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[lise]

I need to give a brief (2 line max) description of MPC, preferably as contrasted with the other encoding options (mp3, ogg, etc). I've just spent too much time reading posts, looking it up, and I can't really afford to get stuck on this one thing. I'm sure there are gurus out there who swear by this format.  So, for my own info to help formulate the description:

Why should I use MPC over MP3 or OGG?
Is it as universal as MP3?
And what are those encoding settings (thumb, radio, standard, xtreme, insane)?
Are they the equivalent of, say, 96, 128, 160, etc?

thanks

[thenoob1]

Mpc is a mpeg 1 layer 2 codec. A former state of Mpeg 1 layer 3 codec(.mp3). It is the best lossy format over 200kbits, some say over 128kbits. It is perfect if you want to build up a library with a lossy format but consider that there isn't a hadware support...so you have to encode all songs for your ipod, etc. The only reason why to use is because you haven't enough space for lossless but you want the best audio quality you can get. I would use quality settings from -5 to -7
Here:

--quality 5
(Previously "--standard", ~170 kbit/s, typical 142 ... 184)

--quality 6
(Previously "--xtreme", ~200 kbit/s, typical 168 ... 212)

--quality 7
(Previously "--insane", ~220 kbit/s)


Note that --quality 5 is transparent for most test samples.
Higher settings can provide a quality headroom, however, you should start off with 5.

But in my opinion ogg and mp3 are the better lossy formats because of their better support and ogg nearly reaches the transparency at the same time and it has also better support. But lossless is the king anyway :-)

tn1

PS: Note that Mpc is a pure vbr codec.... so there aren't constant values like 192, 128kbit etc....only ranges of bitrates.

[Alex B]

I need to give a brief (2 line max) description of MPC, preferably as contrasted with the other encoding options (mp3, ogg, etc).

A quote from the official site (www.musepack.net)

What is Musepack?

Musepack is an audio compression format with a strong emphasis on high quality. It's not lossless, but it is designed for transparency, so that you won't be able to hear differences between the original wave file and the much smaller MPC file.

It is based on the MPEG-1 Layer-2 / MP2 algorithms, but since 1997 it has rapidly developed and vastly improved and is now at an advanced stage in which it contains heavily optimized and patentless code.

In any case, you should not mention that it is an MPEG-1 Layer-2 format (MP2). Musepack files are not compatible with the MPEG-1 Layer-2 standard. Musepack must be decoded with a dedicated decoder.

Why should I use MPC over MP3 or OGG? Is it as universal as MP3?

Probably you should not use it for new files if you don't have any particular reason. The latest Ogg Vorbis and LAME MP3 codecs (which are included with MC12) have advanced a lot and are practically as good as Musepack. Ogg and MP3 are supported better outside the PC player programs. However, many users have big archives of already encoded Musepack files.

And what are those encoding settings (thumb, radio, standard, xtreme, insane)?
Are they the equivalent of, say, 96, 128, 160, etc?

I have seen for example this estimate:

Thumb 90 kbps
Radio 130 kbps
Standard 170 kbps
Xtreme 205 kbps
Insane 240 kbps

- but you really cannot predict that as thenoob1 said. The resulting average bitrate varies a lot depending on the encoded material.

[lise]

Thanks guys. That helped.