Digital Recordings & Sound Quality

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Digital Recordings & Sound Quality SOUND QUALITY 2: DIGITAL BOOGALOO Andrew Justice University of North Texas http://youtu.be/YF0Si5JNH9E Uncompressed Lossless Lossy (raw) Compression Compression Waveform Audio File Apple Lossless Audio Advanced Audio Format (WAV) Codec (ALAC / MP4) Coding (AAC) Audio Interchange Free Lossless Audio MPEG-2 Audio Layer File Format (AIFF) Codec (FLAC) III (MP3) Resource Shorten (SHN) Ogg Vorbis Interchange File Format (RIFF): Windows Media bitstream method for Windows Media Audio (WMA) storing data in chunks Lossless (WMA Lossless) Key: bitrate. Ben Folds: “Zak and Sara” (2001) WAV MP3 @ 192kbps MP3 @ 64 kbps Daft Punk: “Give Life Back to Music” (2013) WAV MP3 @ 192kbps MP3 @ 64kbps Beyoncé: “Freakum Dress” (2006) AAC @ 256kbps MP3 @ 64kbps Sibelius: Symphony No. 1, III. Scherzo (Minnesota Orchestra / Vänskä, 2013) WAV MP3 @ 192kbps MP3 @ 64kbps John Coltrane: “Moment’s Notice” (1957 / 1997 remaster) WAV MP3 @ 192kbps MP3 @ 64kbps WHAT ABOUT ONLINE SERVICES? AAC (lossy) Ogg Vorbis (lossy) AAC+ (lossy) AAC (lossy) Bitrate: 64-128 mono, ~96: Normal quality on Web: 64 free & 192 for 128-384 stereo, 196-512 mobile subscribers Dependent on Dolby 5.1 Internet connection ~160: Standard quality All in-home devices play “High quality uploads on desktop & web 128 audio; mobile Broadband: 128 for creators with player, high quality on devices receive a variety (CD) enterprise quality mobile of different rates DSL: 64 (near CD) internet connections” ~320 (Premium): High depending on the capability of the device Extremely dependent quality on desktop, Dial-up: 20 (FM) & network but never upon the uploader extreme quality on mobile more than 64 Daft Punk: “Give Life Back to Music” (2013) WAV AIFF (uncompressed) 24-bit / 88 kHz Pono: FLAC (lossless), 24-bit / 192kHz THANK YOU! [email protected].
Recommended publications
  • Lossless Audio Codec Comparison
    Contents Introduction 3 1 CD-audio test 4 1.1 CD's used . .4 1.2 Results all CD's together . .4 1.3 Interesting quirks . .7 1.3.1 Mono encoded as stereo (Dan Browns Angels and Demons) . .7 1.3.2 Compressibility . .9 1.4 Convergence of the results . 10 2 High-resolution audio 13 2.1 Nine Inch Nails' The Slip . 13 2.2 Howard Shore's soundtrack for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King . 16 2.3 Wasted bits . 18 3 Multichannel audio 20 3.1 Howard Shore's soundtrack for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King . 20 A Motivation for choosing these CDs 23 B Test setup 27 B.1 Scripting and graphing . 27 B.2 Codecs and parameters used . 27 B.3 MD5 checksumming . 28 C Revision history 30 Bibliography 31 2 Introduction While testing the efficiency of lossy codecs can be quite cumbersome (as results differ for each person), comparing lossless codecs is much easier. As the last well documented and comprehensive test available on the internet has been a few years ago, I thought it would be a good idea to update. Beside comparing with CD-audio (which is often done to assess codec performance) and spitting out a grand total, this comparison also looks at extremes that occurred during the test and takes a look at 'high-resolution audio' and multichannel/surround audio. While the comparison was made to update the comparison-page on the FLAC website, it aims to be fair and unbiased.
