Even with the launch of several newer, more efficient audio encoding methods in the last few years, MP3 still is the winner format in popularity and support. Every computer operating system worth it's salt has at least an option for MP3 playback, often available "out of the box". MP3 can also be played on mini systems, portable players, car players, etc. No matter how better the newcomer formats are, MP3 already gained a lot of momentum and it'll be a long time until it is surpassed.
Being such a popular format and featuring an open specification, it's expected that a multitude of encoders are available for the end user's choice. The purpose of this test is to discover which of the most popular implementations offer highest encoding quality at an average bitrate of 128kbps.
The encoders and parameters tested are:
Anyone interested in MP3 quality, or people that have no interest but would like to help making this test better. You don't need excellent hearing, but some good gear is welcome (headphones are must-have).
Download ABC/HR + the readme file from one of the following locations:
Instructions on how to participate and links to the sample packages are available in the readme.txt file inside the ABC-HR_bin.zip package.
Yes! Thanks to schnofler, any person using an Operating System with Java can participate. Instructions are available inside the ABC/HR package (Readme.txt and java-readme.txt).
The test is scheduled to end on January 25th
UPDATE! The test has been extended and will end on January 31st.
If you have any other question, please get in touch.
Thank-you very much,