latest encoder'''

Many HydrogenAudio enthusiasts report that this version gives even better quality for low bit-rates. -q 1.5 becomes acceptable, even good enough, and -q 4 is now near-transparent! However, more peer review is needed before this version becomes the recommended encoder.

==Optimized binaries==

These are highly optimized encoders developed by the '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/index_e.htm Ogg Vorbis Acceleration Project]''' that are much faster than the standard binary builds with negligible to nearly no effects on audio quality, including sped-up routines, i.e ''mdct.c''

* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20050709.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4 (Lancer 20050709) (Win32 Build)]'''
* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20051121.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4.51 (Lancer 20051121) (Win32 Build)]''' -- ''Latest version''

See [[Lancer]] Information and downloads page above.

''Note: Output of Lancer may be slightly different from output of 'standard' aoTuV. This is due to the difference of floating-point rounding: Lancer uses 64-bit SSE, while standard aoTuV uses 80-bit FP. This difference, however, should not be audible at all. In fact, tests have proven that playback of Lancer's output is indistinguishable from playback of standard aoTuV output.'' 

=Released Binaries=

How do I know which encoder was used to make this particular Ogg Vorbis file?

Using either the ''ogginfo'' program or file info in your player, you can tell from the vendor tag:

{| border="0" style="margin-left:25px; color:black; background-color:white; border:1px dotted black; text-align:left;" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! Vendor Tag !! Encoder !! Note
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20000508 || '''1.0 beta 1 or beta 2 ''' ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20001031 || '''1.0 beta 3 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010225 || '''1.0 beta 4 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010615 || '''1.0 rc1 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010813 || '''1.0 rc2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010816 (gtune 1) || '''1.0 RC2 GT1 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011014 (GTune 2) || '''1.0 RC2 GT2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011217 || '''1.0 rc3 ||
|-
| Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011231 || '''1.0 rc3 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20020717 || '''1.0 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20020717 (GTune 3, beta 1) || '''GT3b1 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030308 || '''Post 1.0 CVS ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030909 || '''1.0.1 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (GTune 3, beta 2) EXPERIMENTAL || '''Experimental GT3b2 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (1.0.1) || '''Post 1.0.1 CVS ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (GTune 3, beta 2) || '''GT3b2 ||
|-
| AO; aoTuV b2 [20040420] (based on Xiph.Org's 1.0.1) || '''aoTuV beta 2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040629 || '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 RC1 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040920 || '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 with impulse_trigger_profile ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| AO; aoTuV b3 [20041120] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || ''' aoTuV beta 3 ||
|-
| Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20050304 || ''' Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.2 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| AO; aoTuV b4 [20050617] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || '''aoTuV beta 4 ||
|-
| BS; Lancer [20050709] (based on aoTuV b4 [20050617]) || '''Lancer based on aoTuV beta 4 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| AO; aoTuV b4a [20051105] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || '''aoTuV beta 4.5 ||
|-
| AO; aoTuV b4b [20051117] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) || '''aoTuV beta 4.51 ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| BS; Lancer [20051121] (based on aoTuV b4b [20051117]) || '''Lancer based on aoTuV beta 4.51 ||
|}

=Recommended Encoder Settings=

'''Refer to the table below. For best results, start at -q 4 and''' [[ABX]] '''your way up.''' 
''Ultimately, the best -q setting will depend on your specific needs. Feel free to experiment.'' 

'''General Command Line Usage:'''

'''oggenc -q n inputfile.wav '''

:''where'' '''n''' ''is a number from -1 to 10, fractions accepted (using comma or period, depending on where the tool is compiled)'' e.g. '''oggenc -q 5 inputfile.wav '''

'' '''Notes:'''
* Most standard oggenc binaries can input lossless FLAC, WavPack, etc files as well (depending upon oggenc version)
* ''oggenc2.7'' and later are the only versions of oggenc that conform to the '''WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE''' header for outputing and decoding multi-channel Vorbis files (3 to 6 channels) in compliance with the Vorbis I decoding specification. Encoding multi-channel content might still produce sub-optimal files if lossless channel coupling is not used, due to modification that need to be performed in the Vorbis libraries for proper channel coupling. Encoding assumes source material is CD audio content or PCM equivalent. ''
* The current oggenc and libvorbis API don't support the capabilities of full "bitrate peeling" yet. Experimental peelers exist, but only for testings purposes.

{| border="0" style="margin-left:50px; color:black; background-color:white; border:1px dotted black; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! Switch !! VBR target (kbit/s) !! VBR range (kbit/s) !! [[Channel coupling|Channel Coupling]] !! [[Noise normalization|Noise Normalization]] !! Note
|-
| -q -2 || ~32 || ~32 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (1)
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q -1 || ~48 || ~48 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (2)
|-
| -q 0 || ~64 || ~64 - ~80 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 1 || ~80 || ~80 - ~96 || point/lossless || yes || (3)
|-
| -q 2 || ~96 || ~96 - ~112 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 3 || ~112 || ~112 - ~128 || point/lossless || yes ||
|-
| -q 4 || ~128 || ~128 - ~160 || point/lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 5 || ~160 || ~160 - ~192 || point/lossless || no || (4)
|-
| -q 6 || ~192 || ~192 - ~224 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 7 || ~224 || ~224 - ~256 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 8 || ~256 || ~256 - ~320 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| -q 9 || ~320 || ~320 - ~500 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 10 || ~500 || ~500 - ~1000 || lossless || no ||
|}

<div style="margin-left:3px;">
(1)'' Only supported on aoTuVb3 and newer '' 
(2)'' Bitrate of 48 kbit/s is only for aoTuVb3 and newer. Earlier versions and Xiph.org versions use a bitrate of 45 kbit/s '' 
(3)'' Reports seem to indicate that aoTuVb4.51 -q 1 provides good quality for streaming '' 
(4)'' Most users agree -q 5 achieves transparency''
</div>

=Advanced Encoder Settings=

===Reducing Pre-echo===
''This is applicable to Vorbis 1.1; it may or may not be applicable to aoTuVb4 or aoTuVb4.51.''

Generally, using the recommended settings above will give the best quality. There may be cases where Vorbis 1.1 will fail to reproduce sharp attacks or transients in your music, causing [[pre echo]]. In which case, you can use the '''impulse_noisetune''' advanced encode switch:

'''oggenc -q '''n''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p inputfile.wav'''
:'''where p is a number from 0 to -15'''
:e.g. '''oggenc -q '''5''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=-5 inputfile.wav'''

Note that the lower the number (toward -15) for impulse_noisetune, the higher the bitrate will fluctuate in passages of music filled with transient attacks (and the final average bitrate may be much higher than the nominal). Therefore, you should try a small value to start off (say '''-5''') and see if you get acceptable quality. If not, tweak it lower.

===Reducing noise due to microattacks===
''This is only valid for some Vorbis encoders that are marked as having '''''impulse_trigger_profile'''.

There are certain parts of some types of music, called "microattacks", where Vorbis will produce a noise (sort of like a puff of steam), which is due to inaccuracies in the block-switching algorithm ''(which can't be corrected)''. Due to the fact the attacks are so fine and close together, Vorbis doesn't switch to impulse short blocks enough, thus "smearing" the reproduction.

By default (with no additional switches), Vorbis selects a different profile for block switching (lower means less switching, higher means more switching) and the default values are shown in the table below:

{| border="0" style="margin-left: 150px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
! Quality !! Profile !!   !! Quality !! Profile
|-
| -1 || 0 || || 5 || 2.5
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| 0 || 1 || || 6 || 2.7
|-
| 1 || 1 || || 7 || 3
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| 2 || 1.5 || || 8 || 3.7
|-
| 3 || 2 || || 9 || 4
|- style="background-color: #eeeeee;"
| 4 || 2 || || 10 || 4
|}

If you encounter this problem on microattacks, you may try the impulse_trigger_profile advanced encode switch, which will change (increase) the profile to your desired value.

'''oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile='''r''' inputfile.wav'''
:''where'' '''r''' ''is a number from 0 to 4, fractions accepted.''

'''Notes:'''
* There is the possibility that relaxed block switching (higher profiles) may cause other quality problems and create suboptimal Vorbis files. Please use it sparingly and with caution. If in doubt, leave impulse_trigger_profile on default ''(that is, don't use it at all)''
* Setting the profile too high will make Vorbis switch to impulse short blocks more often, which will lead to higher bitrate fluctuations. So be conservative.
* This settings has no effect on reducing the level of pre-echo. It can be said to only reduce the ''likelihood'' of [[Pre echo|pre echo]], but the amount of pre-echo is tuned using the '''impulse_noisetune''' switch instead.
* You may try profiles 5 and 6 as substitutes for 3 and 4. Profile 5 and 6 came from 3 and 4 in GT3b2.

You can use both impulse_noisetune and impulse_trigger_profile at the same time, but you will need separate switches, e.g.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p
--advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile=r inputfile.wav

Recommended Ogg Vorbis

2006-01-19T08:46:46Z

Fp: changed 1.0.1 tag, as in http://svn.xiph.org/trunk/vorbis-tools/ogginfo/ogginfo2.c , correct me if this is wrong

[[image:fish_logo.png|right|]]
[[Ogg Vorbis|Vorbis]], being a continuously developed standard, improves all the time. Plus, being an open (i.e. patent-free) standard, it has many 'third-parties' that contribute, discuss, and work to improve the project.

Here you can find some guidelines on which utilities to use, and what settings will provide you with the best quality.

=History=

(For a highly detailed description of Vorbis history, check out OggZealot's [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15274&view=findpost&p=153268 Ogg Vorbis Historic] where Monty also adds a few more details too). Ogg Vorbis reached version 1.0 in '''July 2002'''. It is the official [http://www.xiph.org/ Xiph.org] encoder ''(the one you get from vorbis.com)''. HA codec developer, Garf, did his own tunings, based on version 1.0 to produce GT3b1 and GT3b2. Both encoders showed improved [[pre echo]] handling for ''q'' values of ''5 to 10''. It was later judged in an internal listening test that GT3b1 was the better of the two. There was a minor bugfix update earlier that year in March, which only appeared in the CVS at Xiph.org. This consisted of very minor bug fixes, which do more to correct odd problems that may occur rather than improving quality, including ''(garbled noise output and gaps in streams)''. This was referred to as Post 1.0 CVS. Quality problems that mainly affected low bitrates were later addressed in a new bugfix ''(1.0.1)'' that was released.

Post 1.0.1 CVS was released late '''December 2003''' by Monty at Xiph, and includes a true [[CBR]] template. In order to simplify the situation where we had two encoders ''(1.0.1 and GT3b1)'', OggDropXPd developer John33 merged the sources to give us GT3b2. Once the 128 kbps multiformat test was completed, Aoyumi's [[aoTuV]] Vorbis tuning was determined to be the best Vorbis encoder. After the success of aoTuV beta 2 encoder, Xiph.Org merged their tunings into the official CVS branch to produce the long-awaited Vorbis 1.1. Aoyumi's later release of '''aoTuV beta 4''' encoder as of '''November 2005''' significantly improves Vorbis' quality while enhancing the compression. It is now the recommended encoder by 3rd party developers at Hydrogenaudio. Aoyumi's latest is '''aoTuV beta 4.5''' (later bugfixed with '''aoTuV beta 4.51''') released in '''December 2005''', which improves low bit-rate quality even more. However, it is still undergoing peer review before it becomes the recommended encoder. Near the end of 2005, after aoTuV beta 4.51 was released, Xiph.org released '''Vorbis 1.1.2'''. Unfortunatly it only provides bugfixes to Vorbis 1.1.1. Although this is the 'official' version, it is '''not recommended''' by HA. If you are not interested in the latest "bleeding edge" psychoacoustic improvements, you are welcome to use the latest release from Xiph.org Vorbis 1.1.2 library.

''Note: Xiph.org does not maintain the binaries, but rather provides newest updates and releases to libogg and libvorbis, etc.''

=Recommended Vorbis Encoders=

''(adapted from [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15049 Recommended Encoder and Settings] post compiled by QuantumKnot)''

==Windows binaries==

John33's oggenc2.8 is a special version of the Ogg Vorbis encoder. "Features include compression from lossless files (Monkeys Audio, LPAC, FLAC, OptimFROG, WavPack and Shorten - requires presence of decoders), and the ability to specify 'padding' in the headers for subsequent insertion of Tags." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=59 aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=60 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=61 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64))]'''

If you prefer a nice drag-and-drop interface, then you can try John33's OggDropXPd (Windows only). "Features include compression from lossless files ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[LPAC]], [[FLAC]] and [[OptimFROG]]), auto-tagging, renaming of encoded files, setting of advanced encoder parameters, use of VorbisGain tags on decode, Playlist (.m3u) creation, and others." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=50 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=51 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=52 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64)]'''

''(work in progress, guide will be completed soon)''

==Linux binaries==

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/quantumknot/oggenc-aotuv451.gz oggenc aoTuV beta 4.51 and libogg 1.1.3 (static gcc 4 compile)]''' '''with impulse_trigger_profile'''

This static GCC 4 binary was compiled by QuantumKnot.

''Note: There is no Oggenc2.x that has been compiled with Lancer Optimizations as of yet (third-parties with a access to unix environment are encourage to try and compile one themselves if they have access to the sources).''

==3rd party source code==

* '''[http://www.geocities.jp/aoyoume/aotuv/ aoTuV Homepage]''' -- contains modified source code written in C and downloads of binaries.

The source-code contains modifications mostly to the psychoacoustics model and bitrate allocation, i.e ''psy.c''

These are other Ogg Vorbis encoders that were tuned by 3rd party developers (outside of Xiph.Org).

'''aoTuV beta 4''' '''Now the recommended encoder'''

Developed by Aoyumi and based on libvorbis 1.1.1, many people have reported this encoder to give better quality at low to medium bitrates. It includes a -q -2 option for the lowest bitrate. According to guruboolez' latest listening test on classical music, aoTuV beta 4 performed magnificently well at -q 6!! ''(see Aoyumi's website for information above)''

'''aoTuV beta 4.51''' '''The latest encoder'''

Many HydrogenAudio enthusiasts report that this version gives even better quality for low bit-rates. -q 1.5 becomes acceptable, even good enough, and -q 4 is now near-transparent! However, more peer review is needed before this version becomes the recommended encoder.

==Optimized binaries==

These are highly optimized encoders developed by the '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/index_e.htm Ogg Vorbis Acceleration Project]''' that are much faster than the standard binary builds with negligible to nearly no effects on audio quality, including sped-up routines, i.e ''mdct.c''

* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20050709.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4 (Lancer 20050709) (Win32 Build)]'''
* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20051121.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4.51 (Lancer 20051121) (Win32 Build)]''' -- ''Latest version''

See [[Lancer]] Information and downloads page above.

''Note: Output of Lancer may be slightly different from output of 'standard' aoTuV. This is due to the difference of floating-point rounding: Lancer uses 64-bit SSE, while standard aoTuV uses 80-bit FP. This difference, however, should not be audible at all. In fact, tests have proven that playback of Lancer's output is indistinguishable from playback of standard aoTuV output.'' 

=Released Binaries=

How do I know which encoder was used to make this particular Ogg Vorbis file?