    [Show full text]
  • C-Based Hardware Design of Imdct Accelerator for Ogg Vorbis Decoder
    C-BASED HARDWARE DESIGN OF IMDCT ACCELERATOR FOR OGG VORBIS DECODER Shinichi Maeta1, Atsushi Kosaka1, Akihisa Yamada1, 2, Takao Onoye1, Tohru Chiba1, 2, and Isao Shirakawa1 1Department of Information Systems Engineering, 2Sharp Corporation Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, 2613-1 Ichinomoto, Tenri, Nara, 632-8567 Japan Osaka University phone: +81 743 65 2531, fax: +81 743 65 3963, 2-1 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan email: [email protected], phone: +81 6 6879 7808, fax: +81 6 6875 5902, [email protected] email: {maeta, kosaka, onoye, sirakawa}@ist.osaka-u.ac.jp ABSTRACT ARM7TDMI is used as the embedded processor since it has This paper presents hardware design of an IMDCT accelera- come into wide use recently. tor for an Ogg Vorbis decoder using a C-based design sys- tem. Low power implementation of audio codec is important 2. OGG VORBIS CODEC in order to achieve long battery life of portable audio de- 2.1 Ogg Vorbis Overview vices. Through the computational cost analysis of the whole decoding process, it is found that Ogg Vorbis requires higher Figure 1 shows a block diagram of the Ogg Vorbis codec operation frequency of an embedded processor than MPEG processes outlined below. Audio. In order to reduce the CPU load, an accelerator is designed as specific hardware for IMDCT, which is detected MDCT Psycho Audio Remove Channel Acoustic VQ as the most computation-intensive functional block. Real- Signal Floor Coupling time decoding of Ogg Vorbis is achieved with the accelera- FFT Model Ogg Vorbis tor and an embedded processor both run at 36MHz.
    [Show full text]
  • Ardour Export Redesign
    Ardour Export Redesign Thorsten Wilms [email protected] Revision 2 2007-07-17 Table of Contents 1 Introduction 4 4.5 Endianness 8 2 Insights From a Survey 4 4.6 Channel Count 8 2.1 Export When? 4 4.7 Mapping Channels 8 2.2 Channel Count 4 4.8 CD Marker Files 9 2.3 Requested File Types 5 4.9 Trimming 9 2.4 Sample Formats and Rates in Use 5 4.10 Filename Conflicts 9 2.5 Wish List 5 4.11 Peaks 10 2.5.1 More than one format at once 5 4.12 Blocking JACK 10 2.5.2 Files per Track / Bus 5 4.13 Does it have to be a dialog? 10 2.5.3 Optionally store timestamps 5 5 Track Export 11 2.6 General Problems 6 6 MIDI 12 3 Feature Requests 6 7 Steps After Exporting 12 3.1 Multichannel 6 7.1 Normalize 12 3.2 Individual Files 6 7.2 Trim silence 13 3.3 Realtime Export 6 7.3 Encode 13 3.4 Range ad File Export History 7 7.4 Tag 13 3.5 Running a Script 7 7.5 Upload 13 3.6 Export Markers as Text 7 7.6 Burn CD / DVD 13 4 The Current Dialog 7 7.7 Backup / Archiving 14 4.1 Time Span Selection 7 7.8 Authoring 14 4.2 Ranges 7 8 Container Formats 14 4.3 File vs Directory Selection 8 8.1 libsndfile, currently offered for Export 14 4.4 Container Types 8 8.2 libsndfile, also interesting 14 8.3 libsndfile, rather exotic 15 12 Specification 18 8.4 Interesting 15 12.1 Core 18 8.4.1 BWF – Broadcast Wave Format 15 12.2 Layout 18 8.4.2 Matroska 15 12.3 Presets 18 8.5 Problematic 15 12.4 Speed 18 8.6 Not of further interest 15 12.5 Time span 19 8.7 Check (Todo) 15 12.6 CD Marker Files 19 9 Encodings 16 12.7 Mapping 19 9.1 Libsndfile supported 16 12.8 Processing 19 9.2 Interesting 16 12.9 Container and Encodings 19 9.3 Problematic 16 12.10 Target Folder 20 9.4 Not of further interest 16 12.11 Filenames 20 10 Container / Encoding Combinations 17 12.12 Multiplication 20 11 Elements 17 12.13 Left out 21 11.1 Input 17 13 Credits 21 11.2 Output 17 14 Todo 22 1 Introduction 4 1 Introduction 2 Insights From a Survey The basic purpose of Ardour's export functionality is I conducted a quick survey on the Linux Audio Users to create mixdowns of multitrack arrangements.
    [Show full text]
  • Blackberry QNX Multimedia Suite
    PRODUCT BRIEF QNX Multimedia Suite The QNX Multimedia Suite is a comprehensive collection of media technology that has evolved over the years to keep pace with the latest media requirements of current-day embedded systems. Proven in tens of millions of automotive infotainment head units, the suite enables media-rich, high-quality playback, encoding and streaming of audio and video content. The multimedia suite comprises a modular, highly-scalable architecture that enables building high value, customized solutions that range from simple media players to networked systems in the car. The suite is optimized to leverage system-on-chip (SoC) video acceleration, in addition to supporting OpenMAX AL, an industry open standard API for application-level access to a device’s audio, video and imaging capabilities. Overview Consumer’s demand for multimedia has fueled an anywhere- o QNX SDK for Smartphone Connectivity (with support for Apple anytime paradigm, making multimedia ubiquitous in embedded CarPlay and Android Auto) systems. More and more embedded applications have require- o Qt distributions for QNX SDP 7 ments for audio, video and communication processing capabilities. For example, an infotainment system’s media player enables o QNX CAR Platform for Infotainment playback of content, stored either on-board or accessed from an • Support for a variety of external media stores external drive, mobile device or streamed over IP via a browser. Increasingly, these systems also have streaming requirements for Features at a Glance distributing content across a network, for instance from a head Multimedia Playback unit to the digital instrument cluster or rear seat entertainment units. Multimedia is also becoming pervasive in other markets, • Software-based audio CODECs such as medical, industrial, and whitegoods where user interfaces • Hardware accelerated video CODECs are increasingly providing users with a rich media experience.
