10/22   MPEG-4 AAC vs. MP3.  Pros?  Cons?
        \_ It really depends on what MP3 encoder you're comparing it to, as
           the quality/bitrate can vary a lot.  LAME with the right settings
           produces quality comparable to AAC at the same bitrate, but others
           (Xing, Fraunhoffer) will not sound nearly as good.  MP3 wins hands
           down for compatability though.
        \_ AAC is supposed to be higher quality/bitrate.  MP3 has more player
           support.  Since Apple has such a huge share of the market, we
           might be seeing more AAC support in the future.
        \_ OGG VORBIS!
        \_ Can one notice the difference in audio quality between MP3 at
           160 kHz vs. a regular CD if using speakers that aren't state
           of the art?
           \_ Maybe.  If you play the right kind of music and/or have
              been trained to listen for artifacts, then you're more
              likely to hear them.  What speakers?
           \_ LAME's --preset-standard setting does VBR, I think it averages
              above 192kbps but goes higher. This is supposed to be
              transparent even to trained listeners although there are always
              some "problem samples" people can find. 160 CBR is not considered
              to be transparent but even 128CBR is "good enough" for a lot of
              non audiophiles who aren't doing back-to-back tests.
           \_ Trained audiophiles with good hearing can easily distinguish
              between CD and higher-bitrate SACD and DVD-A.  The quality diff
              between lossy recordings and CD is much greater than CD and
              SACD/DVD-A is much.  Of course, if you aren't using a reference
              SACD/DVD-A.  Of course, if you aren't using a reference
              system for listening it will be much harder to tell the
              difference between any of these.  Go to Home Entertainment 2004
              to listen to some truly reference systems! (http://www.he2004.com
              \_ I was impressed with mp3 sound until the day I realized
                 my speakers had been slowly decaying (after ~15 years).
                 so I replaced my rotten drivers and was blessed with
                 enough fidelity to hear big differences.  but now I hear
                 much more difference between audio paths (analog or toslink)
                 from the same mp3s than between mp3 and CD over toslink...
           \_ I can easily hear problems in 160kbit files on most halfway
              decent audio systems.  All 160kbit files are not alike, however.
              Aside from CBR vs. VBR, some encoders (such as LAME) can do a
              much better job making a nice file with limited bandwidth.
              A well-encoded 160 or 192 kbit MP3 will have barely-detectable
              distortion on most systems, but a poorly encoded 160 can sound
              quite bad.