Using either the ''ogginfo'' program or file info in your player, you can tell from the vendor tag:

* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20000508 => '''1.0 beta 1 or beta 2 '''
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20001031 => '''1.0 beta 3 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010225 => '''1.0 beta 4 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010615 => '''1.0 rc1 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010813 => '''1.0 rc2 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010816 (gtune 1) => '''1.0 RC2 GT1 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011014 (GTune 2) =>'''1.0 RC2 GT2 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011217 => '''1.0 rc3 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011231 => '''1.0 rc3 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20020717 => '''1.0 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20020717 (GTune 3, beta 1) => '''GT3b1 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030308 => '''Post 1.0 CVS 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030909 => '''1.0.1 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (GTune 3, beta 2) EXPERIMENTAL => '''Experimental GT3b2 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (1.0.1) => '''Post 1.0.1 CVS 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (GTune 3, beta 2) => '''GT3b2 
* AO; aoTuV b2 [20040420] (based on Xiph.Org's 1.0.1) => '''aoTuV beta 2 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040629 => '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 RC1 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040920 => '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 with impulse_trigger_profile 
* AO; aoTuV b3 [20041120] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => ''' aoTuV beta 3 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20050304 => ''' Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.2 
* AO; aoTuV b4 [20050617] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4 
* BS; Lancer [20050709] (based on aoTuV b4 [20050617]) => '''Lancer based on aoTuV beta 4
* AO; aoTuV b4a [20051105] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4.5 
* AO; aoTuV b4b [20051117] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4.51 
* BS; Lancer [20051121] (based on aoTuV b4b [20051117]) => '''Lancer based on aoTuV beta 4.51

=Recommended Encoder Settings=

'''Refer to the table below. For best results, start at -q 4 and''' [[ABX]] '''your way up.''' 
''Ultimately, the best -q setting will depend on your specific needs. Feel free to experiment.'' 

'''General Command Line Usage:'''

'''oggenc -q n inputfile.wav '''

:'''where n is a number from -1 to 10''' e.g. '''oggenc -q 5 inputfile.wav ''' '' '''Note:''' Most standard oggenc binaries can input lossless FLAC, WavPack, etc files as well! (depending upon oggenc version) ''


''It should be noted that Vorbis supports fractional numbers, e.g. 5.50 (or 5,50, depending on where the tool is compiled.) '' 
''oggenc2.7 and later are the only versions of oggenc that conform to the '''WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE''' header for outputing and decoding multi-channel Vorbis files (3 to 6 channels) in compliance with the Vorbis I decoding specification. Encoding multi-channel content might still produce sub-optimal files, excluding when using lossless channel coupling, due to modification that need to be performed in the Vorbis library for proper channel coupling. Encoding assumes source material is CD audio content or PCM equivalent ''

{| border="0" style="margin-left:50px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
! Switch !! VBR target (kbit/s) !! VBR range (kbit/s) !! [[Channel coupling|Channel Coupling]] !! [[Noise normalization|Noise Normalization]] !! Note
|-
| -q -2 || ~32 || ~32 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (1)
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q -1 || ~48 || ~48 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (2)
|-
| -q 0 || ~64 || ~64 - ~80 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 1 || ~80 || ~80 - ~96 || point/lossless || yes || (3)
|-
| -q 2 || ~96 || ~96 - ~112 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 3 || ~112 || ~112 - ~128 || point/lossless || yes ||
|-
| -q 4 || ~128 || ~128 - ~160 || point/lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 5 || ~160 || ~160 - ~192 || point/lossless || no || (4)
|-
| -q 6 || ~192 || ~192 - ~224 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 7 || ~224 || ~224 - ~256 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 8 || ~256 || ~256 - ~320 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 9 || ~320 || ~320 - ~500 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 10 || ~500 || ~500 - ~1000 || lossless || no ||
|}

'' '''(1)''' Only supported on aoTuVb3 and newer '' 
'' '''(2)''' Bitrate of 48 kbit/s is only for aoTuVb3 and newer. Earlier versions and Xiph.org versions use a bitrate of 45 kbit/s '' 
'' '''(3)''' Reports seem to indicate that aoTuVb4.51 -q 1 provides good quality for streaming '' 
'' '''(4)''' Most users agree -q 5 achieves transparency''

=Advanced Encoder Settings=

===Reducing Pre-echo===
''This is applicable with Vorbis 1.1; it may or may not be applicable to aoTuVb4 or aoTuVb4.51.''

Generally, using the recommended settings above will give the best quality. There may be cases where Vorbis 1.1 will fail to reproduce sharp attacks or transients in your music, causing [[pre echo]]. In which case, you can use the '''impulse_noisetune''' advanced encode switch:

'''oggenc -q '''n''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p inputfile.wav'''
:'''where p is a number from 0 to -15'''
:e.g. '''oggenc -q '''5''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=-5 inputfile.wav'''

Note that the lower the number (toward -15) for impulse_noisetune, the higher the bitrate will fluctuate in passages of music filled with transient attacks (and the final average bitrate may be much higher than the nominal). Therefore, you should try a small value to start off (say '''-5''') and see if you get acceptable quality. If not, tweak it lower.

===Reducing noise due to microattacks===
''This is only valid for some Vorbis encoders that are marked as having '''''impulse_trigger_profile'''.

There are certain parts of some types of music, called "microattacks", where Vorbis will produce a noise (sort of like a puff of steam), which is due to inaccuracies in the block-switching algorithm ''(which can't be corrected)''. Due to the fact the attacks are so fine and close together, Vorbis doesn't switch to impulse short blocks enough, thus "smearing" the reproduction.

By default (with no additional switches), Vorbis selects a different profile for block switching (lower means less switching, higher means more switching) and the default values are shown in the table below:

{| border="0" style="margin-left: 150px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
! Quality !! Profile !!   !! Quality !! Profile
|-
| -1 || 0 || || 5 || 2.5
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 0 || 1 || || 6 || 2.7
|-
| 1 || 1 || || 7 || 3
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 2 || 1.5 || || 8 || 3.7
|-
| 3 || 2 || || 9 || 4
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 4 || 2 || || 10 || 4
|}

If you encounter this problem on microattacks, you may try the impulse_trigger_profile advanced encode switch, which will change (increase) the profile to your desired value.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option '''impulse_trigger_profile=r''' inputfile.wav
:''where '''r''' is a number from 0 to 4, fractions accepted.''

'''Notes:'''
* There is the possibility that relaxed block switching (higher profiles) may cause other quality problems and create suboptimal Vorbis files. Please use it sparingly and with caution. If in doubt, leave impulse_trigger_profile on default ''(that is, don't use it at all)''
* Setting the profile too high will make Vorbis switch to impulse short blocks more often, which will lead to higher bitrate fluctuations. So be conservative.
* This settings has no effect on reducing the level of pre-echo. It can be said to only reduce the ''likelihood'' of [[Pre echo]], but the amount of pre-echo is tuned using the '''impulse_noisetune''' switch instead.
* You may try profiles 5 and 6 as substitutes for 3 and 4. Profile 5 and 6 came from 3 and 4 in GT3b2.

You can use both impulse_noisetune and impulse_trigger_profile at the same time, but you will need separate switches, e.g.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p
--advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile=r inputfile.wav

Recommended Ogg Vorbis

2006-01-19T08:43:30Z

Fp: /* History */

[[image:fish_logo.png|right|]]
[[Ogg Vorbis|Vorbis]], being a continuously developed standard, improves all the time. Plus, being an open (i.e. patent-free) standard, it has many 'third-parties' that contribute, discuss, and work to improve the project.

Here you can find some guidelines on which utilities to use, and what settings will provide you with the best quality.

=History=

(For a highly detailed description of Vorbis history, check out OggZealot's [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15274&view=findpost&p=153268 Ogg Vorbis Historic] where Monty also adds a few more details too). Ogg Vorbis reached version 1.0 in '''July 2002'''. It is the official [http://www.xiph.org/ Xiph.org] encoder ''(the one you get from vorbis.com)''. HA codec developer, Garf, did his own tunings, based on version 1.0 to produce GT3b1 and GT3b2. Both encoders showed improved [[pre echo]] handling for ''q'' values of ''5 to 10''. It was later judged in an internal listening test that GT3b1 was the better of the two. There was a minor bugfix update earlier that year in March, which only appeared in the CVS at Xiph.org. This consisted of very minor bug fixes, which do more to correct odd problems that may occur rather than improving quality, including ''(garbled noise output and gaps in streams)''. This was referred to as Post 1.0 CVS. Quality problems that mainly affected low bitrates were later addressed in a new bugfix ''(1.0.1)'' that was released.

Post 1.0.1 CVS was released late '''December 2003''' by Monty at Xiph, and includes a true [[CBR]] template. In order to simplify the situation where we had two encoders ''(1.0.1 and GT3b1)'', OggDropXPd developer John33 merged the sources to give us GT3b2. Once the 128 kbps multiformat test was completed, Aoyumi's [[aoTuV]] Vorbis tuning was determined to be the best Vorbis encoder. After the success of aoTuV beta 2 encoder, Xiph.Org merged their tunings into the official CVS branch to produce the long-awaited Vorbis 1.1. Aoyumi's later release of '''aoTuV beta 4''' encoder as of '''November 2005''' significantly improves Vorbis' quality while enhancing the compression. It is now the recommended encoder by 3rd party developers at Hydrogenaudio. Aoyumi's latest is '''aoTuV beta 4.5''' (later bugfixed with '''aoTuV beta 4.51''') released in '''December 2005''', which improves low bit-rate quality even more. However, it is still undergoing peer review before it becomes the recommended encoder. Near the end of 2005, after aoTuV beta 4.51 was released, Xiph.org released '''Vorbis 1.1.2'''. Unfortunatly it only provides bugfixes to Vorbis 1.1.1. Although this is the 'official' version, it is '''not recommended''' by HA. If you are not interested in the latest "bleeding edge" psychoacoustic improvements, you are welcome to use the latest release from Xiph.org Vorbis 1.1.2 library.

''Note: Xiph.org does not maintain the binaries, but rather provides newest updates and releases to libogg and libvorbis, etc.''

=Recommended Vorbis Encoders=

''(adapted from [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15049 Recommended Encoder and Settings] post compiled by QuantumKnot)''

==Windows binaries==

John33's oggenc2.8 is a special version of the Ogg Vorbis encoder. "Features include compression from lossless files (Monkeys Audio, LPAC, FLAC, OptimFROG, WavPack and Shorten - requires presence of decoders), and the ability to specify 'padding' in the headers for subsequent insertion of Tags." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=59 aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=60 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=61 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64))]'''

If you prefer a nice drag-and-drop interface, then you can try John33's OggDropXPd (Windows only). "Features include compression from lossless files ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[LPAC]], [[FLAC]] and [[OptimFROG]]), auto-tagging, renaming of encoded files, setting of advanced encoder parameters, use of VorbisGain tags on decode, Playlist (.m3u) creation, and others." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=50 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=51 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=52 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64)]'''

''(work in progress, guide will be completed soon)''

==Linux binaries==

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/quantumknot/oggenc-aotuv451.gz oggenc aoTuV beta 4.51 and libogg 1.1.3 (static gcc 4 compile)]''' '''with impulse_trigger_profile'''

This static GCC 4 binary was compiled by QuantumKnot.

''Note: There is no Oggenc2.x that has been compiled with Lancer Optimizations as of yet (third-parties with a access to unix environment are encourage to try and compile one themselves if they have access to the sources).''

==3rd party source code==

* '''[http://www.geocities.jp/aoyoume/aotuv/ aoTuV Homepage]''' -- contains modified source code written in C and downloads of binaries.

The source-code contains modifications mostly to the psychoacoustics model and bitrate allocation, i.e ''psy.c''

These are other Ogg Vorbis encoders that were tuned by 3rd party developers (outside of Xiph.Org).

'''aoTuV beta 4''' '''Now the recommended encoder'''

Developed by Aoyumi and based on libvorbis 1.1.1, many people have reported this encoder to give better quality at low to medium bitrates. It includes a -q -2 option for the lowest bitrate. According to guruboolez' latest listening test on classical music, aoTuV beta 4 performed magnificently well at -q 6!! ''(see Aoyumi's website for information above)''

'''aoTuV beta 4.51''' '''The latest encoder'''

Many HydrogenAudio enthusiasts report that this version gives even better quality for low bit-rates. -q 1.5 becomes acceptable, even good enough, and -q 4 is now near-transparent! However, more peer review is needed before this version becomes the recommended encoder.

==Optimized binaries==

These are highly optimized encoders developed by the '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/index_e.htm Ogg Vorbis Acceleration Project]''' that are much faster than the standard binary builds with negligible to nearly no effects on audio quality, including sped-up routines, i.e ''mdct.c''

* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20050709.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4 (Lancer 20050709) (Win32 Build)]'''
* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20051121.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4.51 (Lancer 20051121) (Win32 Build)]''' -- ''Latest version''

See [[Lancer]] Information and downloads page above.

''Note: Output of Lancer may be slightly different from output of 'standard' aoTuV. This is due to the difference of floating-point rounding: Lancer uses 64-bit SSE, while standard aoTuV uses 80-bit FP. This difference, however, should not be audible at all. In fact, tests have proven that playback of Lancer's output is indistinguishable from playback of standard aoTuV output.'' 

=Released Binaries=

How do I know which encoder was used to make this particular Ogg Vorbis file?

Using either the ''ogginfo'' program or file info in your player, you can tell from the vendor tag:

* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20000508 => '''1.0 beta 1 or beta 2 '''
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20001031 => '''1.0 beta 3 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010225 => '''1.0 beta 4 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010615 => '''1.0 rc1 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010813 => '''1.0 rc2 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010816 (gtune 1) => '''1.0 RC2 GT1 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011014 (GTune 2) =>'''1.0 RC2 GT2 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011217 => '''1.0 rc3 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011231 => '''1.0 rc3 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20020717 => '''1.0 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20020717 (GTune 3, beta 1) => '''GT3b1 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030308 => '''Post 1.0 CVS 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (1.0.1) => '''1.0.1 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (GTune 3, beta 2) EXPERIMENTAL => '''Experimental GT3b2 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (1.0.1) => '''Post 1.0.1 CVS 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (GTune 3, beta 2) => '''GT3b2 
* AO; aoTuV b2 [20040420] (based on Xiph.Org's 1.0.1) => '''aoTuV beta 2 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040629 => '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 RC1 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040920 => '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 with impulse_trigger_profile 
* AO; aoTuV b3 [20041120] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => ''' aoTuV beta 3 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20050304 => ''' Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.2 
* AO; aoTuV b4 [20050617] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4 
* BS; Lancer [20050709] (based on aoTuV b4 [20050617]) => '''Lancer based on aoTuV beta 4
* AO; aoTuV b4a [20051105] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4.5 
* AO; aoTuV b4b [20051117] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4.51 
* BS; Lancer [20051121] (based on aoTuV b4b [20051117]) => '''Lancer based on aoTuV beta 4.51

=Recommended Encoder Settings=

'''Refer to the table below. For best results, start at -q 4 and''' [[ABX]] '''your way up.''' 
''Ultimately, the best -q setting will depend on your specific needs. Feel free to experiment.'' 

