Private Listening Tests
Individual hydrogenaudio members have from time to time carried out their own private listening tests. Though individual perception of different kinds of artifacts varies from person to person, these tests provide some additional data points for comparing lossy encoders.
Single-format Tests
AAC
| Date | Title Samples |
Performed by | Codecs | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-12-09 | Ahead vs Apple 128-kbps Classical |
Guruboolez | iTunes 4.1.052, 4.7.042; Nero 2.5.9.7, 2.9.998 CBR, 2.9.998 VBR |
HA Thread |
| 2005-09-05 | 48- & 64-kbps HE-AAC Classical |
Guruboolez | CT aacPlus v.2 48- & 64-kbps Helix 11.0.0.1897, Nero 3.2.0.20 VBR |
HA Thread |
| 2013-09-19 | 96 & 128 kbps AAC-LC | Kamedo2 | FFmpeg r.55212 abr FFmpeg r.55212+v4 patch abr FDK AAC 0.1.1 cbr |
HA Thread |
MP3
| Date | Title Samples |
Performed by | Codecs | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-01-18 | Dithering Test (1) Special |
Guruboolez | MP3 Decoders: MAD, LAME, Fraunhofer, foobar2000 |
HA Thread |
| 2004-11-15 | 130-kbps LAME rjamorim |
Guruboolez | LAME 3.90.3 ABR, 3.96.1 ABR, 3.96.1 VBR | HA Thread |
| 2005-01-11 | 128-kbps LAME ff123 |
Guruboolez | LAME 3.90.3, 3.96.1, 3.97a5 | HA Thread |
| 2005-10-17 | LAME 3.98 -V5 Classical |
Guruboolez | LAME 3.98: -V5, -V5 --vbr-new, -V5 --vbr-new --athaa-sensitivity 1 |
HA Thread |
| 2012-09-03 | LAME | IgorC | LAME 3.97:-V5 --vbr-new, 3.98.4 -V 5.7, 3.99.5 -V 4.99 | HA Thread |
| 2013-05-17 | LAME | Kamedo2 | LAME3100i V2+, LAME 3.99.5 -V1, LAME 3.98.4 224kbps cbr q0, Helix v5.1 VBR -V146, BladeEnc(Low Anchor) | HA Thread |
Notes: (1) Performed under extreme listening conditions not reproducible on daily listening.
MPC
| Date | Title Samples |
Performed by | Codecs | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-06-18 | --standard Classical |
Guruboolez | 1.01j, 1.15u | HA Thread |
Vorbis
| Date | Title Samples |
Performed by | Codecs | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-06-18 | 128-kbps ff123/rjamorim |
Guruboolez | GT2 & PCVS | HA Thread |
| 2004-06-17 | 160-kbps Special |
Guruboolez | CVS, GT3b2, aoTuVb2, aoTuVb2+QK | HA Thread |
| 2004-02-05 | -q4 Transients |
Guruboolez | RC3 2002-03, RC3 2002-04, 1.01, 1.01 QK2 | HA Thread |
WMA
| Date | Title Samples |
Performed by | Codecs | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-06-18 | 128-kbps ff123/rjamorim |
Guruboolez | WMA9 Standard & Pro | HA Thread |
Opus
| Date | Title Samples |
Performed by | Codecs | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-04-21 | 96 kbps | IgorC | Opus 1.0.2, 1.1a, 1.1post-a | HA thread |
Multiformat Tests
| Date | Title Samples |
Performed by | Codecs | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-10-11 | 130-kbps Classical (Baroque) |
Guruboolez | AAC (FAAC, PsyTel, Nero, QuickTime) MP3 LAME 3.90.3, MPC 1.14, Vorbis GT3b1, WMA9 Pro |
HA Thread |
| 2003-12-13 | 128-kbps Classical |
Guruboolez | AAC (iTunes, Nero, FAAC), Vorbis 1.01, WMA9, MP3 LAME 3.93.1 |
HA Thread |
| 2004-07-12 | 175-kbps Classical |
Guruboolez | Vorbis Megamix -q5,50, -q5,99 -q6,00 MP3 LAME 3.97a3 -V3, -V2, MPC -q5 |
|
| 2004-12-09 | 130-kbps Classical |
Guruboolez | AAC Nero 2.9.9.998 Vorbis aoTuVb3 |
|
| 2005-03-05 | 140-kbps VBR Classical |
Guruboolez | AAC Nero 3.0.0.4, Vorbis 1.1, QK28 | |
| 2005-03-17 | 256-kbps Transcode from MP3 subset of ff123 |
Guruboolez | AAC iTunes 4.7, MP3 LAME 3.97a8 MPC 1.15u, Vorbis aoTuVb3, WavPack 4.2b3 Lossy |
|
| 2005-07-11 | 80-kbps Various |
Guruboolez | LAME MP3, AAC-HE and -LC, Vorbis aoTuV, WMA Std |
HA Thread |
| 2005-08-09 | 96-kbps Classical & Various |
Guruboolez | LAME MP3, AAC,Vorbis aoTuV (Lancer), MPC, WMA | Hardware.fr thread (in French) |
| 2005-08-22 | 180-kbps Classical |
Guruboolez | AAC, MP3, MPC, Vorbis aoTuVb4 | HA Thread |
| 2014-02-01 | 128-kbps Various |
Kamedo2 | AAC (FDK, FAAC, FFmpeg native), MP3 (LAME), AC3 | HA Thread |
| 2015-07-21 | 96-kbps Various |
Kamedo2 | AAC (Nero, FFmpeg native), MP3 (LAME), Opus | HA Thread |
| 2019-04-04 | 192-kbps Various |
Kamedo2 | MP3 (LAME), Opus | HA Thread |