Company Set to Launch MP3 Successor

[omnimodis78]

MP3 and FLAC is all we need - that is, any variation of compressed and uncompressed audio files. Additional downloadable content is a waste of my time, money and drive space. Such freeware as Foobar2000 already has lyrics plug-ins for those who NEED it. I doubt this will go anywhere, it's just another try-and-fail nonsense. You want to stop piracy? Lower the prices of CDs and movies. Period.

 

[bennyt]

MusicDNA. Shortened version = MDNA. Sounds suspiciously like MDMA.
Does that mean I'll have to be on drugs to get any enjoyment out of this new format?
Most of my music is pretty magical already once I've taken an illicit substance

 

[bennyt]

MusicDNA. Shortened version = MDNA. Sounds suspiciously like MDMA.
Does that mean I'll have to be on drugs to get any enjoyment out of this new format?
Most of my music is pretty magical already once I've taken an illicit substance

 

[bennyt]

Dammit Toms. Whats with the double post? Something really needs to be done to sort that out.

 

[matt87_50]

yeah right... sounds like just another drm ridden mp3 format like those horrible ones the online stores started to sell, HOWABOUT LOSSLESS!?

am I the only one baffled by the fact that the 'successor to the main music format' doesn't actually change the MUSIC part in any way??

its just rehashing an existing idea, jumping on every stupud web2.0 bandwagon they can all as an excuse to add drm..

mind you, I do like the idea of my songs in 30 years automatically updating to the remasted version free of charge! (LOL!)

 

[Pyroflea]

Good thing MP3 is terrible... Why can't they work on a lossless, compressed audio format that will be socially accepted rather than add some useless features to MP3?

 

[choz]

"We think it got lost in the transition to the digital era. We think a beautiful piece of audio has been reduced to a number code. We want to enrich it again."
And by "enrich" they mean to add more numbers to the code?

 

[nebun]

no matter what music, file and software etc will always be shared over the net, no matter how hard they try to stop it. that's why they say that rules are meant to be broken.

 

[gtown]

Just come up with something that is as widely compatible as Mp3, sounds as good as 320Kbps and takes up about 3Mb per song... Then you will have your Mp3 successor.

 

[anon6]

Laughable attempt.

 

[Guest]

Spring? Whose Spring. There are other countries in the world besides Jerkmerica!

 

[mitch074]

@gtown: the format you're asking for is named Ogg Vorbis.

Contrary to MPEG1 layer 3, Vorbis doesn't use high-pass or low-pass filters to reduce sound complexity; so, it doesn't 'muffle' the sound.

Contrary to WMA, Vorbis tries not to modify a sound sample's envelope; so, it doesn't add harmonics.

I did the following tests: I took a 1998 CD track, that contained a high range of sound, and compressed it:
- with LAME MP3 compressor 3.98, with Variable Bitrate, q=9, max bitrate = 320 and 160
- with WMA audio, 160 kbps and 64 kbps
- with Vorbis with quality = 5 to 2 in 0.25 increments,0 and -1.

Then, I took the best headphones and audio circuitry I had, and played back the tracks

Vorbis starting at quality 4.5 is transparent - there is virtually no way to hear the difference between the track and the compressed copy. Average bitrate is close to 220 kbps. Same piece, at q=3: audio is still very good. Bitrate is around 140 kbps (good quality/size compromise). same piece, at q=-1: bitrate is around 80 kbps. There is slight audible distorsion in some complex parts, and the music seems 'bland'.

MP3 (and you must admit, I used the best codec in its most efficient configuration): even at 320 kbps, you may notice a difference with the original. If bitrate is maxed out at 160 kbps, you may get distorsions in some complex parts. No, it's not an audiophile format.

WMA: above 160 kbps, quality is good. At 224 kbps, transparency can be considered achieved. At values of 128 kbps and lower, harmonics start appearing and the sound gets warped. It becomes impossible to listen to.

My conclusion:
- use FLAC for lossless audio. I tested their alleged identical-to-source binary decompression process, and they are right. It works. It can save around 30-50% of disk space over raw PCM.
- use Vorbis for any other use: high or low quality, it is never a pain to listen to.
- MP3 is to be used for compatibility reasons only. Even then, you should favour variable bitrate with no ceiling and high quality modes; however, not all players can handle it (some are limited to 160 kbps samples) which may result in slowdowns, or cracks.
- WMA should not be used.

 

[nottheking]

mitch074, and others, are quite correct; we already have a superior format to MP3, and it's called Vorbis. (technically, OGG containers can also hold Theora video and other things, not just Vorbis audio)

Even with a worse encoder, OGG sounds, at worst, COMPARABLE to LAME-encoded MP3s, while at best can achieve near-transparency at bitrates as low as 128kbps. (and still be better than 320kbps non-LAME MP3, at the very least)

When it comes to packing in more and more "extra data," that solution can already be handled on the side of the application; if memory serves, iPods and numerous other MP3 players have been able to carry along all these extras when downloaded by the user, (which aren't that hard to get) and provide convenient display of them. (i.e, many players will automatically show cover art when the song begins)

Failing that, I might think that it wouldn't be all that hard to provide an extension of the OGG format to include these as well; it IS a container format in and of itself, so incorporating "extras" for this use shouldn't be that hard, even while keeping backwards-compatability with older applications and devices not made to handle it. (i.e, they'd just play the audio, and treat the remaining data as "junk")

I'll say that after this format's release, we'll see utterly no mentions of it in the media, past the "OMG it's new!" type. This, as countless of others have said, is doomed to fail even before it starts.

 

[Guest]

"the songs will still play on any MP3 player"

So it's just MP3 with some extra metadata? moving along...