'''General Command Line Usage:'''

'''oggenc -q n inputfile.wav '''

:'''where n is a number from -1 to 10''' e.g. '''oggenc -q 5 inputfile.wav ''' '' '''Note:''' Most standard oggenc binaries can input lossless FLAC, WavPack, etc files as well! (depending upon oggenc version) ''


''It should be noted that Vorbis supports fractional numbers, e.g. 5.50 (or 5,50, depending on where the tool is compiled.) '' 
''oggenc2.7 and later are the only versions of oggenc that conform to the '''WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE''' header for outputing and decoding multi-channel Vorbis files (3 to 6 channels) in compliance with the Vorbis I decoding specification. Encoding multi-channel content might still produce sub-optimal files, excluding when using lossless channel coupling, due to modification that need to be performed in the Vorbis library for proper channel coupling. Encoding assumes source material is CD audio content or PCM equivalent ''

{| border="0" style="margin-left:50px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
! Switch !! VBR target (kbit/s) !! VBR range (kbit/s) !! [[Channel coupling|Channel Coupling]] !! [[Noise normalization|Noise Normalization]] !! Note
|-
| -q -2 || ~32 || ~32 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (1)
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q -1 || ~48 || ~48 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (2)
|-
| -q 0 || ~64 || ~64 - ~80 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 1 || ~80 || ~80 - ~96 || point/lossless || yes || (3)
|-
| -q 2 || ~96 || ~96 - ~112 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 3 || ~112 || ~112 - ~128 || point/lossless || yes ||
|-
| -q 4 || ~128 || ~128 - ~160 || point/lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 5 || ~160 || ~160 - ~192 || point/lossless || no || (4)
|-
| -q 6 || ~192 || ~192 - ~224 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 7 || ~224 || ~224 - ~256 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 8 || ~256 || ~256 - ~320 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 9 || ~320 || ~320 - ~500 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 10 || ~500 || ~500 - ~1000 || lossless || no ||
|}

'' '''(1)''' Only supported on aoTuVb3 and newer '' 
'' '''(2)''' Bitrate of 48 kbit/s is only for aoTuVb3 and newer. Earlier versions and Xiph.org versions use a bitrate of 45 kbit/s '' 
'' '''(3)''' Reports seem to indicate that aoTuVb4.51 -q 1 provides good quality for streaming '' 
'' '''(4)''' Most users agree -q 5 achieves transparency''

=Advanced Encoder Settings=

===Reducing Pre-echo===
''This is applicable with Vorbis 1.1; it may or may not be applicable to aoTuVb4 or aoTuVb4.51.''

Generally, using the recommended settings above will give the best quality. There may be cases where Vorbis 1.1 will fail to reproduce sharp attacks or transients in your music, causing [[pre echo]]. In which case, you can use the '''impulse_noisetune''' advanced encode switch:

'''oggenc -q '''n''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p inputfile.wav'''
:'''where p is a number from 0 to -15'''
:e.g. '''oggenc -q '''5''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=-5 inputfile.wav'''

Note that the lower the number (toward -15) for impulse_noisetune, the higher the bitrate will fluctuate in passages of music filled with transient attacks (and the final average bitrate may be much higher than the nominal). Therefore, you should try a small value to start off (say '''-5''') and see if you get acceptable quality. If not, tweak it lower.

===Reducing noise due to microattacks===
''This is only valid for some Vorbis encoders that are marked as having '''''impulse_trigger_profile'''.

There are certain parts of some types of music, called "microattacks", where Vorbis will produce a noise (sort of like a puff of steam), which is due to inaccuracies in the block-switching algorithm ''(which can't be corrected)''. Due to the fact the attacks are so fine and close together, Vorbis doesn't switch to impulse short blocks enough, thus "smearing" the reproduction.

By default (with no additional switches), Vorbis selects a different profile for block switching (lower means less switching, higher means more switching) and the default values are shown in the table below:

{| border="0" style="margin-left: 150px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
! Quality !! Profile !!   !! Quality !! Profile
|-
| -1 || 0 || || 5 || 2.5
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 0 || 1 || || 6 || 2.7
|-
| 1 || 1 || || 7 || 3
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 2 || 1.5 || || 8 || 3.7
|-
| 3 || 2 || || 9 || 4
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 4 || 2 || || 10 || 4
|}

If you encounter this problem on microattacks, you may try the impulse_trigger_profile advanced encode switch, which will change (increase) the profile to your desired value.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option '''impulse_trigger_profile=r''' inputfile.wav
:''where '''r''' is a number from 0 to 4, fractions accepted.''

'''Notes:'''
* There is the possibility that relaxed block switching (higher profiles) may cause other quality problems and create suboptimal Vorbis files. Please use it sparingly and with caution. If in doubt, leave impulse_trigger_profile on default ''(that is, don't use it at all)''
* Setting the profile too high will make Vorbis switch to impulse short blocks more often, which will lead to higher bitrate fluctuations. So be conservative.
* This settings has no effect on reducing the level of pre-echo. It can be said to only reduce the ''likelihood'' of [[Pre echo]], but the amount of pre-echo is tuned using the '''impulse_noisetune''' switch instead.
* You may try profiles 5 and 6 as substitutes for 3 and 4. Profile 5 and 6 came from 3 and 4 in GT3b2.

You can use both impulse_noisetune and impulse_trigger_profile at the same time, but you will need separate switches, e.g.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p
--advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile=r inputfile.wav

Recommended Ogg Vorbis

2006-01-18T10:05:40Z

Fp: added aoTuV beta 4.5

[[image:fish_logo.png|right|]]
[[Ogg Vorbis|Vorbis]], being a continuously developed standard, improves all the time. Plus, being an open (i.e. patent-free) standard, it has many 'third-parties' that contribute, discuss, and work to improve the project.

Here you can find some guidelines on which utilities to use, and what settings will provide you with the best quality.

=History=

(For a highly detailed description of Vorbis history, check out OggZealot's [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15274&view=findpost&p=153268 Ogg Vorbis Historic] where Monty also adds a few more details too). Ogg Vorbis reached version 1.0 in '''July 2002'''. It is the official [http://www.xiph.org/ Xiph.org] encoder ''(the one you get from vorbis.com)''. HA codec developer, Garf, did his own tunings, based on version 1.0 to produce GT3b1 and GT3b2. Both encoders showed improved [[pre echo]] handling for ''q'' values of ''5 to 10''. It was later judged in an internal listening test that GT3b1 was the better of the two. There was a minor bugfix update earlier that year in March, which only appeared in the CVS at Xiph.org. This consisted of very minor bug fixes, which do more to correct odd problems that may occur rather than improving quality, including ''(garbled noise output and gaps in streams)''. This was referred to as Post 1.0 CVS. Quality problems that mainly affected low bitrates were later addressed in a new bugfix ''(1.0.1)'' that was released.

Post 1.0.1 CVS was released late '''December 2003''' by Monty at Xiph, and includes a true [[CBR]] template. In order to simplify the situation where we had two encoders ''(1.0.1 and GT3b1)'', OggDropXPd developer John33 merged the sources to give us GT3b2. Once the 128 kbps multiformat test was completed, Aoyumi's [[aoTuV]] Vorbis tuning was determined to be the best Vorbis encoder. After the success of aoTuV beta 2 encoder, Xiph.Org merged their tunings into the official CVS branch to produce the long-awaited Vorbis 1.1. Aoyumi's later release of '''aoTuV beta 4''' encoder as of '''November 2005''' significantly improves Vorbis' quality while enhancing the compression. It is now the recommended encoder by 3rd party developers at Hydrogenaudio. Aoyumi's latest is '''aoTuV beta 4.5''' (later bugfixed with '''aoTuV beta 4.51''') released in '''December 2005''', which improves low bit-rate quality even more. However, it is still undergoing peer review before it becomes the recommended encoder. Near the end of 2005, after aoTuV beta 4.51 was released, Xiph.org released '''Vorbis 1.1.2'''. Unfortunatly it only provides bugfixes to Vorbis 1.1.1. Although this is the 'official' version, it is '''not recommended''' by HA. If you are not interested in the latest "bleeding edge" compiles, however you are welcome to use the latest release from Xiph.org Vorbis 1.1.2 library.

''Note: Xiph.org does not maintain the binaries, but rather provides newest updates and releases to libogg and libvorbis, etc.''

=Recommended Vorbis Encoders=

''(adapted from [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15049 Recommended Encoder and Settings] post compiled by QuantumKnot)''

==Windows binaries==

John33's oggenc2.8 is a special version of the Ogg Vorbis encoder. "Features include compression from lossless files (Monkeys Audio, LPAC, FLAC, OptimFROG, WavPack and Shorten - requires presence of decoders), and the ability to specify 'padding' in the headers for subsequent insertion of Tags." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=59 aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=60 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=61 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64))]'''

If you prefer a nice drag-and-drop interface, then you can try John33's OggDropXPd (Windows only). "Features include compression from lossless files ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[LPAC]], [[FLAC]] and [[OptimFROG]]), auto-tagging, renaming of encoded files, setting of advanced encoder parameters, use of VorbisGain tags on decode, Playlist (.m3u) creation, and others." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=50 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=51 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=52 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64)]'''

''(work in progress, guide will be completed soon)''

==Linux binaries==

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/quantumknot/oggenc-aotuv451.gz oggenc aoTuV beta 4.51 and libogg 1.1.3 (static gcc 4 compile)]''' '''with impulse_trigger_profile'''

This static GCC 4 binary was compiled by QuantumKnot.

''Note: There is no Oggenc2.x that has been compiled with Lancer Optimizations as of yet (third-parties with a access to unix environment are encourage to try and compile one themselves if they have access to the sources).''

==3rd party source code==

* '''[http://www.geocities.jp/aoyoume/aotuv/ aoTuV Homepage]''' -- contains modified source code written in C and downloads of binaries.

The source-code contains modifications mostly to the psychoacoustics model and bitrate allocation, i.e ''psy.c''

These are other Ogg Vorbis encoders that were tuned by 3rd party developers (outside of Xiph.Org).

'''aoTuV beta 4''' '''Now the recommended encoder'''

Developed by Aoyumi and based on libvorbis 1.1.1, many people have reported this encoder to give better quality at low to medium bitrates. It includes a -q -2 option for the lowest bitrate. According to guruboolez' latest listening test on classical music, aoTuV beta 4 performed magnificently well at -q 6!! ''(see Aoyumi's website for information above)''

'''aoTuV beta 4.51''' '''The latest encoder'''

Many HydrogenAudio enthusiasts report that this version gives even better quality for low bit-rates. -q 1.5 becomes acceptable, even good enough, and -q 4 is now near-transparent! However, more peer review is needed before this version becomes the recommended encoder.

==Optimized binaries==

These are highly optimized encoders developed by the '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/index_e.htm Ogg Vorbis Acceleration Project]''' that are much faster than the standard binary builds with negligible to nearly no effects on audio quality, including sped-up routines, i.e ''mdct.c''

* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20050709.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4 (Lancer 20050709) (Win32 Build)]'''
* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20051121.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4.51 (Lancer 20051121) (Win32 Build)]''' -- ''Latest version''

See [[Lancer]] Information and downloads page above.

''Note: Output of Lancer may be slightly different from output of 'standard' aoTuV. This is due to the difference of floating-point rounding: Lancer uses 64-bit SSE, while standard aoTuV uses 80-bit FP. This difference, however, should not be audible at all. In fact, tests have proven that playback of Lancer's output is indistinguishable from playback of standard aoTuV output.'' 

=Released Binaries=

How do I know which encoder was used to make this particular Ogg Vorbis file?

Using either the ''ogginfo'' program or file info in your player, you can tell from the vendor tag:

* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20000508 => '''1.0 beta 1 or beta 2 '''
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20001031 => '''1.0 beta 3 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010225 => '''1.0 beta 4 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010615 => '''1.0 rc1 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010813 => '''1.0 rc2 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010816 (gtune 1) => '''1.0 RC2 GT1 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011014 (GTune 2) =>'''1.0 RC2 GT2 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011217 => '''1.0 rc3 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011231 => '''1.0 rc3 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20020717 => '''1.0 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20020717 (GTune 3, beta 1) => '''GT3b1 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030308 => '''Post 1.0 CVS 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (1.0.1) => '''1.0.1 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (GTune 3, beta 2) EXPERIMENTAL => '''Experimental GT3b2 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (1.0.1) => '''Post 1.0.1 CVS 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (GTune 3, beta 2) => '''GT3b2 
* AO; aoTuV b2 [20040420] (based on Xiph.Org's 1.0.1) => '''aoTuV beta 2 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040629 => '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 RC1 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040920 => '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 with impulse_trigger_profile 
* AO; aoTuV b3 [20041120] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => ''' aoTuV beta 3 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20050304 => ''' Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.2 
* AO; aoTuV b4 [20050617] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4 
* AO; aoTuV b4a [20051105] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4.5 
* AO; aoTuV b4b [20051117] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4.51 

=Recommended Encoder Settings=

'''Refer to the table below. For best results, start at -q 4 and''' [[ABX]] '''your way up.''' 
''Ultimately, the best -q setting will depend on your specific needs. Feel free to experiment.'' 

'''General Command Line Usage:'''

'''oggenc -q n inputfile.wav '''

:'''where n is a number from -1 to 10''' e.g. '''oggenc -q 5 inputfile.wav ''' '' '''Note:''' Most standard oggenc binaries can input lossless FLAC, WavPack, etc files as well! (depending upon oggenc version) ''


''It should be noted that Vorbis supports fractional numbers, e.g. 5.50 (or 5,50, depending on where the tool is compiled.) '' 
''oggenc2.7 and later are the only versions of oggenc that conform to the '''WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE''' header for outputing and decoding multi-channel Vorbis files (3 to 6 channels) in compliance with the Vorbis I decoding specification. Encoding multi-channel content might still produce sub-optimal files, excluding when using lossless channel coupling, due to modification that need to be performed in the Vorbis library for proper channel coupling. Encoding assumes source material is CD audio content or PCM equivalent ''

{| border="0" style="margin-left:50px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
! Switch !! VBR target (kbit/s) !! VBR range (kbit/s) !! [[Channel coupling|Channel Coupling]] !! [[Noise normalization|Noise Normalization]] !! Note
|-
| -q -2 || ~32 || ~32 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (1)
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q -1 || ~48 || ~48 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (2)
|-
| -q 0 || ~64 || ~64 - ~80 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 1 || ~80 || ~80 - ~96 || point/lossless || yes || (3)
|-
| -q 2 || ~96 || ~96 - ~112 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 3 || ~112 || ~112 - ~128 || point/lossless || yes ||
|-
| -q 4 || ~128 || ~128 - ~160 || point/lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 5 || ~160 || ~160 - ~192 || point/lossless || no || (4)
|-
| -q 6 || ~192 || ~192 - ~224 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 7 || ~224 || ~224 - ~256 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 8 || ~256 || ~256 - ~320 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 9 || ~320 || ~320 - ~500 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 10 || ~500 || ~500 - ~1000 || lossless || no ||
|}

'' '''(1)''' Only supported on aoTuVb3 and newer '' 
'' '''(2)''' Bitrate of 48 kbit/s is only for aoTuVb3 and newer. Earlier versions and Xiph.org versions use a bitrate of 45 kbit/s '' 
'' '''(3)''' Reports seem to indicate that aoTuVb4.51 -q 1 provides good quality for streaming '' 
'' '''(4)''' Most users agree -q 5 achieves transparency''

=Advanced Encoder Settings=

===Reducing Pre-echo===
''This is applicable with Vorbis 1.1; it may or may not be applicable to aoTuVb4 or aoTuVb4.51.''

Generally, using the recommended settings above will give the best quality. There may be cases where Vorbis 1.1 will fail to reproduce sharp attacks or transients in your music, causing [[pre echo]]. In which case, you can use the '''impulse_noisetune''' advanced encode switch:

'''oggenc -q '''n''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p inputfile.wav'''
:'''where p is a number from 0 to -15'''
:e.g. '''oggenc -q '''5''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=-5 inputfile.wav'''

Note that the lower the number (toward -15) for impulse_noisetune, the higher the bitrate will fluctuate in passages of music filled with transient attacks (and the final average bitrate may be much higher than the nominal). Therefore, you should try a small value to start off (say '''-5''') and see if you get acceptable quality. If not, tweak it lower.

===Reducing noise due to microattacks===
''This is only valid for some Vorbis encoders that are marked as having '''''impulse_trigger_profile'''.

There are certain parts of some types of music, called "microattacks", where Vorbis will produce a noise (sort of like a puff of steam), which is due to inaccuracies in the block-switching algorithm ''(which can't be corrected)''. Due to the fact the attacks are so fine and close together, Vorbis doesn't switch to impulse short blocks enough, thus "smearing" the reproduction.

