MP3 Obsolete Already?

[admin]

While the debate rages on (sort of) regarding MP3 vs AAC vs Ogg vs LAME vs (insert CODEC here), one new format seeks to differentiate itself as the new "Music 2.0" system. This month, the Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) will decide if MT9 - the new kid on the block - will be adopted as a new international standard.


Discuss "MP3 Obsolete Already?" here. Read the article.

[jinjuku]

Let me guess, along with improved frequency and headroom, DRM will be part of the standard...

[HeXetic]

While the debate rages on (sort of) regarding MP3 vs AAC vs Ogg vs LAME vs (insert CODEC here)

LAME is encoding software for creating MP3s, not a codec in its own right. It's sort of like saying "Cars vs Trucks vs SUVs vs Toyota vs (insert vehicle here)".

[edmcanuck]

This article is just a little strange for me in that it's about the most fringe, unheard-of, uncared-about format available. There is zero chance that anyone will ever give two drops about it. It has less than zero chance of ever becoming a format that anyone would use. Writing something about it taking over MP3 is... preposterous.

[MDS]

I read a similar article on msnbc today and the article said that the advantage of MP3 is a higher quality digital file and it will be hard to get people to migrate away from the CD. Does that make any sense?

Now while I will say that it is very difficult, if not impossible, on most types of music to tell the difference between an MP3 encoded at a high bitrate from uncompressed PCM, it is not that the MP3 is higher 'quality'. It is about convenience, small file sizes, and most importantly the ubiquity of the format - every device under the sun supports MP3. MP3 has become synonymous with digital audio and the public is not going to quickly switch away from that. If the iPod can't or won't (per an Apple corporate decision) support the new format, it is dead in the water at least until such time as some other player supplants the iPod as the most used portable digital audio device.

[corey]

LAME is encoding software for creating MP3s, not a codec in its own right. It's sort of like saying "Cars vs Trucks vs SUVs vs Toyota vs (insert vehicle here)".

LAME Ain't an Mp3 Encoder

[Clint DeBoer]

Writing something about it taking over MP3 is... preposterous.

What about writing about someone writing about it?

[edmcanuck]

LAME Ain't an Mp3 Encoder

Uhh... ya, it actually is.

[mouettus]

LAME Ain't an Mp3 Encoder

ah babies!


"At one time, LAME was simply a set of patches against the separately distributed ISO demonstration source, hence the claim that it "is not an encoder". The ISO code had a restrictive license but was available without charge.

In May 2000, the LAME project reimplemented the last of the ISO source code, and thus LAME was then a totally new implementation — compiling recent versions of LAME no longer requires the ISO source code.

As recent LAME releases are no longer a patch against ISO encoder code, LAME is now itself an MP3 encoder; the LAME acronym has become a misnomer."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAME

[mouettus]

MT9? 6 layers? ....... naaaaah!

they had mp3 surround and my mustache didn't even moved for that.

All I care for is if they could remove those damn low-bandwidth files, should they be mp3, wma, abc or xyz!! They are really destroying my music enjoyment! I downloaded ONCE from a store... thinking it would be lossless... NO! Now I had to go back to HMV to buy the fn album over again to be able to enjoy the full dynamic range of the recorded music.

Listening to 320kbps mp3s or FLACs though is a real digital enjoyment!