.AAC (.m4a) Mpeg4 Audio: The NEW Standard

[RockSTaR]

I agree that mp3 is good, but Mpeg 4 is better. I think that in the next few years, the .m4a format will take off. MP3 became popular due to files being shared in this format. The same will have to happen with .m4a, but it's well on it's way as both iTunes & Winamp can encode to it and support it. MP3 is still very good, but is a dated technology. MPEG 4 audio is impressive because there is no licensing required, it is basically an improved version of the MP3 codec (although it uses totally different algorithms & standards). Also with the popularity of iPod the format should continue to grow. What most people don't understand is that when you use AAC (.m4a), you are not committing simply to APPLE. Mpeg 4 Audio is NOT proprietary, and the .m4a container has considerably more tagging options than MP3 ID3 v2 tags. Tagging is much better, because .m4a is a "container" for the AAC audio stream. MP3 was not planned like this. ID3 Tags are just headers written to the actual music stream. The use of container files is very innovative and very good planning. I want to see the .m4a format continue to grow and become the new standard (with players AlWAYS back-supporting all variation of MP3 - where it all began). Change for the better is good. Technology will change, improvements will be made, this is inevitable. All .m4a needs is a bit more software & player support. In order for this to happen there has to be a large need to support the playback of .m4a files. How can we make Mpeg 4 audio the new standard? Easy! Simply by encoding our music to this new improved format. The purpose of this post is to educate new users about the rewards of using .AAC, and how it improves on MP3 technology. This is not to "knock" MP3 or any other format in any way (with the exception of Microsoft's PROPRIETARY Windows Media Audio (.wma) format). :)

Why use AAC?
1.) Improved sound quality at lower bitrates compared to MP3, with smaller file sizes.
2.)More accurate sound reproduction during compression. AAC acutally uses 3 separate algorithms when compressing and audio stream - one for the highs, one for the mids, and another for the lows. This method allows for more accurate sound reproduction throughout the audio spectrum.
3.)No Licensing fees!
4.)A REAL pre-planned tagging standard. As I said before, the AAC audio stream is embedded in a .m4a container. This container has advanced tagging capabilites and is much safer and more efficient than the way MP3 ID3 tags work.
5.)Bookmarkable! The file extension of a .m4a file can be changed to .m4b to make the file bookmarkable. This is excellent for audiobooks and is a really cool feature.
6.) Various extensions make sense:
.m4a - an unprotected Mpeg4 audio file
.m4b - a bookmarkable Mpeg4 audio file
.m4p - a protected Mpeg4 audio file (ITMS)
7.)Newer, Improved technology that recognizes the flaws of MP3 and improves on them.

Obstacles:
1.) Currently supported by very few portable audio devices.
2.) Limited software playback support (iTunes, WinAmp, Foobar 2000)
3.) Users don't understand AAC, the fact that it is not proprietay, and refuse to believe that it is better on paper than MP3.
Just because VHS became the standard didn't keep technology from advancing and DVD becoming the standard.

Technology will continue to grow and new things will come. It's time to stop living in the past and live in the future.

Some Helpful Sites:

www.m4a.com
http://www.tnt.uni-hannover.de/project/mpeg/audio/faq/mpeg4.html
http://www.mpeg4ip.net/

If this post seems informative and useful, please sticky this. Thanks

[archurban]

yeah, even though so many people still prefer mp3 format, I agree with you that AAC is much better. that's why ITMS has reason why it provides 128 kbps AAC (m4p) for users because it is enough to make clear sound quality.

by the way, one of music download site www.allofmp3.com provides few different format for customers like mp3, AAC(m4a), ogg, WMV. so if you pick album, you can choose one of three options (lower 128 AAC, higher 192, CD quality(loseless) from AAC format). other format can be applied for the same system.

[kornchild2002]

Not to start a digital audio formats war, as there are way too many on the internet and there have been way too many depates about this topic on the ilounge forums, but I have a few things to say.

The mpeg-4 AAC format is a really nice format as it offers the ease of use with the iTunes digital jukebox (the best jukebox service out there, and it is free) and the iPod portable audio player which is the number one selling music device. There are probably numerous people out there that have their music encoded in the mpeg-4 AAC format because it is the iTunes default and they didn't bother to change the settings before importing their CD's. The same thing happened when Windows XP was shipping with new pc's and the new version of Windows Media Player came pre-installed. Many people were encoding their music into the protected wma format because it was the Windows Media Player default setting.