By default (with no additional switches), Vorbis selects a different profile for block switching (lower means less switching, higher means more switching) and the default values are shown in the table below:

{| border="0" style="margin-left: 150px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
! Quality !! Profile !!   !! Quality !! Profile
|-
| -1 || 0 || || 5 || 2.5
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 0 || 1 || || 6 || 2.7
|-
| 1 || 1 || || 7 || 3
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 2 || 1.5 || || 8 || 3.7
|-
| 3 || 2 || || 9 || 4
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 4 || 2 || || 10 || 4
|}

If you encounter this problem on microattacks, you may try the impulse_trigger_profile advanced encode switch, which will change (increase) the profile to your desired value.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option '''impulse_trigger_profile=r''' inputfile.wav
:''where '''r''' is a number from 0 to 4, fractions accepted.''

'''Notes:'''
* There is the possibility that relaxed block switching (higher profiles) may cause other quality problems and create suboptimal Vorbis files. Please use it sparingly and with caution. If in doubt, leave impulse_trigger_profile on default ''(that is, don't use it at all)''
* Setting the profile too high will make Vorbis switch to impulse short blocks more often, which will lead to higher bitrate fluctuations. So be conservative.
* This settings has no effect on reducing the level of pre-echo. It can be said to only reduce the ''likelihood'' of [[Pre echo]], but the amount of pre-echo is tuned using the '''impulse_noisetune''' switch instead.
* You may try profiles 5 and 6 as substitutes for 3 and 4. Profile 5 and 6 came from 3 and 4 in GT3b2.

You can use both impulse_noisetune and impulse_trigger_profile at the same time, but you will need separate switches, e.g.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p
--advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile=r inputfile.wav

Recommended Ogg Vorbis

2006-01-16T12:47:06Z

Fp: /* Recommended Encoder Settings */

[[image:fish_logo.png|right|]]
[[Ogg Vorbis|Vorbis]], being a continuously developed standard, improves all the time. Plus, being an open (i.e. patent-free) standard, it has many 'third-parties' that contribute, discuss, and work to improve the project.

Here you can find some guidelines on which utilities to use, and what settings will provide you with the best quality.

=History=

(For a highly detailed description of Vorbis history, check out OggZealot's [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15274&view=findpost&p=153268 Ogg Vorbis Historic] where Monty also adds a few more details too). Ogg Vorbis reached version 1.0 in '''July 2002'''. It is the official [http://www.xiph.org/ Xiph.org] encoder ''(the one you get from vorbis.com)''. HA codec developer, Garf, did his own tunings, based on version 1.0 to produce GT3b1 and GT3b2. Both encoders showed improved [[pre echo]] handling for ''q'' values of ''5 to 10''. It was later judged in an internal listening test that GT3b1 was the better of the two. There was a minor bugfix update earlier that year in March, which only appeared in the CVS at Xiph.org. This consisted of very minor bug fixes, which do more to correct odd problems that may occur rather than improving quality, including ''(garbled noise output and gaps in streams)''. This was referred to as Post 1.0 CVS. Quality problems that mainly affected low bitrates were later addressed in a new bugfix ''(1.0.1)'' that was released.

Post 1.0.1 CVS was released late '''December 2003''' by Monty at Xiph, and includes a true [[CBR]] template. In order to simplify the situation where we had two encoders ''(1.0.1 and GT3b1)'', OggDropXPd developer John33 merged the sources to give us GT3b2. Once the 128 kbps multiformat test was completed, Aoyumi's [[aoTuV]] Vorbis tuning was determined to be the best Vorbis encoder. After the success of aoTuV beta 2 encoder, Xiph.Org merged their tunings into the official CVS branch to produce the long-awaited Vorbis 1.1. Aoyumi's later release of '''aoTuV beta 4''' encoder as of '''November 2005''' significantly improves Vorbis' quality while enhancing the compression. It is now the recommended encoder by 3rd party developers at Hydrogenaudio. Aoyumi's latest is '''aoTuV beta 4.5''' (later bugfixed with '''aoTuV beta 4.51''') released in '''December 2005''', which improves low bit-rate quality even more. However, it is still undergoing peer review before it becomes the recommended encoder. Near the end of 2005, after aoTuV beta 4.51 was released, Xiph.org released '''Vorbis 1.1.2'''. Unfortunatly it only provides bugfixes to Vorbis 1.1.1. Although this is the 'official' version, it is '''not recommended''' by HA. If you are not interested in the latest "bleeding edge" compiles, however you are welcome to use the latest release from Xiph.org Vorbis 1.1.2 library.

''Note: Xiph.org does not maintain the binaries, but rather provides newest updates and releases to libogg and libvorbis, etc.''

=Recommended Vorbis Encoders=

''(adapted from [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15049 Recommended Encoder and Settings] post compiled by QuantumKnot)''

==Windows binaries==

John33's oggenc2.8 is a special version of the Ogg Vorbis encoder. "Features include compression from lossless files (Monkeys Audio, LPAC, FLAC, OptimFROG, WavPack and Shorten - requires presence of decoders), and the ability to specify 'padding' in the headers for subsequent insertion of Tags." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=59 aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=60 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=61 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64))]'''

If you prefer a nice drag-and-drop interface, then you can try John33's OggDropXPd (Windows only). "Features include compression from lossless files ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[LPAC]], [[FLAC]] and [[OptimFROG]]), auto-tagging, renaming of encoded files, setting of advanced encoder parameters, use of VorbisGain tags on decode, Playlist (.m3u) creation, and others." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=50 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=51 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=52 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64)]'''

''(work in progress, guide will be completed soon)''

==Linux binaries==

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/quantumknot/oggenc-aotuv451.gz oggenc aoTuV beta 4.51 and libogg 1.1.3 (static gcc 4 compile)]''' '''with impulse_trigger_profile'''

This static GCC 4 binary was compiled by QuantumKnot.

''Note: There is no Oggenc2.x that has been compiled with Lancer Optimizations as of yet (third-parties with a access to unix environment are encourage to try and compile one themselves if they have access to the sources).''

==3rd party source code==

* '''[http://www.geocities.jp/aoyoume/aotuv/ aoTuV Homepage]''' -- contains modified source code written in C and downloads of binaries.

The source-code contains modifications mostly to the psychoacoustics model and bitrate allocation, i.e ''psy.c''

These are other Ogg Vorbis encoders that were tuned by 3rd party developers (outside of Xiph.Org).

'''aoTuV beta 4''' '''Now the recommended encoder'''

Developed by Aoyumi and based on libvorbis 1.1.1, many people have reported this encoder to give better quality at low to medium bitrates. It includes a -q -2 option for the lowest bitrate. According to guruboolez' latest listening test on classical music, aoTuV beta 4 performed magnificently well at -q 6!! ''(see Aoyumi's website for information above)''

'''aoTuV beta 4.51''' '''The latest encoder'''

Many HydrogenAudio enthusiasts report that this version gives even better quality for low bit-rates. -q 1.5 becomes acceptable, even good enough, and -q 4 is now near-transparent! However, more peer review is needed before this version becomes the recommended encoder.

==Optimized binaries==

These are highly optimized encoders developed by the '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/index_e.htm Ogg Vorbis Acceleration Project]''' that are much faster than the standard binary builds with negligible to nearly no effects on audio quality, including sped-up routines, i.e ''mdct.c''

* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20050709.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4 (Lancer 20050709) (Win32 Build)]'''
* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20051121.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4.51 (Lancer 20051121) (Win32 Build)]''' -- ''Latest version''

See [[Lancer]] Information and downloads page above.

''Note: Output of Lancer may be slightly different from output of 'standard' aoTuV. This is due to the difference of floating-point rounding: Lancer uses 64-bit SSE, while standard aoTuV uses 80-bit FP. This difference, however, should not be audible at all. In fact, tests have proven that playback of Lancer's output is indistinguishable from playback of standard aoTuV output.'' 

=Released Binaries=

How do I know which encoder was used to make this particular Ogg Vorbis file?

Using either the ''ogginfo'' program or file info in your player, you can tell from the vendor tag:

* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20000508 => '''1.0 beta 1 or beta 2 '''
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20001031 => '''1.0 beta 3 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010225 => '''1.0 beta 4 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010615 => '''1.0 rc1 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010813 => '''1.0 rc2 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010816 (gtune 1) => '''1.0 RC2 GT1 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011014 (GTune 2) =>'''1.0 RC2 GT2 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011217 => '''1.0 rc3 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011231 => '''1.0 rc3 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20020717 => '''1.0 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20020717 (GTune 3, beta 1) => '''GT3b1 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030308 => '''Post 1.0 CVS 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (1.0.1) => '''1.0.1 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (GTune 3, beta 2) EXPERIMENTAL => '''Experimental GT3b2 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (1.0.1) => '''Post 1.0.1 CVS 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (GTune 3, beta 2) => '''GT3b2 
* AO; aoTuV b2 [20040420] (based on Xiph.Org's 1.0.1) => '''aoTuV beta 2 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040629 => '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 RC1 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040920 => '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 with impulse_trigger_profile 
* AO; aoTuV b3 [20041120] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => ''' aoTuV beta 3 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20050304 => ''' Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.2 
* AO; aoTuV b4 [20050617] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4 
* AO; aoTuV b4b [20051117] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4.51 

=Recommended Encoder Settings=

'''Refer to the table below. For best results, start at -q 4 and''' [[ABX]] '''your way up.''' 
''Ultimately, the best -q setting will depend on your specific needs. Feel free to experiment.'' 

'''General Command Line Usage:'''

'''oggenc -q n inputfile.wav '''

:'''where n is a number from -1 to 10''' e.g. '''oggenc -q 5 inputfile.wav ''' '' '''Note:''' Most standard oggenc binaries can input lossless FLAC, WavPack, etc files as well! (depending upon oggenc version) ''


''It should be noted that Vorbis supports fractional numbers, e.g. 5.50 (or 5,50, depending on where the tool is compiled.) '' 
''oggenc2.7 and later are the only versions of oggenc that conform to the '''WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE''' header for outputing and decoding multi-channel Vorbis files (3 to 6 channels) in compliance with the Vorbis I decoding specification. Encoding multi-channel content might still produce sub-optimal files, excluding when using lossless channel coupling, due to modification that need to be performed in the Vorbis library for proper channel coupling. Encoding assumes source material is CD audio content or PCM equivalent ''

{| border="0" style="margin-left:50px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
! Switch !! VBR target (kbit/s) !! VBR range (kbit/s) !! [[Channel coupling|Channel Coupling]] !! [[Noise normalization|Noise Normalization]] !! Note
|-
| -q -2 || ~32 || ~32 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (1)
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q -1 || ~48 || ~48 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (2)
|-
| -q 0 || ~64 || ~64 - ~80 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 1 || ~80 || ~80 - ~96 || point/lossless || yes || (3)
|-
| -q 2 || ~96 || ~96 - ~112 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 3 || ~112 || ~112 - ~128 || point/lossless || yes ||
|-
| -q 4 || ~128 || ~128 - ~160 || point/lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 5 || ~160 || ~160 - ~192 || point/lossless || no || (4)
|-
| -q 6 || ~192 || ~192 - ~224 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 7 || ~224 || ~224 - ~256 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 8 || ~256 || ~256 - ~320 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 9 || ~320 || ~320 - ~500 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 10 || ~500 || ~500 - ~1000 || lossless || no ||
|}

'' '''(1)''' Only supported on aoTuVb3 and newer '' 
'' '''(2)''' Bitrate of 48 kbit/s is only for aoTuVb3 and newer. Earlier versions and Xiph.org versions use a bitrate of 45 kbit/s '' 
'' '''(3)''' Reports seem to indicate that aoTuVb4.51 -q 1 provides good quality for streaming '' 
'' '''(4)''' Most users agree -q 5 achieves transparency''

=Advanced Encoder Settings=

===Reducing Pre-echo===
''This is applicable with Vorbis 1.1; it may or may not be applicable to aoTuVb4 or aoTuVb4.51.''

Generally, using the recommended settings above will give the best quality. There may be cases where Vorbis 1.1 will fail to reproduce sharp attacks or transients in your music, causing [[pre echo]]. In which case, you can use the '''impulse_noisetune''' advanced encode switch:

'''oggenc -q '''n''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p inputfile.wav'''
:'''where p is a number from 0 to -15'''
:e.g. '''oggenc -q '''5''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=-5 inputfile.wav'''

Note that the lower the number (toward -15) for impulse_noisetune, the higher the bitrate will fluctuate in passages of music filled with transient attacks (and the final average bitrate may be much higher than the nominal). Therefore, you should try a small value to start off (say '''-5''') and see if you get acceptable quality. If not, tweak it lower.

===Reducing noise due to microattacks===
''This is only valid for some Vorbis encoders that are marked as having '''''impulse_trigger_profile'''.

There are certain parts of some types of music, called "microattacks", where Vorbis will produce a noise (sort of like a puff of steam), which is due to inaccuracies in the block-switching algorithm ''(which can't be corrected)''. Due to the fact the attacks are so fine and close together, Vorbis doesn't switch to impulse short blocks enough, thus "smearing" the reproduction.

By default (with no additional switches), Vorbis selects a different profile for block switching (lower means less switching, higher means more switching) and the default values are shown in the table below:

{| border="0" style="margin-left: 150px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
! Quality !! Profile !!   !! Quality !! Profile
|-
| -1 || 0 || || 5 || 2.5
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 0 || 1 || || 6 || 2.7
|-
| 1 || 1 || || 7 || 3
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 2 || 1.5 || || 8 || 3.7
|-
| 3 || 2 || || 9 || 4
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 4 || 2 || || 10 || 4
|}

If you encounter this problem on microattacks, you may try the impulse_trigger_profile advanced encode switch, which will change (increase) the profile to your desired value.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option '''impulse_trigger_profile=r''' inputfile.wav
:''where '''r''' is a number from 0 to 4, fractions accepted.''

'''Notes:'''
* There is the possibility that relaxed block switching (higher profiles) may cause other quality problems and create suboptimal Vorbis files. Please use it sparingly and with caution. If in doubt, leave impulse_trigger_profile on default ''(that is, don't use it at all)''
* Setting the profile too high will make Vorbis switch to impulse short blocks more often, which will lead to higher bitrate fluctuations. So be conservative.
* This settings has no effect on reducing the level of pre-echo. It can be said to only reduce the ''likelihood'' of [[Pre echo]], but the amount of pre-echo is tuned using the '''impulse_noisetune''' switch instead.
* You may try profiles 5 and 6 as substitutes for 3 and 4. Profile 5 and 6 came from 3 and 4 in GT3b2.

You can use both impulse_noisetune and impulse_trigger_profile at the same time, but you will need separate switches, e.g.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p
--advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile=r inputfile.wav

Recommended Ogg Vorbis

2006-01-16T12:45:31Z

Fp: /* Recommended Encoder Settings */

[[image:fish_logo.png|right|]]
[[Ogg Vorbis|Vorbis]], being a continuously developed standard, improves all the time. Plus, being an open (i.e. patent-free) standard, it has many 'third-parties' that contribute, discuss, and work to improve the project.

Here you can find some guidelines on which utilities to use, and what settings will provide you with the best quality.

=History=

(For a highly detailed description of Vorbis history, check out OggZealot's [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15274&view=findpost&p=153268 Ogg Vorbis Historic] where Monty also adds a few more details too). Ogg Vorbis reached version 1.0 in '''July 2002'''. It is the official [http://www.xiph.org/ Xiph.org] encoder ''(the one you get from vorbis.com)''. HA codec developer, Garf, did his own tunings, based on version 1.0 to produce GT3b1 and GT3b2. Both encoders showed improved [[pre echo]] handling for ''q'' values of ''5 to 10''. It was later judged in an internal listening test that GT3b1 was the better of the two. There was a minor bugfix update earlier that year in March, which only appeared in the CVS at Xiph.org. This consisted of very minor bug fixes, which do more to correct odd problems that may occur rather than improving quality, including ''(garbled noise output and gaps in streams)''. This was referred to as Post 1.0 CVS. Quality problems that mainly affected low bitrates were later addressed in a new bugfix ''(1.0.1)'' that was released.

