open question about audio compression

[TommyWillB]

Originally Posted by ksv

Basically, yes, but I don't know of any music compression system that does that in realtime. Would probably require too much processor power. Perhaps in the future, with 64 bit optimized compression algorithms and all.

One of the interesting differences between MP3 and AAC is the amout of CPU horsepower it takes to encode vs. decode.

I forget which is which (I think AAC is easier to decode), but if the decoding is too intensive, then your computer will sputter trying to play it back.

[bookem]

Originally Posted by ksv

Well, that's not exactly the question here. Once a sound file is AAC compressed, it will always have that loss of sound quality. That's the definition of "lossy". And no matter how good your headphones or speakers are, that isn't going to change that fact.

Depends. To hear the difference between the original and various compression methods you need to listen to the files on a reasonable set of speakers or headphones. Whether it's a good or bad quality file, the difference will be more apparrent on a set of Genelec monitors than it will be on iBook speakers, and nothing is going to change that fact.