    [Show full text]
  • Lossless Audio Codec Comparison
    Contents Introduction 3 1 Test setup 4 1.1 Scripting and graphing . .4 1.2 Codecs and parameters used . .5 1.3 WMA, RealAudio and ALAC . .6 2 CD-audio test 8 2.1 CD's used . .8 2.2 Results all CD's together . .9 2.3 Interesting quirks . 12 2.3.1 Mono encoded as stereo (Dan Browns Angels and Demons) 12 2.4 Convergence of the results . 15 3 High-resolution audio 17 3.1 Nine Inch Nails' The Slip . 17 3.2 Howard Shore's soundtrack for The Lord of the Rings: The Re- turn of the King . 20 3.3 Wasted bits . 22 4 Multichannel audio 24 4.1 Howard Shore's soundtrack for The Lord of the Rings: The Re- turn of the King . 24 A Motivation for choosing these CDs 27 Bibliography 31 2 Introduction While testing the efficiency of lossy codecs can be quite cumbersome (as results differ for each person), comparing lossless codecs is much easier. As the last well documented and comprehensive test available on the internet has been a few years ago, I thought it would be a good idea to update. Beside comparing with CD-audio (which is often done to assess codec perfor- mance) and spitting out a grand total, this comparison also looks at extremes that occurred during the test and takes a look at 'high-resolution audio' and multichannel/surround audio. While the comparison was made to update the comparison-page on the FLAC website, it aims to be fair and unbiased. Because of this, you'll probably won't find anything that looks like conclusions: test results are displayed and analysed, but there is no judgement or choice made.
    [Show full text]
  • Detail Streaming Support Protocols
    Encore+ User Guide Detail Streaming Support Protocols Supported Audio Codecs Supported Container Formats • MP3 • WAV • AAC • M4A • FLAC • OGG • LPCM/WAV/AIFF • AIFF • ALAC Supported Protocols • WMA, WMA9 • SHOUTcast • Ogg Vorbis • HTTPS Supported Playlist • WMA streaming • ASX • RTSP/SDP • M3U • PLS • WPL 43 Detail Audio Codec Support Encore+ User Guide Supported MP3 encoding parameters • Sampling rates [kHz]: 32, 44.1, 48 • Resolution [bits]: 16 • Bit rate [kbps]: 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 80, 96, 112, 128, 160, 192, 224, 256, 320, VBR • Channels: stereo, joined stereo, mono • MP3PRO playback • MP3 File extensions: *.mp3 • Decoding of ID3v1, ID3v2, MP3 ID tags including optional album art in .jpeg format up to 2 megapixels • Gapless MP3: Playback is gapless if the container provides LAME encoder delay and padding tags. Supported Vorbis encoding parameters • Sampling rates [kHz]: 32, 44.1, 48 • Resolution [bits]: 16 • Nominal bit rate [kbps] (quality level): 80 (Q1), 96 (Q2), 112 (Q3), 128 (Q4), 160 (Q5), 192 (Q6), • Channels: stereo • The audio player supports reading of Vorbis content stored in Ogg containers. Supported file name extensions: *.ogg and *.oga. • The audio player supports decoding of Vorbis comments. NOTE: There is no specification for tag names. The system relies on the OSS implementation. • Tag names decoded: TITLE, ALBUM, ARTIST, GENRE. • Binary data (e.g. for album art) is not supported. • The audio player supports gapless Vorbis playback. Supported FLAC encoding parameters • Sampling rates [kHz]: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192 • Resolution [bits]: 16, 24 • Channels: stereo, mono • The audio player supports reading of FLAC content stored in native FLAC containers.