Post 1.0.1 CVS was released late '''December 2003''' by Monty at Xiph, and includes a true [[CBR]] template. In order to simplify the situation where we had two encoders ''(1.0.1 and GT3b1)'', OggDropXPd developer John33 merged the sources to give us GT3b2. Once the 128 kbps multiformat test was completed, Aoyumi's [[aoTuV]] Vorbis tuning was determined to be the best Vorbis encoder. After the success of aoTuV beta 2 encoder, Xiph.Org merged their tunings into the official CVS branch to produce the long-awaited Vorbis 1.1. Aoyumi's later release of '''aoTuV beta 4''' encoder as of '''November 2005''' significantly improves Vorbis' quality while enhancing the compression. It is now the recommended encoder by 3rd party developers at Hydrogenaudio. Aoyumi's latest is '''aoTuV beta 4.5''' (later bugfixed with '''aoTuV beta 4.51''') released in '''December 2005''', which improves low bit-rate quality even more. However, it is still undergoing peer review before it becomes the recommended encoder. Near the end of 2005, after aoTuV beta 4.51 was released, Xiph.org released '''Vorbis 1.1.2'''. Unfortunatly it only provides bugfixes to Vorbis 1.1.1. Although this is the 'official' version, it is '''not recommended''' by HA. If you are not interested in the latest "bleeding edge" compiles, however you are welcome to use the latest release from Xiph.org Vorbis 1.1.2 library.

''Note: Xiph.org does not maintain the binaries, but rather provides newest updates and releases to libogg and libvorbis, etc.''

=Recommended Vorbis Encoders=

''(adapted from [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15049 Recommended Encoder and Settings] post compiled by QuantumKnot)''

==Windows binaries==

John33's oggenc2.8 is a special version of the Ogg Vorbis encoder. "Features include compression from lossless files (Monkeys Audio, LPAC, FLAC, OptimFROG, WavPack and Shorten - requires presence of decoders), and the ability to specify 'padding' in the headers for subsequent insertion of Tags." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=59 aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=60 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=61 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64))]'''

If you prefer a nice drag-and-drop interface, then you can try John33's OggDropXPd (Windows only). "Features include compression from lossless files ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[LPAC]], [[FLAC]] and [[OptimFROG]]), auto-tagging, renaming of encoded files, setting of advanced encoder parameters, use of VorbisGain tags on decode, Playlist (.m3u) creation, and others." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=50 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=51 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=52 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64)]'''

''(work in progress, guide will be completed soon)''

==Linux binaries==

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/quantumknot/oggenc-aotuv451.gz oggenc aoTuV beta 4.51 and libogg 1.1.3 (static gcc 4 compile)]''' '''with impulse_trigger_profile'''

This static GCC 4 binary was compiled by QuantumKnot.

''Note: There is no Oggenc2.x that has been compiled with Lancer Optimizations as of yet (third-parties with a access to unix environment are encourage to try and compile one themselves if they have access to the sources).''

==3rd party source code==

* '''[http://www.geocities.jp/aoyoume/aotuv/ aoTuV Homepage]''' -- contains modified source code written in C and downloads of binaries.

The source-code contains modifications mostly to the psychoacoustics model and bitrate allocation, i.e ''psy.c''

These are other Ogg Vorbis encoders that were tuned by 3rd party developers (outside of Xiph.Org).

'''aoTuV beta 4''' '''Now the recommended encoder'''

Developed by Aoyumi and based on libvorbis 1.1.1, many people have reported this encoder to give better quality at low to medium bitrates. It includes a -q -2 option for the lowest bitrate. According to guruboolez' latest listening test on classical music, aoTuV beta 4 performed magnificently well at -q 6!! ''(see Aoyumi's website for information above)''

'''aoTuV beta 4.51''' '''The latest encoder'''

Many HydrogenAudio enthusiasts report that this version gives even better quality for low bit-rates. -q 1.5 becomes acceptable, even good enough, and -q 4 is now near-transparent! However, more peer review is needed before this version becomes the recommended encoder.

==Optimized binaries==

These are highly optimized encoders developed by the '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/index_e.htm Ogg Vorbis Acceleration Project]''' that are much faster than the standard binary builds with negligible to nearly no effects on audio quality, including sped-up routines, i.e ''mdct.c''

* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20050709.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4 (Lancer 20050709) (Win32 Build)]'''
* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20051121.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4.51 (Lancer 20051121) (Win32 Build)]''' -- ''Latest version''

See [[Lancer]] Information and downloads page above.

''Note: Output of Lancer may be slightly different from output of 'standard' aoTuV. This is due to the difference of floating-point rounding: Lancer uses 64-bit SSE, while standard aoTuV uses 80-bit FP. This difference, however, should not be audible at all. In fact, tests have proven that playback of Lancer's output is indistinguishable from playback of standard aoTuV output.'' 

=Released Binaries=

How do I know which encoder was used to make this particular Ogg Vorbis file?

Using either the ''ogginfo'' program or file info in your player, you can tell from the vendor tag:

* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20000508 => '''1.0 beta 1 or beta 2 '''
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20001031 => '''1.0 beta 3 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010225 => '''1.0 beta 4 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010615 => '''1.0 rc1 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010813 => '''1.0 rc2 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010816 (gtune 1) => '''1.0 RC2 GT1 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011014 (GTune 2) =>'''1.0 RC2 GT2 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011217 => '''1.0 rc3 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011231 => '''1.0 rc3 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20020717 => '''1.0 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20020717 (GTune 3, beta 1) => '''GT3b1 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030308 => '''Post 1.0 CVS 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (1.0.1) => '''1.0.1 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (GTune 3, beta 2) EXPERIMENTAL => '''Experimental GT3b2 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (1.0.1) => '''Post 1.0.1 CVS 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (GTune 3, beta 2) => '''GT3b2 
* AO; aoTuV b2 [20040420] (based on Xiph.Org's 1.0.1) => '''aoTuV beta 2 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040629 => '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 RC1 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040920 => '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 with impulse_trigger_profile 
* AO; aoTuV b3 [20041120] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => ''' aoTuV beta 3 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20050304 => ''' Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.2 
* AO; aoTuV b4 [20050617] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4 
* AO; aoTuV b4b [20051117] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4.51 

=Recommended Encoder Settings=

'''Refer to the table below. For best results, start at -q 4 and''' [[ABX]] '''your way up.''' 
''Ultimately, the best -q setting will depend on your specific needs. Feel free to experiment.'' 

'''General Command Line Usage:'''

'''oggenc -q n inputfile.wav '''

:'''where n is a number from -1 to 10''' e.g. '''oggenc -q 5 inputfile.wav ''' '' '''Note:''' Most standard oggenc binaries can input lossless FLAC, WavPack, etc files as well! (depending upon oggenc version) ''


''It should be noted that Vorbis supports fractional numbers, e.g. 5.50 (or 5,50, depending on where the tool is compiled.) '' 
''oggenc2.7 and later are the only versions of oggenc that conform to the '''WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE''' header for outputing and decoding multi-channel Vorbis files (3 to 6 channels) in compliance with the Vorbis I decoding specification. Encoding multi-channel content might still produce sub-optimal files, excluding when using lossless channel coupling, due to modification that need to be performed in reguard to the source code. Encoding assumes source material is CD audio content or PCM equivalent ''

{| border="0" style="margin-left:50px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
! Switch !! VBR target (kbit/s) !! VBR range (kbit/s) !! [[Channel coupling|Channel Coupling]] !! [[Noise normalization|Noise Normalization]] !! Note
|-
| -q -2 || ~32 || ~32 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (1)
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q -1 || ~48 || ~48 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (2)
|-
| -q 0 || ~64 || ~64 - ~80 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 1 || ~80 || ~80 - ~96 || point/lossless || yes || (3)
|-
| -q 2 || ~96 || ~96 - ~112 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 3 || ~112 || ~112 - ~128 || point/lossless || yes ||
|-
| -q 4 || ~128 || ~128 - ~160 || point/lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 5 || ~160 || ~160 - ~192 || point/lossless || no || (4)
|-
| -q 6 || ~192 || ~192 - ~224 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 7 || ~224 || ~224 - ~256 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 8 || ~256 || ~256 - ~320 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 9 || ~320 || ~320 - ~500 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 10 || ~500 || ~500 - ~1000 || lossless || no ||
|}

'' '''(1)''' Only supported on aoTuVb3 and newer '' 
'' '''(2)''' Bitrate of 48 kbit/s is only for aoTuVb3 and newer. Earlier versions and Xiph.org versions use a bitrate of 45 kbit/s '' 
'' '''(3)''' Reports seem to indicate that aoTuVb4.51 -q 1 provides good quality for streaming '' 
'' '''(4)''' Most users agree -q 5 achieves transparency''

=Advanced Encoder Settings=

===Reducing Pre-echo===
''This is applicable with Vorbis 1.1; it may or may not be applicable to aoTuVb4 or aoTuVb4.51.''

Generally, using the recommended settings above will give the best quality. There may be cases where Vorbis 1.1 will fail to reproduce sharp attacks or transients in your music, causing [[pre echo]]. In which case, you can use the '''impulse_noisetune''' advanced encode switch:

'''oggenc -q '''n''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p inputfile.wav'''
:'''where p is a number from 0 to -15'''
:e.g. '''oggenc -q '''5''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=-5 inputfile.wav'''

Note that the lower the number (toward -15) for impulse_noisetune, the higher the bitrate will fluctuate in passages of music filled with transient attacks (and the final average bitrate may be much higher than the nominal). Therefore, you should try a small value to start off (say '''-5''') and see if you get acceptable quality. If not, tweak it lower.

===Reducing noise due to microattacks===
''This is only valid for some Vorbis encoders that are marked as having '''''impulse_trigger_profile'''.

There are certain parts of some types of music, called "microattacks", where Vorbis will produce a noise (sort of like a puff of steam), which is due to inaccuracies in the block-switching algorithm ''(which can't be corrected)''. Due to the fact the attacks are so fine and close together, Vorbis doesn't switch to impulse short blocks enough, thus "smearing" the reproduction.

By default (with no additional switches), Vorbis selects a different profile for block switching (lower means less switching, higher means more switching) and the default values are shown in the table below:

{| border="0" style="margin-left: 150px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
! Quality !! Profile !!   !! Quality !! Profile
|-
| -1 || 0 || || 5 || 2.5
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 0 || 1 || || 6 || 2.7
|-
| 1 || 1 || || 7 || 3
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 2 || 1.5 || || 8 || 3.7
|-
| 3 || 2 || || 9 || 4
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 4 || 2 || || 10 || 4
|}

If you encounter this problem on microattacks, you may try the impulse_trigger_profile advanced encode switch, which will change (increase) the profile to your desired value.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option '''impulse_trigger_profile=r''' inputfile.wav
:''where '''r''' is a number from 0 to 4, fractions accepted.''

'''Notes:'''
* There is the possibility that relaxed block switching (higher profiles) may cause other quality problems and create suboptimal Vorbis files. Please use it sparingly and with caution. If in doubt, leave impulse_trigger_profile on default ''(that is, don't use it at all)''
* Setting the profile too high will make Vorbis switch to impulse short blocks more often, which will lead to higher bitrate fluctuations. So be conservative.
* This settings has no effect on reducing the level of pre-echo. It can be said to only reduce the ''likelihood'' of [[Pre echo]], but the amount of pre-echo is tuned using the '''impulse_noisetune''' switch instead.
* You may try profiles 5 and 6 as substitutes for 3 and 4. Profile 5 and 6 came from 3 and 4 in GT3b2.

You can use both impulse_noisetune and impulse_trigger_profile at the same time, but you will need separate switches, e.g.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p
--advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile=r inputfile.wav

Recommended Ogg Vorbis

2006-01-16T12:41:48Z

Fp: /* Recommended Encoder Settings */

[[image:fish_logo.png|right|]]
[[Ogg Vorbis|Vorbis]], being a continuously developed standard, improves all the time. Plus, being an open (i.e. patent-free) standard, it has many 'third-parties' that contribute, discuss, and work to improve the project.

Here you can find some guidelines on which utilities to use, and what settings will provide you with the best quality.

=History=

(For a highly detailed description of Vorbis history, check out OggZealot's [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15274&view=findpost&p=153268 Ogg Vorbis Historic] where Monty also adds a few more details too). Ogg Vorbis reached version 1.0 in '''July 2002'''. It is the official [http://www.xiph.org/ Xiph.org] encoder ''(the one you get from vorbis.com)''. HA codec developer, Garf, did his own tunings, based on version 1.0 to produce GT3b1 and GT3b2. Both encoders showed improved [[pre echo]] handling for ''q'' values of ''5 to 10''. It was later judged in an internal listening test that GT3b1 was the better of the two. There was a minor bugfix update earlier that year in March, which only appeared in the CVS at Xiph.org. This consisted of very minor bug fixes, which do more to correct odd problems that may occur rather than improving quality, including ''(garbled noise output and gaps in streams)''. This was referred to as Post 1.0 CVS. Quality problems that mainly affected low bitrates were later addressed in a new bugfix ''(1.0.1)'' that was released.

Post 1.0.1 CVS was released late '''December 2003''' by Monty at Xiph, and includes a true [[CBR]] template. In order to simplify the situation where we had two encoders ''(1.0.1 and GT3b1)'', OggDropXPd developer John33 merged the sources to give us GT3b2. Once the 128 kbps multiformat test was completed, Aoyumi's [[aoTuV]] Vorbis tuning was determined to be the best Vorbis encoder. After the success of aoTuV beta 2 encoder, Xiph.Org merged their tunings into the official CVS branch to produce the long-awaited Vorbis 1.1. Aoyumi's later release of '''aoTuV beta 4''' encoder as of '''November 2005''' significantly improves Vorbis' quality while enhancing the compression. It is now the recommended encoder by 3rd party developers at Hydrogenaudio. Aoyumi's latest is '''aoTuV beta 4.5''' (later bugfixed with '''aoTuV beta 4.51''') released in '''December 2005''', which improves low bit-rate quality even more. However, it is still undergoing peer review before it becomes the recommended encoder. Near the end of 2005, after aoTuV beta 4.51 was released, Xiph.org released '''Vorbis 1.1.2'''. Unfortunatly it only provides bugfixes to Vorbis 1.1.1. Although this is the 'official' version, it is '''not recommended''' by HA. If you are not interested in the latest "bleeding edge" compiles, however you are welcome to use the latest release from Xiph.org Vorbis 1.1.2 library.

''Note: Xiph.org does not maintain the binaries, but rather provides newest updates and releases to libogg and libvorbis, etc.''

=Recommended Vorbis Encoders=

''(adapted from [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15049 Recommended Encoder and Settings] post compiled by QuantumKnot)''

==Windows binaries==

John33's oggenc2.8 is a special version of the Ogg Vorbis encoder. "Features include compression from lossless files (Monkeys Audio, LPAC, FLAC, OptimFROG, WavPack and Shorten - requires presence of decoders), and the ability to specify 'padding' in the headers for subsequent insertion of Tags." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=59 aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=60 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=61 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64))]'''

If you prefer a nice drag-and-drop interface, then you can try John33's OggDropXPd (Windows only). "Features include compression from lossless files ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[LPAC]], [[FLAC]] and [[OptimFROG]]), auto-tagging, renaming of encoded files, setting of advanced encoder parameters, use of VorbisGain tags on decode, Playlist (.m3u) creation, and others." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=50 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=51 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=52 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64)]'''

''(work in progress, guide will be completed soon)''

==Linux binaries==

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/quantumknot/oggenc-aotuv451.gz oggenc aoTuV beta 4.51 and libogg 1.1.3 (static gcc 4 compile)]''' '''with impulse_trigger_profile'''

This static GCC 4 binary was compiled by QuantumKnot.