The mpeg-4 AAC format is gaining quite a foot on the computer world thanks to the popularity of the iPod and iTunes. However, I do not think that the mp3 format is going anywhere and it will take quite a bit of time (at least 3 years) before the mpeg-4 AAC format becomes the standard. The mp3 format is not a proprietary format and liscensing fees must not be paid (unless you go through Froughnhaufer, sorry for spelling). The 128kbps mpeg-4 AAC format does beat the mp3 format when it comes comparing the bitrate to bitrate of each file below the 192kbps bitrate. But the LAME mp3 encoding community has made giant strides when it comes to the mp3 format. In recent tests, songs were encoded into different file formats all at about the same bitrate. There were 128kbps mpeg-4 AAC songs (iTunes), WMA, ATRAC3 (Sony), and 132kbps VBR Lame mp3 (version 3.96.1). The results showed that there was not a statistical difference between the iTunes 128kbps mpeg-4 AAC format and the Lame mp3 files. Some songs were judged better through the AAC format while others were judged better through the mp3 format.

The mp3 format is still changing as the new version of the Lame mp3 encoder (3.97) will probably surpass the iTunes AAC format in terms of quaility, that is until Apple releases a new version of iTunes and QuickTime. Then the Lame community will release another version of the Lame mp3 encoder to pass the iTunes AAC format, and the cycle will keep going until either the mp3 becomes extinct or the AAC format dies as many new formats do.

Currently, I still say that the mp3 format is better as pretty much every digital audio device (including car CD decks) can play mp3s. I have seen more and more car CD decks that are compatible with the iTunes AAC format and there are now even some DVD players that can play the format. The mpeg-4 AAC format will gain when more hardware supports it as there are already close to one hundred software titles that can play, edit, transfer, etc. the music format. There are litterally thousands of software titles that are compatible with the mp3 format.

When directly comparing the two formats, only certain bitrates can be used. Bitrates below the 192kbps line can be compared but once bitrates reach 192kbps and higher the two formats sound the same. The mpeg-4 AAC format is light years ahead of the Fraunhaufer mp3 encoder even at the 192kbps bitrate. Some say that they can hear differences at the 192kbps bitrate and above when comparing the Lame mp3 encoder and the iTunes AAC format but I think they are full of it (just my opinion, maybe some people can hear a difference but they must have areally good audio equipment).

With all that said I would really like to see the mpeg-4 AAC format step up and take the reigns as the audio standard. Change is not always good but in terms of technology change is almost always good. I use the mpeg-4 AAC format simply because it is built into iTunes and it does not take up a lot of space at the 128kbps bitrate. I have a new notebook and the HD is filling up fast with movies, music videos, and games. I have only about 20GB of storage for my music and the 128kbps mpeg-4 AAC format fills that with space to spare.

[RockSTaR]

Good review there. As I said, I'm not knocking mp3 or anything. LAME is a very good encoder, and in my opinion, the ONLY GOOD MP3 ENCODER around these days. I've use many, Electronic Cosmo, Blade, LAME, LAME VBR. I'm a music junky! :) I got into AAC when I learned about the 3 separate algorithms for more accurate sound reproduction. You have to agree that the .m4a container is good. MP3 was not planned to be used as it was, hence the lack of a container for the stream. ID3 v2 was the biggest breakthrough for MP3. MP3 is a pioneer and will always be supported. However, AAC does look very promising. This is turning out to be a good discussion, rather than a format war. This is what I wanted - FACTS being discussed, not I like AAC (or whatever format) because I use it! :)

[bdb]

For the forseeable future, encoding all your music in AAC basically ties you to one DAP vendor. Sounds kind of...proprietary, doesn't it? WMA may be proprietary, but its much more widely supported.

And lets not forget about DRM - most content owners insist on this for online-purchased music. Wrapping a standard protocol in a propretary DRM wrapper basically negates any standardization. As long as Apple insists on keeping its DRM to itself (which appears to be its direction), it is far more proprietary than WMA (WMA DRM servers are freely available, and all but two DRMed music stores use WMA).

It may sound like I'm pushing WMA, but I'm not - it also limits your options (its particularly bad for iPod owners, obviously!). I'm just making the point that "standard" doesn't imply common implementation, and "proprietary" doesn't imply a lack of interoperability. The best choice is the codec that has both - MP3.

