RADIFIED
Guide to Ripping & Encoding CD Audio

P
A
G
E

S
I
X

O
F

T
E
N

Audio Codec Comparison

This table will give you an idea of how different audio codecs (both lossless & lossy) compare with one another, using a variety of popular settings (called arguments).

Results are arranged from highest to lowest bit-rate (kbps). Results will differ for different songs and CPUs, but this table gives you an idea of the relative capabilities of each encoder/compressor, and what the various settings offer.

Note that I do not ascribe any quality value to the results listed below.

Quality is subjective. It depends on a number of factors, such as the particular song, equipment used (headphones, speakers, sound card), and most importantly, the ears of the individual listener.

The empirical data listed on this page is not subjective. I leave that up to you, the listener, to judge for yourself.

Note that the specific hardware & software used here is not nearly as important as analyzing how the different codecs & compressors affect file size, bit-rate & encoding time.

Hardware

  • CPU: Intel P3-700 @938MHz (overclocked)
    Note: 03aug2002 - While these tests were run with the stated CPU, I have since upgraded my system to a P4-1.6a Northwood CPU, running at 2138 MHz (Asus P4T-E mobo). This CPU allowed me to get $600 performance (at the time) for $135. I'm very happy with its stability.
  • RAM: 512MB Mushkin rev 1.5 PC133, 2-2-2 timings
  • CD-ROM drive: Plextor UW SCSI PX-40TW (firmware 1.05); supports C2 error correction
  • Hard drive: 36GB Seagate Cheetah
  • SCSI adapter: Tekram DC-390U3W

Software

Audio File

Positive Vibration (5:48), recorded by Bob Marley & The Wailers, from Babylon By Bus album. Bit-rate calculations: Encoded/compressed file (MBytes) x 1024 KBytes/MByte x 8 bits/Byte / 348 secs = kbps.

If you want numbers that reflect true bits (not kbits), then multiply my results by 1.024.
      P     
A
G
E

S
I
X

O
F

T
E
N

Results
Encoder
Argument
Time
File (MB)
kbps
EAC (ripper)
Secure mode
0:26 (rip)
58.6 (*.wav)
1380
WavPack
default
0:06
39.5 (*.wv)
930
FLAC
default
0:19
37.9 (*.flac)
892
Monkey's
Normal
0:15
36.5 (*.ape)
860
MPC
--insane --nmt16 --tmn32
0:51
13.6 (*.mpc)
320
LAME
--alt-preset insane
1:11
13.2 (*.mp3)
310
MPC
insane
0:50
10.3 (*.mpc)
242

LAME
--alt-preset extreme
2.31
10.2 (*.mp3)
240
LAME
--alt-preset standard
2:32
8.7 (*.mp3)
205
MPC
xtreme
0:49
8.63 (*.mpc)
203
LAME
--r3mix
1:13
7.65 (*.mp3)
180
MPC
--standard
0:48
7.4 (*.mpc)
174
Ogg Vorbis
-b160
2:13
6.78 (*.ogg)
160
LAME
--alt-preset cbr 128
1:36
5.31 (*.mp3)
125

Comments

Time to encode is generally considered the least important encoding variable, because you can always batch encode overnight, while you sleep, and wake with a bunch of freshly encoded files on your hard drive.

Most encoding decisions involve a trade off between file size and audio quality. But audio quality is subjective. It depends on a number of variables which only you can judge for yourself.

My Encoding Preferences

The good thing is that you're not limited to a single codec or setting. I take an approach that uses a combination. I compress all my favorite songs with Monkey's (lossless). I have to *really* like the songs, because songs compressed with a lossless codec consume a lot of hard drive space .. at least twice as much as those encoded with a lossy codec.

You probably have some songs that are so special to you that you don't want to discard a single bit. Bob Marley's Redemption Song is like that for me. I would never encode this song with a lossy codec .. even if I couldn't hear the difference .. unless absolutely necessary, as required by a hardware compatibility issue. When I play it back, I want to know that I'm hearing *all* of the song.

The majority of my songs get encoded with the v3.97 beta 2 of the LAME MP3 encoder (codec) using the new -V 2 --vbr-new preset. This setting is fast and offers great quality.

I know people who have entire, giant, 750-GB hard drives (nearly a terabyte of disk storage space) dedicated solely for their music collection. (You probably didn't know they made hard drives that big, huh? Neither did I.)

On these hard drives, they keep a lossless version of *every* song they rip (for archival purposes), and also an MP3 version of the same song (for universal compatibility, since you can play an MP3 pretty much anywhere).

And they back-up everything on the drive to DVD. I am jealous and considering adopting this dual-format approach. All I need now is the hard drive.

Next let's take a look at Holger's Razorlame, a popular front-end for the LAME command-line encoder.