''Note: There is no Oggenc2.x that has been compiled with Lancer Optimizations as of yet (third-parties with a access to unix environment are encourage to try and compile one themselves if they have access to the sources).''

==3rd party source code==

* '''[http://www.geocities.jp/aoyoume/aotuv/ aoTuV Homepage]''' -- contains modified source code written in C and downloads of binaries.

The source-code contains modifications mostly to the psychoacoustics model and bitrate allocation, i.e ''psy.c''

These are other Ogg Vorbis encoders that were tuned by 3rd party developers (outside of Xiph.Org).

'''aoTuV beta 4''' '''Now the recommended encoder'''

Developed by Aoyumi and based on libvorbis 1.1.1, many people have reported this encoder to give better quality at low to medium bitrates. It includes a -q -2 option for the lowest bitrate. According to guruboolez' latest listening test on classical music, aoTuV beta 4 performed magnificently well at -q 6!! ''(see Aoyumi's website for information above)''

'''aoTuV beta 4.51''' '''The latest encoder'''

Many HydrogenAudio enthusiasts report that this version gives even better quality for low bit-rates. -q 1.5 becomes acceptable, even good enough, and -q 4 is now near-transparent! However, more peer review is needed before this version becomes the recommended encoder.

==Optimized binaries==

These are highly optimized encoders developed by the '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/index_e.htm Ogg Vorbis Acceleration Project]''' that are much faster than the standard binary builds with negligible to nearly no effects on audio quality, including sped-up routines, i.e ''mdct.c''

* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20050709.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4 (Lancer 20050709) (Win32 Build)]'''
* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20051121.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4.51 (Lancer 20051121) (Win32 Build)]''' -- ''Latest version''

See [[Lancer]] Information and downloads page above.

''Note: Output of Lancer may be slightly different from output of 'standard' aoTuV. This is due to the difference of floating-point rounding: Lancer uses 64-bit SSE, while standard aoTuV uses 80-bit FP. This difference, however, should not be audible at all. In fact, tests have proven that playback of Lancer's output is indistinguishable from playback of standard aoTuV output.'' 

=Released Binaries=

How do I know which encoder was used to make this particular Ogg Vorbis file?

Using either the ''ogginfo'' program or file info in your player, you can tell from the vendor tag:

* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20000508 => '''1.0 beta 1 or beta 2 '''
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20001031 => '''1.0 beta 3 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010225 => '''1.0 beta 4 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010615 => '''1.0 rc1 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010813 => '''1.0 rc2 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010816 (gtune 1) => '''1.0 RC2 GT1 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011014 (GTune 2) =>'''1.0 RC2 GT2 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011217 => '''1.0 rc3 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011231 => '''1.0 rc3 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20020717 => '''1.0 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20020717 (GTune 3, beta 1) => '''GT3b1 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030308 => '''Post 1.0 CVS 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (1.0.1) => '''1.0.1 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (GTune 3, beta 2) EXPERIMENTAL => '''Experimental GT3b2 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (1.0.1) => '''Post 1.0.1 CVS 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (GTune 3, beta 2) => '''GT3b2 
* AO; aoTuV b2 [20040420] (based on Xiph.Org's 1.0.1) => '''aoTuV beta 2 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040629 => '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 RC1 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040920 => '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 with impulse_trigger_profile 
* AO; aoTuV b3 [20041120] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => ''' aoTuV beta 3 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20050304 => ''' Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.2 
* AO; aoTuV b4 [20050617] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4 
* AO; aoTuV b4b [20051117] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4.51 

=Recommended Encoder Settings=

'''Refer to the table below. For best results, start at -q 4 and''' [[ABX]] '''your way up.''' 
''Ultimately, the best -q setting will depend on your specific needs. Feel free to experiment.'' 

'''General Command Line Usage:'''

'''oggenc -q n inputfile.wav '''

:'''where n is a number from -1 to 10''' e.g. '''oggenc -q 5 inputfile.wav ''' '' '''Note:''' Most standard oggenc binaries can input lossless FLAC, WavPack, etc files as well! (depending upon oggenc version) ''


''It should be noted that Vorbis supports fractional numbers, e.g. 5.50 (or 5,50, depending on where the tool is compiled.) '' 
''oggenc2.7 and later are the only versions of oggenc that conform to the '''WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE''' header for outputing and decoding multi-channel Vorbis files (3 to 6 channels) in compliance with the Vorbis I decoding specification. Encoding multi-channel content might still produce sub-optimal files, including channel coupling due to modfication that need to be performed in reguard to the source code. Encoding assumes source material is CD audio content or PCM equivalent ''

{| border="0" style="margin-left:50px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
! Switch !! VBR target (kbit/s) !! VBR range (kbit/s) !! [[Channel coupling|Channel Coupling]] !! [[Noise normalization|Noise Normalization]] !! Note
|-
| -q -2 || ~32 || ~32 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (1)
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q -1 || ~48 || ~48 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (2)
|-
| -q 0 || ~64 || ~64 - ~80 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 1 || ~80 || ~80 - ~96 || point/lossless || yes || (3)
|-
| -q 2 || ~96 || ~96 - ~112 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 3 || ~112 || ~112 - ~128 || point/lossless || yes ||
|-
| -q 4 || ~128 || ~128 - ~160 || point/lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 5 || ~160 || ~160 - ~192 || point/lossless || no || (4)
|-
| -q 6 || ~192 || ~192 - ~224 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 7 || ~224 || ~224 - ~256 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 8 || ~256 || ~256 - ~320 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 9 || ~320 || ~320 - ~500 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 10 || ~500 || ~500 - ~1000 || lossless || no ||
|}

'' '''(1)''' Only supported on aoTuVb3 and newer '' 
'' '''(2)''' Bitrate of 48 kbit/s is only for aoTuVb3 and newer. Earlier versions and Xiph.org versions use a bitrate of 45 kbit/s '' 
'' '''(3)''' Reports seem to indicate that aoTuVb4.51 -q 1 provides good quality for streaming '' 
'' '''(4)''' Most users agree -q 5 achieves transparency''

=Advanced Encoder Settings=

===Reducing Pre-echo===
''This is applicable with Vorbis 1.1; it may or may not be applicable to aoTuVb4 or aoTuVb4.51.''

Generally, using the recommended settings above will give the best quality. There may be cases where Vorbis 1.1 will fail to reproduce sharp attacks or transients in your music, causing [[pre echo]]. In which case, you can use the '''impulse_noisetune''' advanced encode switch:

'''oggenc -q '''n''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p inputfile.wav'''
:'''where p is a number from 0 to -15'''
:e.g. '''oggenc -q '''5''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=-5 inputfile.wav'''

Note that the lower the number (toward -15) for impulse_noisetune, the higher the bitrate will fluctuate in passages of music filled with transient attacks (and the final average bitrate may be much higher than the nominal). Therefore, you should try a small value to start off (say '''-5''') and see if you get acceptable quality. If not, tweak it lower.

===Reducing noise due to microattacks===
''This is only valid for some Vorbis encoders that are marked as having '''''impulse_trigger_profile'''.

There are certain parts of some types of music, called "microattacks", where Vorbis will produce a noise (sort of like a puff of steam), which is due to inaccuracies in the block-switching algorithm ''(which can't be corrected)''. Due to the fact the attacks are so fine and close together, Vorbis doesn't switch to impulse short blocks enough, thus "smearing" the reproduction.

By default (with no additional switches), Vorbis selects a different profile for block switching (lower means less switching, higher means more switching) and the default values are shown in the table below:

{| border="0" style="margin-left: 150px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
! Quality !! Profile !!   !! Quality !! Profile
|-
| -1 || 0 || || 5 || 2.5
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 0 || 1 || || 6 || 2.7
|-
| 1 || 1 || || 7 || 3
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 2 || 1.5 || || 8 || 3.7
|-
| 3 || 2 || || 9 || 4
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 4 || 2 || || 10 || 4
|}

If you encounter this problem on microattacks, you may try the impulse_trigger_profile advanced encode switch, which will change (increase) the profile to your desired value.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option '''impulse_trigger_profile=r''' inputfile.wav
:''where '''r''' is a number from 0 to 4, fractions accepted.''

'''Notes:'''
* There is the possibility that relaxed block switching (higher profiles) may cause other quality problems and create suboptimal Vorbis files. Please use it sparingly and with caution. If in doubt, leave impulse_trigger_profile on default ''(that is, don't use it at all)''
* Setting the profile too high will make Vorbis switch to impulse short blocks more often, which will lead to higher bitrate fluctuations. So be conservative.
* This settings has no effect on reducing the level of pre-echo. It can be said to only reduce the ''likelihood'' of [[Pre echo]], but the amount of pre-echo is tuned using the '''impulse_noisetune''' switch instead.
* You may try profiles 5 and 6 as substitutes for 3 and 4. Profile 5 and 6 came from 3 and 4 in GT3b2.

You can use both impulse_noisetune and impulse_trigger_profile at the same time, but you will need separate switches, e.g.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p
--advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile=r inputfile.wav

Recommended Ogg Vorbis

2006-01-16T12:38:10Z

Fp: /* Recommended Encoder Settings */

[[image:fish_logo.png|right|]]
[[Ogg Vorbis|Vorbis]], being a continuously developed standard, improves all the time. Plus, being an open (i.e. patent-free) standard, it has many 'third-parties' that contribute, discuss, and work to improve the project.

Here you can find some guidelines on which utilities to use, and what settings will provide you with the best quality.

=History=

(For a highly detailed description of Vorbis history, check out OggZealot's [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15274&view=findpost&p=153268 Ogg Vorbis Historic] where Monty also adds a few more details too). Ogg Vorbis reached version 1.0 in '''July 2002'''. It is the official [http://www.xiph.org/ Xiph.org] encoder ''(the one you get from vorbis.com)''. HA codec developer, Garf, did his own tunings, based on version 1.0 to produce GT3b1 and GT3b2. Both encoders showed improved [[pre echo]] handling for ''q'' values of ''5 to 10''. It was later judged in an internal listening test that GT3b1 was the better of the two. There was a minor bugfix update earlier that year in March, which only appeared in the CVS at Xiph.org. This consisted of very minor bug fixes, which do more to correct odd problems that may occur rather than improving quality, including ''(garbled noise output and gaps in streams)''. This was referred to as Post 1.0 CVS. Quality problems that mainly affected low bitrates were later addressed in a new bugfix ''(1.0.1)'' that was released.

Post 1.0.1 CVS was released late '''December 2003''' by Monty at Xiph, and includes a true [[CBR]] template. In order to simplify the situation where we had two encoders ''(1.0.1 and GT3b1)'', OggDropXPd developer John33 merged the sources to give us GT3b2. Once the 128 kbps multiformat test was completed, Aoyumi's [[aoTuV]] Vorbis tuning was determined to be the best Vorbis encoder. After the success of aoTuV beta 2 encoder, Xiph.Org merged their tunings into the official CVS branch to produce the long-awaited Vorbis 1.1. Aoyumi's later release of '''aoTuV beta 4''' encoder as of '''November 2005''' significantly improves Vorbis' quality while enhancing the compression. It is now the recommended encoder by 3rd party developers at Hydrogenaudio. Aoyumi's latest is '''aoTuV beta 4.5''' (later bugfixed with '''aoTuV beta 4.51''') released in '''December 2005''', which improves low bit-rate quality even more. However, it is still undergoing peer review before it becomes the recommended encoder. Near the end of 2005, after aoTuV beta 4.51 was released, Xiph.org released '''Vorbis 1.1.2'''. Unfortunatly it only provides bugfixes to Vorbis 1.1.1. Although this is the 'official' version, it is '''not recommended''' by HA. If you are not interested in the latest "bleeding edge" compiles, however you are welcome to use the latest release from Xiph.org Vorbis 1.1.2 library.

''Note: Xiph.org does not maintain the binaries, but rather provides newest updates and releases to libogg and libvorbis, etc.''

=Recommended Vorbis Encoders=

''(adapted from [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15049 Recommended Encoder and Settings] post compiled by QuantumKnot)''

==Windows binaries==

John33's oggenc2.8 is a special version of the Ogg Vorbis encoder. "Features include compression from lossless files (Monkeys Audio, LPAC, FLAC, OptimFROG, WavPack and Shorten - requires presence of decoders), and the ability to specify 'padding' in the headers for subsequent insertion of Tags." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=59 aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=60 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=61 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64))]'''

If you prefer a nice drag-and-drop interface, then you can try John33's OggDropXPd (Windows only). "Features include compression from lossless files ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[LPAC]], [[FLAC]] and [[OptimFROG]]), auto-tagging, renaming of encoded files, setting of advanced encoder parameters, use of VorbisGain tags on decode, Playlist (.m3u) creation, and others." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=50 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=51 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=52 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64)]'''

''(work in progress, guide will be completed soon)''

==Linux binaries==

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/quantumknot/oggenc-aotuv451.gz oggenc aoTuV beta 4.51 and libogg 1.1.3 (static gcc 4 compile)]''' '''with impulse_trigger_profile'''

This static GCC 4 binary was compiled by QuantumKnot.

''Note: There is no Oggenc2.x that has been compiled with Lancer Optimizations as of yet (third-parties with a access to unix environment are encourage to try and compile one themselves if they have access to the sources).''

==3rd party source code==

* '''[http://www.geocities.jp/aoyoume/aotuv/ aoTuV Homepage]''' -- contains modified source code written in C and downloads of binaries.

The source-code contains modifications mostly to the psychoacoustics model and bitrate allocation, i.e ''psy.c''

These are other Ogg Vorbis encoders that were tuned by 3rd party developers (outside of Xiph.Org).

'''aoTuV beta 4''' '''Now the recommended encoder'''

Developed by Aoyumi and based on libvorbis 1.1.1, many people have reported this encoder to give better quality at low to medium bitrates. It includes a -q -2 option for the lowest bitrate. According to guruboolez' latest listening test on classical music, aoTuV beta 4 performed magnificently well at -q 6!! ''(see Aoyumi's website for information above)''

'''aoTuV beta 4.51''' '''The latest encoder'''

Many HydrogenAudio enthusiasts report that this version gives even better quality for low bit-rates. -q 1.5 becomes acceptable, even good enough, and -q 4 is now near-transparent! However, more peer review is needed before this version becomes the recommended encoder.

==Optimized binaries==

These are highly optimized encoders developed by the '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/index_e.htm Ogg Vorbis Acceleration Project]''' that are much faster than the standard binary builds with negligible to nearly no effects on audio quality, including sped-up routines, i.e ''mdct.c''

* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20050709.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4 (Lancer 20050709) (Win32 Build)]'''
* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20051121.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4.51 (Lancer 20051121) (Win32 Build)]''' -- ''Latest version''

See [[Lancer]] Information and downloads page above.

''Note: Output of Lancer may be slightly different from output of 'standard' aoTuV. This is due to the difference of floating-point rounding: Lancer uses 64-bit SSE, while standard aoTuV uses 80-bit FP. This difference, however, should not be audible at all. In fact, tests have proven that playback of Lancer's output is indistinguishable from playback of standard aoTuV output.'' 

=Released Binaries=

How do I know which encoder was used to make this particular Ogg Vorbis file?