When DAPs came with very little space and low bitrates were common, highly-efficient codecs were important. These days, its common to use higher bitrates (except for iTMS), so the benefit is reduced. And as far as the container goes, most people don't know or care about such things as long as they work, and ID3 works fine for most people.

[kornchild2002]

In terms of the iTunes Music Store, the DRM used is proprietary to Apple but they would be willing to "lease" it to other companies for the right price. Apple does not want to give up their technology for free. The mpeg-4 AAC format may seem more proprietary than the WMA format as the iPod is the only mass popular digital audio device that supports that file format. However, the PSP now supports that audio format and there was an older Philips mp3 player that was compatible with that file format. There will be more players entering the market that are compatible with the mpeg-4 AAC format soon enough. The amount of WMA DRM compatible DAP's has drastically increased since Napster started their pay as you go service. Rightfully so, they were backed by Microsoft using their DRM software and their audio format and the DAP companies had to work with Microsoft/Napster to get the file format to work with their players.

The approach of Apple has always been different than Microsoft (and Napster, MusicMatch Music Service, MSN Music Service, Yahoo Music service, and the list can go on forever). Apple wanted to release a jukebox, music store, and DAP for their customers (ie Apple computer owners). Once they stretched into the Windows market it pretty much remained the same, make products for their software. Microsoft has a plan of signing up numerous companies to use their file format and try to drown out the competition (ie Apple) in terms of pure numbers.

That is why, when you walk into Best Buy, you see 15 other DAP's compatible with the Microsoft DRM service yet you see 4 iPods on display (mini, shuffle, 20GB, and 60GB). It is kinda scary what Apple has done. They came out with a Mac OS only product that was extremely easy to use with great software. The popularity grew in the Mac community so much that Windows users started wanting the iPod. Now Apple has a strong hold on the market.

As long as Apple maintains their hold of the market the mpeg-4 AAC format will remain a counter file format to the mp3. More and more companies are now using the mpeg-4 standard though. Nero's audio codec is based on the mpeg-4 standard, Sony's new ATRAC3 format is based on the mpeg-4 standard. The Real online music store and CD ripping service is based on the mpeg-4 standard. There are many more companies jumping on the mpeg-4 bandwagon.

[bdb]

Originally posted by kornchild2002
There will be more players entering the market that are compatible with the mpeg-4 AAC format soon enough.And on what do you base this? Have there been any such announcements. AFAIK, one player has added AAC support - the PSP, which is primarily a game device. Only one other DAP has ever supported it, and as you say it was discontinued. No HD-based DAP has ever supported it, other than the iPod. How is that a trend?

I don't see how the fact (if it is a fact) that Real and ATRAC formats are based on AAC means much, since they're also proprietary. If anything, the trend is toward proprietary codecs.

I've had to re-rip my entire CD collection because I picked a codec that isn't universally supported, and it was a real pain. All the tags had to be edited to the way I like them, some had to be entered manually...it was a huge effort. This is what you're advising others to go through, on the gamble that AAC will for some reason start showing up on many different players.

If AAC sounded significantly better than MP3 at the typical ~192kbps rate that is common these days, it might be worth the risk, but as others have pointed out it really doesn't.

[kornchild2002]

Originally posted by bdb
And on what do you base this? Have there been any such announcements.

I pulled this information on the recent gain of using the mpeg-4 audio format, even by people who don't plan on getting iPods and don't use iTunes. The market will eventually catch up to the demand, it always does. RealPlayer and Sony do not use a proprietary version of the mpeg-4 standard. RealPlayer uses the same standard as Apple and Sony modified it to their liking but it is still based on a standard. Sony's newer DAPs (hard drive based) can both the ATRAC3 (Sony's modified audio mpeg-4 audio encoder) and audio based on the mpeg-4 standard.

Anyone can make a audio encoder based on the mpeg-4 standard but there are still not many DAPs that play mpeg-4 audio. The new, non-Microsoft based, portable video players can even play mpeg-4 songs and iTunes mpeg-4 AAC songs. Still, the amount of mpeg-4 audio compatible players is small when compared to the amount of WMA and mp3 compatible DAPs.