    [Show full text]
  • (A/V Codecs) REDCODE RAW (.R3D) ARRIRAW
    What is a Codec? Codec is a portmanteau of either "Compressor-Decompressor" or "Coder-Decoder," which describes a device or program capable of performing transformations on a data stream or signal. Codecs encode a stream or signal for transmission, storage or encryption and decode it for viewing or editing. Codecs are often used in videoconferencing and streaming media solutions. A video codec converts analog video signals from a video camera into digital signals for transmission. It then converts the digital signals back to analog for display. An audio codec converts analog audio signals from a microphone into digital signals for transmission. It then converts the digital signals back to analog for playing. The raw encoded form of audio and video data is often called essence, to distinguish it from the metadata information that together make up the information content of the stream and any "wrapper" data that is then added to aid access to or improve the robustness of the stream. Most codecs are lossy, in order to get a reasonably small file size. There are lossless codecs as well, but for most purposes the almost imperceptible increase in quality is not worth the considerable increase in data size. The main exception is if the data will undergo more processing in the future, in which case the repeated lossy encoding would damage the eventual quality too much. Many multimedia data streams need to contain both audio and video data, and often some form of metadata that permits synchronization of the audio and video. Each of these three streams may be handled by different programs, processes, or hardware; but for the multimedia data stream to be useful in stored or transmitted form, they must be encapsulated together in a container format.
    [Show full text]
  • Ogg Audio Codec Download
    Ogg audio codec download click here to download To obtain the source code, please see the xiph download page. To get set up to listen to Ogg Vorbis music, begin by selecting your operating system above. Check out the latest royalty-free audio codec from Xiph. To obtain the source code, please see the xiph download page. Ogg Vorbis is Vorbis is everywhere! Download music Music sites Donate today. Get Set Up To Listen: Windows. Playback: These DirectShow filters will let you play your Ogg Vorbis files in Windows Media Player, and other OggDropXPd: A graphical encoder for Vorbis. Download Ogg Vorbis Ogg Vorbis is a lossy audio codec which allows you to create and play Ogg Vorbis files using the command-line. The following end-user download links are provided for convenience: The www.doorway.ru DirectShow filters support playing of files encoded with Vorbis, Speex, Ogg Codecs for Windows, version , ; project page - for other. Vorbis Banner Xiph Banner. In our effort to bring Ogg: Media container. This is our native format and the recommended container for all Xiph codecs. Easy, fast, no torrents, no waiting, no surveys, % free, working www.doorway.ru Free Download Ogg Vorbis ACM Codec - A new audio compression codec. Ogg Codecs is a set of encoders and deocoders for Ogg Vorbis, Speex, Theora and FLAC. Once installed you will be able to play Vorbis. Ogg Vorbis MSACM Codec was added to www.doorway.ru by Bjarne (). Type: Freeware. Updated: Audiotags: , 0x Used to play digital music, such as MP3, VQF, AAC, and other digital audio formats.
    [Show full text]
  • Multimedia Compression Techniques for Streaming
    International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering (IJITEE) ISSN: 2278-3075, Volume-8 Issue-12, October 2019 Multimedia Compression Techniques for Streaming Preethal Rao, Krishna Prakasha K, Vasundhara Acharya most of the audio codes like MP3, AAC etc., are lossy as Abstract: With the growing popularity of streaming content, audio files are originally small in size and thus need not have streaming platforms have emerged that offer content in more compression. In lossless technique, the file size will be resolutions of 4k, 2k, HD etc. Some regions of the world face a reduced to the maximum possibility and thus quality might be terrible network reception. Delivering content and a pleasant compromised more when compared to lossless technique. viewing experience to the users of such locations becomes a The popular codecs like MPEG-2, H.264, H.265 etc., make challenge. audio/video streaming at available network speeds is just not feasible for people at those locations. The only way is to use of this. FLAC, ALAC are some audio codecs which use reduce the data footprint of the concerned audio/video without lossy technique for compression of large audio files. The goal compromising the quality. For this purpose, there exists of this paper is to identify existing techniques in audio-video algorithms and techniques that attempt to realize the same. compression for transmission and carry out a comparative Fortunately, the field of compression is an active one when it analysis of the techniques based on certain parameters. The comes to content delivering. With a lot of algorithms in the play, side outcome would be a program that would stream the which one actually delivers content while putting less strain on the audio/video file of our choice while the main outcome is users' network bandwidth? This paper carries out an extensive finding out the compression technique that performs the best analysis of present popular algorithms to come to the conclusion of the best algorithm for streaming data.