Using either the ''ogginfo'' program or file info in your player, you can tell from the vendor tag:

* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20000508 => '''1.0 beta 1 or beta 2 '''
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20001031 => '''1.0 beta 3 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010225 => '''1.0 beta 4 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010615 => '''1.0 rc1 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010813 => '''1.0 rc2 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010816 (gtune 1) => '''1.0 RC2 GT1 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011014 (GTune 2) =>'''1.0 RC2 GT2 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011217 => '''1.0 rc3 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011231 => '''1.0 rc3 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20020717 => '''1.0 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20020717 (GTune 3, beta 1) => '''GT3b1 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030308 => '''Post 1.0 CVS 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (1.0.1) => '''1.0.1 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (GTune 3, beta 2) EXPERIMENTAL => '''Experimental GT3b2 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (1.0.1) => '''Post 1.0.1 CVS 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (GTune 3, beta 2) => '''GT3b2 
* AO; aoTuV b2 [20040420] (based on Xiph.Org's 1.0.1) => '''aoTuV beta 2 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040629 => '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 RC1 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040920 => '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 with impulse_trigger_profile 
* AO; aoTuV b3 [20041120] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => ''' aoTuV beta 3 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20050304 => ''' Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.2 
* AO; aoTuV b4 [20050617] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4 
* AO; aoTuV b4b [20051117] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4.51 

=Recommended Encoder Settings=

'''Refer to the table below. For best results, start at -q 4 and''' [[ABX]] '''your way up.''' 
''Ultimately, the best -q setting will depend on your specific needs. Feel free to experiment.'' 

'''General Command Line Usage:'''

'''oggenc -q n inputfile.wav '''

:'''where n is a number from -1 to 10''' e.g. '''oggenc -q 5 inputfile.wav ''' '' '''Note:''' Most standard oggenc binaries can input lossless FLAC, WavPack, etc files as well! (depending upon oggenc version) ''


''It should be noted that Vorbis supports fractional numbers, e.g. 5.50 (or 5,50, depending on where the tool is compiled.) '' 
''oggenc2.7 and later are the only versions of oggenc that conform to the '''WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE''' header for outputing and decoding multi-channel Vorbis files (3 to 6 channels) in compliance with the Vorbis I decoding specification. Encoding multi-channel content might still produce sub-optimal files, including channel coupling due to modfication that need to be performed in reguard to the source code. Encoding assumes source material is CD audio content or PCM equivalent ''

{| border="0" style="margin-left:50px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
! Switch !! VBR target (kbit/s) !! VBR range (kbit/s) !! [[Channel coupling|Channel Coupling]] !! [[Noise normalization|Noise Normalization]] !! Note
|-
| -q -2 || ~32 || ~32 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (1)
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q -1 || ~48 || ~48 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (2)
|-
| -q 0 || ~64 || ~64 - ~80 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 1 || ~80 || ~80 - ~96 || point/lossless || yes || (3)
|-
| -q 2 || ~96 || ~96 - ~112 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 3 || ~112 || ~112 - ~128 || point/lossless || yes ||
|-
| -q 4 || ~128 || ~128 - ~160 || point/lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 5 || ~160 || ~160 - ~192 || point/lossless || no || (4)
|-
| -q 6 || ~192 || ~192 - ~224 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 7 || ~224 || ~224 - ~256 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 8 || ~256 || ~256 - ~320 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 9 || ~320 || ~320 - ~500 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 10 || ~500 || ~500 - ~1000 || lossless || no ||
|}

'' '''(1)''' Only supported on aoTuVb4 and newer '' 
'' '''(2)''' Bitrate of 48 kbit/s is only for aoTuVb4 and newer. Earlier versions and Xiph.org versions use a bitrate of 45 kbit/s '' 
'' '''(3)''' Reports seem to indicate that aoTuVb4.51 -q 1 provides good quality for streaming '' 
'' '''(4)''' Most users agree -q 5 achieves transparency''

=Advanced Encoder Settings=

===Reducing Pre-echo===
''This is applicable with Vorbis 1.1; it may or may not be applicable to aoTuVb4 or aoTuVb4.51.''

Generally, using the recommended settings above will give the best quality. There may be cases where Vorbis 1.1 will fail to reproduce sharp attacks or transients in your music, causing [[pre echo]]. In which case, you can use the '''impulse_noisetune''' advanced encode switch:

'''oggenc -q '''n''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p inputfile.wav'''
:'''where p is a number from 0 to -15'''
:e.g. '''oggenc -q '''5''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=-5 inputfile.wav'''

Note that the lower the number (toward -15) for impulse_noisetune, the higher the bitrate will fluctuate in passages of music filled with transient attacks (and the final average bitrate may be much higher than the nominal). Therefore, you should try a small value to start off (say '''-5''') and see if you get acceptable quality. If not, tweak it lower.

===Reducing noise due to microattacks===
''This is only valid for some Vorbis encoders that are marked as having '''''impulse_trigger_profile'''.

There are certain parts of some types of music, called "microattacks", where Vorbis will produce a noise (sort of like a puff of steam), which is due to inaccuracies in the block-switching algorithm ''(which can't be corrected)''. Due to the fact the attacks are so fine and close together, Vorbis doesn't switch to impulse short blocks enough, thus "smearing" the reproduction.

By default (with no additional switches), Vorbis selects a different profile for block switching (lower means less switching, higher means more switching) and the default values are shown in the table below:

{| border="0" style="margin-left: 150px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
! Quality !! Profile !!   !! Quality !! Profile
|-
| -1 || 0 || || 5 || 2.5
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 0 || 1 || || 6 || 2.7
|-
| 1 || 1 || || 7 || 3
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 2 || 1.5 || || 8 || 3.7
|-
| 3 || 2 || || 9 || 4
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 4 || 2 || || 10 || 4
|}

If you encounter this problem on microattacks, you may try the impulse_trigger_profile advanced encode switch, which will change (increase) the profile to your desired value.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option '''impulse_trigger_profile=r''' inputfile.wav
:''where '''r''' is a number from 0 to 4, fractions accepted.''

'''Notes:'''
* There is the possibility that relaxed block switching (higher profiles) may cause other quality problems and create suboptimal Vorbis files. Please use it sparingly and with caution. If in doubt, leave impulse_trigger_profile on default ''(that is, don't use it at all)''
* Setting the profile too high will make Vorbis switch to impulse short blocks more often, which will lead to higher bitrate fluctuations. So be conservative.
* This settings has no effect on reducing the level of pre-echo. It can be said to only reduce the ''likelihood'' of [[Pre echo]], but the amount of pre-echo is tuned using the '''impulse_noisetune''' switch instead.
* You may try profiles 5 and 6 as substitutes for 3 and 4. Profile 5 and 6 came from 3 and 4 in GT3b2.

You can use both impulse_noisetune and impulse_trigger_profile at the same time, but you will need separate switches, e.g.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p
--advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile=r inputfile.wav

Recommended Ogg Vorbis

2006-01-16T12:35:57Z

Fp: update for 1.1.2

[[image:fish_logo.png|right|]]
[[Ogg Vorbis|Vorbis]], being a continuously developed standard, improves all the time. Plus, being an open (i.e. patent-free) standard, it has many 'third-parties' that contribute, discuss, and work to improve the project.

Here you can find some guidelines on which utilities to use, and what settings will provide you with the best quality.

=History=

(For a highly detailed description of Vorbis history, check out OggZealot's [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15274&view=findpost&p=153268 Ogg Vorbis Historic] where Monty also adds a few more details too). Ogg Vorbis reached version 1.0 in '''July 2002'''. It is the official [http://www.xiph.org/ Xiph.org] encoder ''(the one you get from vorbis.com)''. HA codec developer, Garf, did his own tunings, based on version 1.0 to produce GT3b1 and GT3b2. Both encoders showed improved [[pre echo]] handling for ''q'' values of ''5 to 10''. It was later judged in an internal listening test that GT3b1 was the better of the two. There was a minor bugfix update earlier that year in March, which only appeared in the CVS at Xiph.org. This consisted of very minor bug fixes, which do more to correct odd problems that may occur rather than improving quality, including ''(garbled noise output and gaps in streams)''. This was referred to as Post 1.0 CVS. Quality problems that mainly affected low bitrates were later addressed in a new bugfix ''(1.0.1)'' that was released.

Post 1.0.1 CVS was released late '''December 2003''' by Monty at Xiph, and includes a true [[CBR]] template. In order to simplify the situation where we had two encoders ''(1.0.1 and GT3b1)'', OggDropXPd developer John33 merged the sources to give us GT3b2. Once the 128 kbps multiformat test was completed, Aoyumi's [[aoTuV]] Vorbis tuning was determined to be the best Vorbis encoder. After the success of aoTuV beta 2 encoder, Xiph.Org merged their tunings into the official CVS branch to produce the long-awaited Vorbis 1.1. Aoyumi's later release of '''aoTuV beta 4''' encoder as of '''November 2005''' significantly improves Vorbis' quality while enhancing the compression. It is now the recommended encoder by 3rd party developers at Hydrogenaudio. Aoyumi's latest is '''aoTuV beta 4.5''' (later bugfixed with '''aoTuV beta 4.51''') released in '''December 2005''', which improves low bit-rate quality even more. However, it is still undergoing peer review before it becomes the recommended encoder. Near the end of 2005, after aoTuV beta 4.51 was released, Xiph.org released '''Vorbis 1.1.2'''. Unfortunatly it only provides bugfixes to Vorbis 1.1.1. Although this is the 'official' version, it is '''not recommended''' by HA. If you are not interested in the latest "bleeding edge" compiles, however you are welcome to use the latest release from Xiph.org Vorbis 1.1.2 library.

''Note: Xiph.org does not maintain the binaries, but rather provides newest updates and releases to libogg and libvorbis, etc.''

=Recommended Vorbis Encoders=

''(adapted from [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15049 Recommended Encoder and Settings] post compiled by QuantumKnot)''

==Windows binaries==

John33's oggenc2.8 is a special version of the Ogg Vorbis encoder. "Features include compression from lossless files (Monkeys Audio, LPAC, FLAC, OptimFROG, WavPack and Shorten - requires presence of decoders), and the ability to specify 'padding' in the headers for subsequent insertion of Tags." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=59 aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=60 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=61 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64))]'''

If you prefer a nice drag-and-drop interface, then you can try John33's OggDropXPd (Windows only). "Features include compression from lossless files ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[LPAC]], [[FLAC]] and [[OptimFROG]]), auto-tagging, renaming of encoded files, setting of advanced encoder parameters, use of VorbisGain tags on decode, Playlist (.m3u) creation, and others." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=50 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=51 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=52 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64)]'''

''(work in progress, guide will be completed soon)''

==Linux binaries==

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/quantumknot/oggenc-aotuv451.gz oggenc aoTuV beta 4.51 and libogg 1.1.3 (static gcc 4 compile)]''' '''with impulse_trigger_profile'''

This static GCC 4 binary was compiled by QuantumKnot.

''Note: There is no Oggenc2.x that has been compiled with Lancer Optimizations as of yet (third-parties with a access to unix environment are encourage to try and compile one themselves if they have access to the sources).''

==3rd party source code==

* '''[http://www.geocities.jp/aoyoume/aotuv/ aoTuV Homepage]''' -- contains modified source code written in C and downloads of binaries.

The source-code contains modifications mostly to the psychoacoustics model and bitrate allocation, i.e ''psy.c''

These are other Ogg Vorbis encoders that were tuned by 3rd party developers (outside of Xiph.Org).

'''aoTuV beta 4''' '''Now the recommended encoder'''

Developed by Aoyumi and based on libvorbis 1.1.1, many people have reported this encoder to give better quality at low to medium bitrates. It includes a -q -2 option for the lowest bitrate. According to guruboolez' latest listening test on classical music, aoTuV beta 4 performed magnificently well at -q 6!! ''(see Aoyumi's website for information above)''

'''aoTuV beta 4.51''' '''The latest encoder'''

Many HydrogenAudio enthusiasts report that this version gives even better quality for low bit-rates. -q 1.5 becomes acceptable, even good enough, and -q 4 is now near-transparent! However, more peer review is needed before this version becomes the recommended encoder.

==Optimized binaries==

These are highly optimized encoders developed by the '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/index_e.htm Ogg Vorbis Acceleration Project]''' that are much faster than the standard binary builds with negligible to nearly no effects on audio quality, including sped-up routines, i.e ''mdct.c''

* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20050709.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4 (Lancer 20050709) (Win32 Build)]'''
* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20051121.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4.51 (Lancer 20051121) (Win32 Build)]''' -- ''Latest version''

See [[Lancer]] Information and downloads page above.

''Note: Output of Lancer may be slightly different from output of 'standard' aoTuV. This is due to the difference of floating-point rounding: Lancer uses 64-bit SSE, while standard aoTuV uses 80-bit FP. This difference, however, should not be audible at all. In fact, tests have proven that playback of Lancer's output is indistinguishable from playback of standard aoTuV output.'' 

=Released Binaries=

How do I know which encoder was used to make this particular Ogg Vorbis file?

Using either the ''ogginfo'' program or file info in your player, you can tell from the vendor tag:

* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20000508 => '''1.0 beta 1 or beta 2 '''
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20001031 => '''1.0 beta 3 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010225 => '''1.0 beta 4 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010615 => '''1.0 rc1 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010813 => '''1.0 rc2 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20010816 (gtune 1) => '''1.0 RC2 GT1 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011014 (GTune 2) =>'''1.0 RC2 GT2 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011217 => '''1.0 rc3 
* Xiphophorus libVorbis I 20011231 => '''1.0 rc3 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20020717 => '''1.0 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20020717 (GTune 3, beta 1) => '''GT3b1 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030308 => '''Post 1.0 CVS 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (1.0.1) => '''1.0.1 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20030909 (GTune 3, beta 2) EXPERIMENTAL => '''Experimental GT3b2 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (1.0.1) => '''Post 1.0.1 CVS 
* Xiph.Org/Sjeng.Org libVorbis I 20031230 (GTune 3, beta 2) => '''GT3b2 
* AO; aoTuV b2 [20040420] (based on Xiph.Org's 1.0.1) => '''aoTuV beta 2 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040629 => '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 RC1 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20040920 => '''Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1 with impulse_trigger_profile 
* AO; aoTuV b3 [20041120] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => ''' aoTuV beta 3 
* Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20050304 => ''' Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.1 or Xiph.Org Vorbis 1.1.2 
* AO; aoTuV b4 [20050617] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4 
* AO; aoTuV b4b [20051117] (based on Xiph.Org's libVorbis) => '''aoTuV beta 4.51 

=Recommended Encoder Settings=

'''Refer to the table below. For best results, start at -q 4 and''' [[ABX]] '''your way up.''' 
''Ultimately, the best -q setting will depend on your specific needs. Feel free to experiment.'' 