The mpeg-4 standard still has a ways to go but it has already made a huge splash in the realm of video. All of the non-Microsoft based portable video players can play mpeg-4 video, the PSP plays mpeg-4 video, QuickTime 7 uses the mpeg-4 standard, divx and xvid have always been based on the mpeg-4 standard, and the list can go on and on.

mp3 is not going anywhere, neither is mpeg-4 AAC as long as companies such as Apple make their DAP's compatible with it. mpeg-4 uses newer technology but it always takes time for technology to adapt to the market.

Personally, I still preach mp3 as being the audio standard as it is a universal file format. In the next three or four years things may change for the mpeg-4 AAC format and it may become the standard. If Apple continues to dominate the DAP market then the mpeg-4 AAC audio format will probably step in as the mosed used format.

The last paragraph is just my speculation, though most of the guessing about the future possibilites of audio formats comes from guessing. mp3 and mpeg-4 are not going anywhere. A new format may come along and blow those two away. The Lame community will be releasing Lame 3.97 soon and it may just beath the mpeg-4 AAC format. The future of audio formats will definately be worth it.

[enjoilax]

Originally posted by archurban
yeah, even though so many people still prefer mp3 format, I agree with you that AAC is much better. that's why ITMS has reason why it provides 128 kbps AAC (m4p) for users because it is enough to make clear sound quality.

by the way, one of music download site www.allofmp3.com provides few different format for customers like mp3, AAC(m4a), ogg, WMV. so if you pick album, you can choose one of three options (lower 128 AAC, higher 192, CD quality(loseless) from AAC format). other format can be applied for the same system.

Comparing my EAC/LAME Mp3s as compared to my 128 AAC of Annie - Heartbeat, the AAC was MUCH worse, in fact to the point i couldn't listen to it.

Artifacts left and right.

For the average user, i guess its okay, but for anyone who truly loves music, and wants the best sound you need to stick with EAC/LAME.

[bdb]

Originally posted by kornchild2002
RealPlayer uses the same standard as ApplePeople keep saying that. This should mean that I could rip a song with Realplayer, rename the extention, and iTunes would treat it as a standard AAC. iTunes doesn't even allow me to add it. WinAmp allows me to add it to a playlist, but it won't play it. So I don't think its the same standard, despite what people say.

[kornchild2002]

Originally posted by enjoilax
Comparing my EAC/LAME Mp3s as compared to my 128 AAC of Annie - Heartbeat, the AAC was MUCH worse, in fact to the point i couldn't listen to it.

Artifacts left and right.

For the average user, i guess its okay, but for anyone who truly loves music, and wants the best sound you need to stick with EAC/LAME.

You are correct. The 128kbps AAC format saved me a lot of space on my 80GB HD and my iPod was vastly running out of room. Luckily I kept the preset standard mp3's on my secondary HD (only 40GB). I hooked my Inspiron XPS Gen. 2 up to my Logitech Z680 system via the coaxil audio output. Some songs were fine while others were terrible. Lamb Of God's Ashes Of The Wake album was the nail in the coffin for the 128kbps AAC format. Almost the entire album was terible in terms of quality, the repeating bass drums were weak and flat. When playing songs through my desktop, I go through a single "headphone" connection so all songs had normal sound quality. After upgrading to the coaxil (digital) audio connection it made a huge difference in terms of hearing the audio defects of each format, mp3 just had the fewest (if any) audio defects that I could detect. I deleted the few 128kbps AAC songs and kept my preset standard mp3's.

[RockSTaR]

It's not proprietary if the standard is open to anyone. I am talking about .m4a which is a NON-PROTECTED AAC audio file. As far as tying myself to one audio player, I don't plan on switching from iPod in the near future. And if something that much better than iPod comes out and many users decide to switch, the new device will support .m4a because it will be newer device with newer technology, AND they will want to steal all possible customers away from Apple. I do not buy from the ITMS, and I hate any type of DRM. I buy all original sources (new & used CD) and rip into AAC @ 160 kbps. This gives me a smaller file that sounds about the same as mp3 @ 192 kbps. I think OGG is dead in the water with almost not support. And as far as the container goes:

Who cares if most users dont' care? That doesn't mean it's not a better solution. Is it a BAD idea for something to be organized and well-planned? Like I said, ID3 is fine, but your music has a much larger chance of getting messed up with improper ID3 tags. With the .m4a container this problem is removed. ID3 writes a header to the actual audio stream that is ignored by MP3 players. If the offset of the tag is incorrect, then it will overwrite part of the audio stream, ruining it. This is why it is important to use reputable software for ID3 tagging purposes. If you are going to make an argument, please have facts to support it. Don't just say that something isn't better because "most people don't care".