    [Show full text]
  • Name Synopsis Description
    SHNTOOL(1) local SHNTOOL(1) NAME shntool − a multi-purpose WAV Edata processing and reporting utility SYNOPSIS shntool mode ... shntool [CORE OPTION] DESCRIPTION shntool is a command-line utility to viewand/or modify WAV Edata and properties. It runs in several dif- ferent operating modes, and supports various lossless audio formats. shntool is comprised of three parts - its core, mode modules, and format modules. This helps to makethe code easier to maintain, as well as aid other programmers in developing newfunctionality.The distribution archive contains a file named ’modules.howto’ that describes howtocreate a newmode or format module, for those so inclined. Mode modules shntool performs various functions on WAV Edata through the use of mode modules. The core of shntool is simply a wrapper around the mode modules. In fact, when shntool is run with a valid mode as its first argument, it essentially runs the main procedure for the specified mode, and quits. shntool comes with sev- eral built-in modes, described below: len Displays length, size and properties of PCM WAV Edata fix Fixes sector-boundary problems with CD-quality PCM WAV Edata hash Computes the MD5 or SHA1 fingerprint of PCM WAV Edata pad Pads CD(hyquality files not aligned on sector boundaries with silence join Joins PCM WAV Edata from multiple files into one split Splits PCM WAV Edata from one file into multiple files cat Writes PCM WAV Edata from one or more files to the terminal cmp Compares PCM WAV Edata in twofiles cue Generates a CUE sheet or split points from a set of files conv Converts files from one format to another info Displays detailed information about PCM WAV Edata strip Strips extra RIFF chunks and/or writes canonical headers gen Generates CD-quality PCM WAV Edata files containing silence trim Trims PCM WAV Esilence from the ends of files Formore information on the meaning of the various command-line options for each mode, see the MODE- SPECIFIC OPTIONS section below.
    [Show full text]
  • Lossless Compression of Audio Data
    CHAPTER 12 Lossless Compression of Audio Data ROBERT C. MAHER OVERVIEW Lossless data compression of digital audio signals is useful when it is necessary to minimize the storage space or transmission bandwidth of audio data while still maintaining archival quality. Available techniques for lossless audio compression, or lossless audio packing, generally employ an adaptive waveform predictor with a variable-rate entropy coding of the residual, such as Huffman or Golomb-Rice coding. The amount of data compression can vary considerably from one audio waveform to another, but ratios of less than 3 are typical. Several freeware, shareware, and proprietary commercial lossless audio packing programs are available. 12.1 INTRODUCTION The Internet is increasingly being used as a means to deliver audio content to end-users for en­ tertainment, education, and commerce. It is clearly advantageous to minimize the time required to download an audio data file and the storage capacity required to hold it. Moreover, the expec­ tations of end-users with regard to signal quality, number of audio channels, meta-data such as song lyrics, and similar additional features provide incentives to compress the audio data. 12.1.1 Background In the past decade there have been significant breakthroughs in audio data compression using lossy perceptual coding [1]. These techniques lower the bit rate required to represent the signal by establishing perceptual error criteria, meaning that a model of human hearing perception is Copyright 2003. Elsevier Science (USA). 255 AU rights reserved. 256 PART III / APPLICATIONS used to guide the elimination of excess bits that can be either reconstructed (redundancy in the signal) orignored (inaudible components in the signal).
    [Show full text]
  • Game Audio the Role of Audio in Games
    the gamedesigninitiative at cornell university Lecture 18 Game Audio The Role of Audio in Games Engagement Entertains the player Music/Soundtrack Enhances the realism Sound effects Establishes atmosphere Ambient sounds Other reasons? the gamedesigninitiative 2 Game Audio at cornell university The Role of Audio in Games Feedback Indicate off-screen action Indicate player should move Highlight on-screen action Call attention to an NPC Increase reaction time Players react to sound faster Other reasons? the gamedesigninitiative 3 Game Audio at cornell university History of Sound in Games Basic Sounds • Arcade games • Early handhelds • Early consoles the gamedesigninitiative 4 Game Audio at cornell university Early Sounds: Wizard of Wor the gamedesigninitiative 5 Game Audio at cornell university History of Sound in Games Recorded Basic Sound Sounds Samples Sample = pre-recorded audio • Arcade games • Starts w/ MIDI • Early handhelds • 5th generation • Early consoles (Playstation) • Early PCs the gamedesigninitiative 6 Game Audio at cornell university History of Sound in Games Recorded Some Basic Sound Variability Sounds Samples of Samples • Arcade games • Starts w/ MIDI • Sample selection • Early handhelds • 5th generation • Volume • Early consoles (Playstation) • Pitch • Early PCs • Stereo pan the gamedesigninitiative 7 Game Audio at cornell university History of Sound in Games Recorded Some More Basic Sound Variability Variability Sounds Samples of Samples of Samples • Arcade games • Starts w/ MIDI • Sample selection • Multiple
    [Show full text]