'''General Command Line Usage:'''

'''oggenc -q n inputfile.wav '''

:'''where n is a number from -1 to 10''' e.g. '''oggenc -q 5 inputfile.wav ''' '' '''Note:''' Most standard oggenc binaries can input lossless FLAC, WavPack, etc files as well! (depending upon oggenc version) ''


''It should be noted that Vorbis supports fractional numbers, e.g. 5.50 (or 5,50, depending on where the tool is compiled.) '' 
''oggenc2.x is the only version of oggenc that conforms to the '''WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE''' header for outputing and decoding multi-channel Vorbis files (3 to 6 channels) in compliance with the Vorbis I decoding specification. Encoding multi-channel content might still produce sub-optimal files, including channel coupling due to modfication that need to be performed in reguard to the source code. Encoding assumes source material is CD audio content or PCM equivalent ''

{| border="0" style="margin-left:50px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
! Switch !! VBR target (kbit/s) !! VBR range (kbit/s) !! [[Channel coupling|Channel Coupling]] !! [[Noise normalization|Noise Normalization]] !! Note
|-
| -q -2 || ~32 || ~32 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (1)
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q -1 || ~48 || ~48 - ~64 || point/lossless || yes || (2)
|-
| -q 0 || ~64 || ~64 - ~80 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 1 || ~80 || ~80 - ~96 || point/lossless || yes || (3)
|-
| -q 2 || ~96 || ~96 - ~112 || point/lossless || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 3 || ~112 || ~112 - ~128 || point/lossless || yes ||
|-
| -q 4 || ~128 || ~128 - ~160 || point/lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 5 || ~160 || ~160 - ~192 || point/lossless || no || (4)
|-
| -q 6 || ~192 || ~192 - ~224 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 7 || ~224 || ~224 - ~256 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 8 || ~256 || ~256 - ~320 || lossless || no ||
|- style="background-color: #ccccca;"
| -q 9 || ~320 || ~320 - ~500 || lossless || no ||
|-
| -q 10 || ~500 || ~500 - ~1000 || lossless || no ||
|}

'' '''(1)''' Only supported on aoTuVb4 and newer '' 
'' '''(2)''' Bitrate of 48 kbit/s is only for aoTuVb4 and newer. Earlier versions and Xiph.org versions use a bitrate of 45 kbit/s '' 
'' '''(3)''' Reports seem to indicate that aoTuVb4.51 -q 1 provides good quality for streaming '' 
'' '''(4)''' Most users agree -q 5 achieves transparency''

=Advanced Encoder Settings=

===Reducing Pre-echo===
''This is applicable with Vorbis 1.1; it may or may not be applicable to aoTuVb4 or aoTuVb4.51.''

Generally, using the recommended settings above will give the best quality. There may be cases where Vorbis 1.1 will fail to reproduce sharp attacks or transients in your music, causing [[pre echo]]. In which case, you can use the '''impulse_noisetune''' advanced encode switch:

'''oggenc -q '''n''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p inputfile.wav'''
:'''where p is a number from 0 to -15'''
:e.g. '''oggenc -q '''5''' --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=-5 inputfile.wav'''

Note that the lower the number (toward -15) for impulse_noisetune, the higher the bitrate will fluctuate in passages of music filled with transient attacks (and the final average bitrate may be much higher than the nominal). Therefore, you should try a small value to start off (say '''-5''') and see if you get acceptable quality. If not, tweak it lower.

===Reducing noise due to microattacks===
''This is only valid for some Vorbis encoders that are marked as having '''''impulse_trigger_profile'''.

There are certain parts of some types of music, called "microattacks", where Vorbis will produce a noise (sort of like a puff of steam), which is due to inaccuracies in the block-switching algorithm ''(which can't be corrected)''. Due to the fact the attacks are so fine and close together, Vorbis doesn't switch to impulse short blocks enough, thus "smearing" the reproduction.

By default (with no additional switches), Vorbis selects a different profile for block switching (lower means less switching, higher means more switching) and the default values are shown in the table below:

{| border="0" style="margin-left: 150px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
! Quality !! Profile !!   !! Quality !! Profile
|-
| -1 || 0 || || 5 || 2.5
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 0 || 1 || || 6 || 2.7
|-
| 1 || 1 || || 7 || 3
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 2 || 1.5 || || 8 || 3.7
|-
| 3 || 2 || || 9 || 4
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 4 || 2 || || 10 || 4
|}

If you encounter this problem on microattacks, you may try the impulse_trigger_profile advanced encode switch, which will change (increase) the profile to your desired value.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option '''impulse_trigger_profile=r''' inputfile.wav
:''where '''r''' is a number from 0 to 4, fractions accepted.''

'''Notes:'''
* There is the possibility that relaxed block switching (higher profiles) may cause other quality problems and create suboptimal Vorbis files. Please use it sparingly and with caution. If in doubt, leave impulse_trigger_profile on default ''(that is, don't use it at all)''
* Setting the profile too high will make Vorbis switch to impulse short blocks more often, which will lead to higher bitrate fluctuations. So be conservative.
* This settings has no effect on reducing the level of pre-echo. It can be said to only reduce the ''likelihood'' of [[Pre echo]], but the amount of pre-echo is tuned using the '''impulse_noisetune''' switch instead.
* You may try profiles 5 and 6 as substitutes for 3 and 4. Profile 5 and 6 came from 3 and 4 in GT3b2.

You can use both impulse_noisetune and impulse_trigger_profile at the same time, but you will need separate switches, e.g.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p
--advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile=r inputfile.wav

Recommended Ogg Vorbis

2006-01-10T13:26:01Z

Fp: bitrate at q-1

[[image:fish_logo.png|right|]]
[[Ogg Vorbis|Vorbis]], being a continuously developed standard, improves all the time. Plus, being an open (i.e. patent-free) standard, it has many 'third-parties' that produces, and most of the time, improves, its utilities.

Here you can find some guidelines on which utilities to use, and what settings will provide you with the best quality.

=History=

(For a highly detailed description of Vorbis history, check out OggZealot's [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15274&view=findpost&p=153268 Ogg Vorbis Historic] where Monty also adds a few more details too). Ogg Vorbis reached version 1.0 in '''July 2002'''. It is the official [http://www.xiph.org/ Xiph.org] encoder ''(the one you get from vorbis.com)''. HA codec developer, Garf, did his own tunings, based on version 1.0 to produce GT3b1 and GT3b2. Both encoders showed improved [[pre echo]] handling for ''q'' values of ''5 to 10''. It was later judged in an internal listening test that GT3b1 was the better of the two. There was a minor bugfix update earlier that year in March, which only appeared in the CVS at Xiph.org. This consisted of very minor bug fixes, which do more to correct odd problems that may occur rather than improving quality, including ''(garbled noise output and gaps in streams)''. This was referred to as Post 1.0 CVS. Quality problems that mainly affected low bitrates were later addressed in a new bugfix ''(1.0.1)'' that was released.

Post 1.0.1 CVS was released late '''December 2003''' by Monty at Xiph, and includes a true [[CBR]] template. In order to simplify the situation where we had two encoders ''(1.0.1 and GT3b1)'', OggDropXPd developer John33 merged the sources to give us GT3b2. Once the 128 kbps multiformat test was completed, Aoyumi's [[aoTuV]] Vorbis tuning was determined to be the best Vorbis encoder. After the success of aoTuV beta 2 encoder, Xiph.Org merged their tunings into the official CVS branch to produce the long-awaited Vorbis 1.1. Aoyumi's later release of '''aoTuV beta 4''' encoder as of '''November 2005''' significantly improves Vorbis' quality while enhancing the compression. It is now the recommended encoder by 3rd party developers at Hydrogenaudio. Aoyumi's latest is '''aoTuV beta 4.5''' (later bugfixed with '''aoTuV beta 4.51''') released in '''December 2005''', which improves low bit-rate quality even more. However, it is still undergoing peer review before it becomes the recommended encoder. Near the end of 2005, after aoTuV beta 4.51 is released, Xiph.org released '''Vorbis 1.1.2''', which only provides bugfixes to Vorbis 1.1.1 (a merging of Vorbis 1.1 with aoTuV beta 3). So, although this is the 'official' version, it is '''not recommended'''.

''Note: Xiph.org does not maintain the binaries, but rather provides newest updates and releases to libogg and libvorbis, etc.''

=Recommended Vorbis Encoders=

(adapted from [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15049 Recommended Encoder and Settings] post compiled by QuantumKnot)

==Windows binaries==

John33's oggenc2.8 is a special version of the Ogg Vorbis encoder. "Features include compression from lossless files (Monkeys Audio, LPAC, FLAC, OptimFROG, WavPack and Shorten - requires presence of decoders), and the ability to specify 'padding' in the headers for subsequent insertion of Tags." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=59 aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=60 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=61 aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64))]'''

If you prefer a nice drag-and-drop interface, then you can try John33's OggDropXPd (Windows only). "Features include compression from lossless files ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[LPAC]], [[FLAC]] and [[OptimFROG]]), auto-tagging, renaming of encoded files, setting of advanced encoder parameters, use of VorbisGain tags on decode, Playlist (.m3u) creation, and others." (from Ogg Vorbis page at rarewares)

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=50 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (MSVC compile)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=51 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P3/AMD Athlon)]'''
* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/dancer/dancer.php?f=52 OggDropXPd aoTuV beta 4.51 (ICL compile for P4/AMD Sempron, Athlon 64)]'''

''(work in progress, guide will be completed soon)''

==Linux binaries==

* '''[http://www.rarewares.org/quantumknot/oggenc-aotuv451.gz oggenc aoTuV beta 4.51 and libogg 1.1.3 (static gcc 4 compile)]''' '''with impulse_trigger_profile'''

The static GCC 4 binary was compiled by QuantumKnot.

==3rd party source code==

* '''[http://www.geocities.jp/aoyoume/aotuv/ aoTuV Homepage]''' -- contains modified source code written in C and downloads of binaries.

The source-code contains modifications mostly to the psychacoustics model and bitrate allocation, i.e ''psy.c'' and ''bitrate.c''

These are other Ogg Vorbis encoders that were tuned by 3rd party developers (outside of Xiph.Org).

'''aoTuV beta 4''' '''Now the recommended encoder'''

Developed by Aoyumi and based on libvorbis 1.1.1, many people have reported this encoder to give better quality at low to medium bitrates. It includes a -q -2 option for the lowest bitrate. According to guruboolez' latest listening test on classical music, aoTuV beta 4 performed magnificently well at -q 6!! ''(see Aoyumi's website for information above)''

'''aoTuV beta 4.51''' '''The latest encoder'''

Many HydrogenAudio enthusiasts report that this version gives even better quality for low bit-rates. -q 1.5 becomes acceptable, even good enough, and -q 4 is now near-transparent! However, more peer review is needed before this version becomes the recommended encoder.

==Optimized binaries==

These are highly optimized encoders developed by the '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/index_e.htm Ogg Vorbis Acceleration Project]''' that are much faster than the standard binary builds with negligible to nearly no effects on audio quality, including speed up routines, i.e ''mdct.c''

* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20050709.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4 (Lancer 20050709) (Win32 Build)]'''
* '''[http://homepage3.nifty.com/blacksword/oggenc2_lancer20051121.zip oggenc2.6 aoTuV beta 4.51 (Lancer 20051121) (Win32 Build)]''' -- ''Latest version''

See [[Lancer]] Information and downloads page above.

''Note: Output of Lancer may be slightly different from output of 'standard' aoTuV. This is due to the difference of floating-point rounding: Lancer uses 64-bit SSE, while standard aoTuV uses 80-bit FP. This difference, however, should not be audible at all. In fact, tests have proven that playback of Lancer's output is indistinguishable from playback of standard aoTuV output.''

=Recommended Encoder Settings=

'''Refer to the table below. For best results, start at -q 4 and''' [[ABX]] '''your way up.''' 
''Ultimately, the best -q setting will depend on your specific needs. Feel free to experiment.'' 


'''General Command Line Usage:'''

'''oggenc -q n'' inputfile.wav'' '''

:'''where n is a number from -1 to 10''' e.g. '''oggenc -q 5 ''inputfile.wav'' ''' '' '''Note:''' Most standard oggenc binaries can input FLACs as well ! ''


''It should be noted that Vorbis supports fractional numbers, e.g. 5.50 (or 5,50, depending on where the tool is compiled.) ''

{| border="0" style="margin-left:50px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
! Switch !! VBR target (kbit/s) !! VBR range (kbit/s) !! [[Channel Coupling|Channel Coupling]] !! [[Noise Normalization|Noise Normalization]] !! Note
|-
| -q -2 || ~32 || ~32 - ~64 || yes || yes || (1)
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| -q -1 || ~48 || ~48 - ~64 || yes || yes || (2)
|-
| -q 0 || ~64 || ~64 - ~80 || yes || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| -q 1 || ~80 || ~80 - ~96 || yes || yes || (3)
|-
| -q 2 || ~96 || ~96 - ~112 || yes || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| -q 3 || ~112 || ~112 - ~128 || yes || yes ||
|-
| -q 4 || ~128 || ~128 - ~160 || yes || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| -q 5 || ~160 || ~160 - ~192 || yes || yes || (4)
|-
| -q 6 || ~192 || ~192 - ~224 || no || yes ||
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| -q 7 || ~224 || ~224 - ~256 || no || no ||
|-
| -q 8 || ~256 || ~256 - ~320 || no || no ||
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| -q 9 || ~320 || ~320 - ~500 || no || no ||
|-
| -q 10 || ~500 || ~500 - ~1000 || no || no ||
|}

'' '''(1)''' Only supported on aoTuVb4 and newer '' 
'' '''(2)''' Bitrate of 48 kbit/s is only for aoTuVb4 and newer. Earlier versions and Xiph.org versions use a bitrate of 45 kbit/s '' 
'' '''(3)''' Reports seem to indicate that aoTuVb4.51 -q 1.5 provides good quality for streaming '' 
'' '''(4)''' Most people agree -q 5 achieves transparency''

=Advanced Encoder Settings=

===Reducing Pre-echo===
''This is applicable with Vorbis 1.1; it may not be applicable to aoTuVb4 or aoTuVb4.51.''

Generally, using the recommended settings above will give the best quality. However, there may be cases where Vorbis 1.1 will fail to reproduce sharp attacks or transients in your music, causing [[pre echo]]. In which case, you can use the '''impulse_noisetune''' advanced encode switch:

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option '''impulse_noisetune=p''' inputfile.wav
:''where ''p'' is a number from 0 to -15''

Note that the lower the number (toward -15) for impulse_noisetune, the higher the bitrate will fluctuate in passages of music filled with transient attacks (and the final average bitrate may be much higher than the nominal). Therefore, you should try a small value to start off (say -5) and see if you get acceptable quality. If not, tweak it lower.

===Reducing noise due to microattacks===
''This is only valid for some Vorbis encoders that are marked as having'' '''impulse_trigger_profile'''.

There are certain parts of some types of music, called "microattacks", where Vorbis will produce a noise (sort of like a puff of steam), which is due to inaccuracies in the block-switching algorithm. Because the attacks are so fine and close together, Vorbis doesn't switch to short blocks enough which "smears" the reproduction.

By default (with no additional switches), Vorbis selects a different profile for block switching (lower means less switching, higher means higher switching) and the default values are shown in the table below:

{| border="0" style="margin-left: 150px; color:green; background-color:white; border:1px dotted green; text-align:center;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
! Quality !! Profile !!   !! Quality !! Profile
|-
| -1 || 0 || || 5 || 2.5
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 0 || 1 || || 6 || 2.7
|-
| 1 || 1 || || 7 || 3
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 2 || 1.5 || || 8 || 3.7
|-
| 3 || 2 || || 9 || 4
|- style="background-color: #cccccc;"
| 4 || 2 || || 10 || 4
|}

If you encounter this problem on microattacks, you may try the impulse_trigger_profile advanced encode switch, which will change (increase) the profile to your desired value.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option '''impulse_trigger_profile=r''' inputfile.wav
:''where ''r'' is a number from 0 to 4, fractions accepted.''

'''Notes:'''
* There is the possibility that relaxed block switching (higher profiles) may cause other quality problems and create suboptimal Vorbis files. So use sparingly and with caution. If in doubt, leave impulse_trigger_profile on default (that is, don't use it at all)
* Setting the profile too high will make Vorbis switch to short blocks more often, which will lead to higher bitrate fluctuations. So be conservative.
* This settings has no effect on reducing the level of pre-echo. It can be said to only reduce the ''likelihood'' of pre-echo, but the amount of pre-echo is tuned using the '''impulse_noisetune''' switch instead.
* You may try profiles 5 and 6 as substitutes for 3 and 4. Profile 5 and 6 came from 3 and 4 in GT3b2.

You can use both impulse_noisetune and impulse_trigger_profile at the same time, but you will need separate switches, e.g.

oggenc -q n --advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=p
--advanced-encode-option impulse_trigger_profile=r inputfile.wav