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Thomson releases mp3HD lossless codec and toolkit
Lossless audio codecs (like FLAC and ALAC) have been around for a while, but Thomson's new mp3HD format might be the one that finally achieves mainstream adoption. mp3HD has one key advantage over other lossless formats: it's fully backwards compatible, meaning you should be able to play encoded files back on any device that supports mp3.
Bitrates are similar to FLAC, ranging from 500 to 900kbps. The average bitrate for pop/top 40 music comes in at 876kbps which produces a 26mb file for a four-minute track.
One more thing mp3HD has going for it is that it utilizes something most users have grown accustomed to: the .mp3 file extension. Familiarity means a lot to the average user - try asking some of your non-techy friends what an .ogg file is. Using the extension that has become synonymous with digital audio files should improve mp3HD's chances of achieving mainstream adoption.
Thomson has also released a command line enocder and decoder for Windows and Linux, as well as a Winamp plugin for mp3HD.
Comments
14
Subscribe to commentsSleepingPandaMar 23rd 2009 2:12PM
This is awesome. Too bad I don't own any physical media to encode with and all my currently owned music is already encoded in the now-crappy standard mp3 format. Can't wait for when this hits mainstream though.
wingman1659Mar 23rd 2009 2:14PM
Tested: Works with iTunes/iPod.
I love it. Just use exact audio copy and use the readme file to make the process very simple. Once its all set up, hit one button and your lossless audio is at your fingertips.
Brad JensenMar 23rd 2009 2:19PM
"..try asking some of your non-techy friends what an .ogg file is."
It's not hard to explain that a .ogg file is another type of music file on the computer. One which is more up-to-date and tends to sound better than the older .mp3 files do.
Anyways, it would be really smart for Thomson to open source this format for the public to fiddle with and evolve, like flac and vorbis allow.
Lee MathewsMar 23rd 2009 2:20PM
It's not that it's hard to explain, Brad. The point is more that they don't know anything other than MP3 when talking about music files.
mpP3HD has "name recognition" going for it, because people know what MP3s are.
Brad JensenMar 23rd 2009 2:31PM
"It's not that it's hard to explain, Ben. The point is more that they don't know anything other than MP3 when talking about music files."
I fully understand this point, as many people I know don't even understand what a file on a computer really is, let alone what the term mp3 exactly is. The point I was trying to make is that it's not hard to update ones knowledge in this area, and that it's actually more helpful to society as a whole to update their knowledge of what a music file is and what it can be.
I was just thinking into it a bit differently than the article was explaining.
No worries.
Folly MeganMar 23rd 2009 2:26PM
Downloaded the encoder.
The CLI says that the maximum bit rate is 320000 (320kbit), and it generated a 22mb file.
MediaInfo also sees it as 320kbit.
The same file weighs 8mb in regular mp3, but didn't they say the rates are between 500kbit and 900kbit?
So what's the dealio, yo?
notatoadMar 23rd 2009 5:48PM
the deal is that backward compatibility is achieved by encoding both a standard lossy mp3 and a lossless copy and storing them in the same file. if you have a player that can do mp3HD (currently only winamp with their plugin) you get the lossless stream, if your player doesn't do mp3HD you just get a standard CBR lossy mp3.
spencerMar 23rd 2009 2:28PM
It's a start, but does it have support for SACDs or DVD-Audio, hell are there many pcs drives that you can even read those on?
MarkMar 23rd 2009 3:16PM
I honestly cannot believe that we are still sticking with the *.3 format for file name extensions. What is this 1982? As far as I know there isn't a single OS that still requires that. Why not use the extension .mp3hd?
notatoadMar 23rd 2009 5:52PM
your OS might not need it, but the goal here is to preserve compatibility with iPods and other portable players. try putting a file with the extension .mp3hd on your ipod and see what happens.
MattMar 23rd 2009 3:19PM
You really need to clarify a few things here. Bitrates ARE NOT on par with FLAC, see posts on Doom9 and hydrogenaudio for more information. Secondly, all current devices ONLY play back the mp3 substream of the file; the lossless is part is not decoded by any hardware, including iPods. The codec operates like AC3+MLP (TrueHD) rather than MPEG-4 SLS. But lulz at the posters who can't distinguish between 128kbps CBR Fraunhofer encodes and FLAC.
wingman1659Mar 23rd 2009 5:57PM
I was referring that iTunes can play back this audio, albit without the correct decoder. it shows up as 319VBR.
Ntw1103Mar 24th 2009 2:13AM
A word of caution with the winamp plugin, it is extremely buggy. I would not suggest installing it, especially if you have winamp setup to work with external decoders, such as k-lite. it will mess up all the codec linkings.
ZeroCoolFoolMar 24th 2009 3:16PM
Yeah but is it open source? This sound great but do we really want to fight that licensing monster?