New Developments in MP3 Technology

Experts have been predicting the demise of MP3 for a couple of years, but the popularity of the format with the on-line community, seems to disprove this prediction. With the advent of a whole raft of software, hardware players, MP3 capable watches, cameras, hand held computers, etc. the marketplace would tend to side with consumers. What is likely though, is the format will evolve. On the one hand we have the record companies desperate to reclaim what they perceive as their lost 'product'; and many have already spent millions on developing compressed formats with anti-piracy measures. Some of these like Liquid Audio and WMA are quite good, but are not particularly popular for obvious reasons. On the other hand we have the MP3 community, and developers who know that this massive marketplace is a force to be reckoned with.

The drive to push more data into smaller files has been critical as more people download music online over slow dial-up connections or load songs onto MP3 players with limited memory. Although PC hard drives are ballooning to the point where hundreds of albums could fit on a typical drive without filling it, the "flash memory" used in most portable players remains relatively expensive.

Step forward two major developments: Ogg Vorbis and MP3Pro, both strive to reduce file size but retain or improve the audio quality of MP3 technology, and both are free of built-in security limitations.

Ogg Vorbis - the new standard number one?


Recently this new standard has been circulating amongst MP3 fans. Although not yet in widespread use, it threatens to make inroads into the MP3 community as it is a completely open code. Currently all MP3 codecs have to pay a royalty to Fraunhofer, Vorbis has no such restraints.

Early experiments promise good things. The claims for it are impressive and mostly accurate:

Although still in it's early days, things look good for Vorbis. Already, with little external development, it appears to sustain a quality equal to MP3 at lower bit rates, resulting in a smaller file. Once it receives the same sort of attention lavished upon encoders such as LAME, it will be significantly improved.

If that happens it will be great news for MP3 Users. Plus, firmware upgradable MP3 hardware players should be able to support Vorbis if it forces its way to the top of the heap.

If you're going to start using Vorbis you'll need this WinAmp Plug-In to configure and recognize the format:

Making the codec available to your encoding program wasn't clear to me when trying all this new software out for the first time. I went through a number of processes one after another. I think if you install the Plug-In above, this will make the codec available to other programs. However if I'm wrong, you could download and install the following, which will install the codec into Windows: http://www.vorbis.com/files/rc2/windows/oggenc-1.0rc2.zip

Another option, download this, open the zip, place the contents CALOGG00 DLL in your Windows/System directory, Vorbis will then be available to your encoder.

You'll also need the WinAmp Plug-In to enable playback of the format.



MP3Pro - the new standard number two?



MP3Pro is being developed by Thomson Coding Laboratories, RCA and Fraunhofer, and although it has all these heavyweights behind it, is like Vorbis free of security restrictions. Also it's good to see the old Fraunhofer standard get some new development lavished on it. Mp3Pro will playback on almost all current MP3 players, but will sound a little dull. To reap the rewards of the higher quality you need to download an mp3Pro Player or a Winamp plug-in which recognises the format - these are available free.

Here's what Thomson/RCA say about it::

Compatability: Using advanced psychoacoustics techniques and music structure analysis, mp3PRO creates files that are more compact than original mp3 files, with equal or better sound quality and complete backwards and forwards compatibility. Your old mp3 files will play completely normally on a new mp3PRO player. New mp3Pro files will play normally on old mp3 players, but without the dramatic mp3Pro improvements. Of course, new mp3PRO files played on a new mp3PRO decoder will provide the optimal listening experience!

How the technology works: When making an mp3PRO file, the new mp3PRO encoder splits audio recordings into two parts. One part analyzes the low frequency band information and encodes it into a normal mp3 stream. This allows the encoder to concentrate on less information and allows it to do a better job of encoding. This also maintains complete compatibility on old mp3 players. The second part analyzes the high frequency band information and encodes it into a part of the mp3 stream that is normally ignored by old mp3 decoders. New or upgraded mp3PRO decoders will tap into this part of the stream and put the two bands back together, resulting in the full audio bandwidth.

Filesize: Offering 128 kbps (kilobits per second) performance at a 64 kbps-encoding rate, mp3PRO doubles the digital music capacity of flash memory and of compact discs. For example, traditional audio CDs hold about 15 songs, and an mp3 CD can hold 150 or more songs encoded at 128 kbps. In the near future, when mp3 CD players incorporate the mp3PRO decoder, consumers will be able to store over 300 songs on an mp3PRO encoded Compact Disc.

Sound Quality: the bottom line is mp3PRO provides superior sound quality at lower bit rates than traditional mp3.You simply have to experience the difference for yourself.

I haven't had the opportunity to try mp3PRO for myself yet, so can't tell you whether the sales pitch has any substance. I aim to experiment and will report back shortly.

To try mp3PRO for yourself you'll need the following:

Use your favourite ripper to produce a WAV file, then encode with the free RCA mp3PRO Player/Encoder. Get it from:
www.thomson-multimedia.com/download/mp3PROAudioPlayer_v1_0_2.exe

To playback in Winamp you'll need the plug-in: Install in the same way as all Input Plug-ins (see Vorbis Plug-In description above) www.thomson-multimedia.com/download/mp3PROAudioDecoder_v0_98b5.exe

There are possibly other developments, but these are the major ones I'm aware of. New ones as they become more public will be annouced here as these articles on MP3 Technology get adapted and extended.

Meanwhile I'd be interested to receive any feedback on what the rest of the group think about Vorbis and mp3PRO. Tell us of your experiences, share them here.