Still a very good discussion going on here though.

[bdb]

Originally posted by RockSTaR
And if something that much better than iPod comes out and many users decide to switch, the new device will support .m4a because it will be newer device with newer technology, AND they will want to steal all possible customers away from Apple.You started off this thread saying you want new devices to support this "new" technology. Now you say they will. Did something change in the last two days? ;)

You say Ogg is dead in the water because hardly anyone uses it - couldn't the same be said for for.m4a? I mean really, who uses it? I've never seen an .m4a download, but there are millions of .mp3. Its seems to be faced with the old chicken-and-egg problem of nobody using it because few DAPs supports it, and few DAPs supporting it because nobody uses it.

About containers: if tags screwing up songs were a major problem, I'd agree its a good reason for change. But software that reliably works with ID3 tags is the norm. I've edit the tags of thousands of MP3 files with dozens of programs from bulk taggers to perl modules, and never had a file get messed up.

OTOH, this thread has made me aware of considerable encoder incompatibility. While testing whether Realplayer's proprietary file format was actually standard MPEG-4, I noticed it had an AAC encoder. I tried that - iTunes plays it, but it sounds awful. These are not minor oddball programs, these are major software jukeboxes. This is the third report of compatibility problems in this short thread. And really, isn't compatibility what standards are all about? If a standard fails in that regard, isn't it a failure as a standard? Maybe someday those kinks will be worked out..but we'll probably have to re-encode anyway.

I'm not arguing that MPEG4 isn't technically better. But new, and even better, doesn't guarantee success. History has shown that the benefits to the average user must be considerably greater than the drawbacks before there will be a mass change, and even then it takes several years. Here we have a technology where the improvements are mostly under the hood and not noticeable to the user (unless they're using low bitrates, but I think most people don't anymore), but the drawbacks of incompatibilty and virtually no player support are huge. It was that compatibility that caused the mass change to mp3 in the first place!

If m4a takes off, I'll probably start using it once everything supported it and the compatibility issues were worked out. But we're not even close at this point. By the time it gets ubiquitous support and I replace all my electronics - many years from now - I probably won't listen to my current music all that much...and there will still be mp3 support for what I have.

[aquatika]

I'll stick with APS MP3, I've been down the "I'll switch to AAC road" a couple of times now but I always end up hitting a brick wall. It's fine for the iPod, but when you come to cross platform compressed music, MP3 just can't be beat.

For example, I just purchased a Sony PSP. Mainly to be used for games but I also bought a 1GB memory stick for movies and some music. It's situations like this where using AAC falls down as the PSP will only play MP3. Same story with my Palm Zire. AAC or M4A (call it what you will) still has a long way to go, I just hope a lot of people don't find themselves, in the future, having to re-rip everything because they have changed their brand of DAP.

At least with MP3 I can have one music collection and use it wherever I want. I'm just glad I never deleted any of my MP3's during the time I was fiddling with AAC so it's easy to go back.

To echo kornchild2002's comment, AAC files at 128kbps when played through the iPod's line-out and a headphone amp don't sound that great to me.

[kornchild2002]

Originally posted by bdb
You started off this thread saying you want new devices to support this "new" technology. Now you say they will. Did something change in the last two days? ;)

Yes, something did happen. I received my new Dell Inspiron XPS Gen. 2 notebook which has a coaxil digital audio output. Though this output is not as great as it would be from a USB 2.0 sound card, it is still leaps and bounds better than my desktops audio output which is what I have been using since the beginning. With the coaxil audio output, I am able to hear artifacts much more in my music. These artifacts are not really artifacts, more likely it is just a lack of quality. In most of my songs, the bass part of the drum (don't know what it is called but it is operated with pedals) is hit over and over again so that it creates a fast "beat." The bass would often be lacking when it came to artists who do this, specifically Lamb Of God on their "Ashes Of The Wake" album and on Judas Priest's "Angel Of Retribution." Additionally, I will be getting a Xbox 360 and I am willing to bet that it won't be .m4a compatible and only be compatible with wma and mp3.

To aquatika, the PSP can now play mpeg-4 AAC music files with the new 2.0 firmware. However, the iTunes AAC files must be renamed to .mp4 form their original .m4a.

[aquatika]

OT
the PSP can now play mpeg-4 AAC music files with the new 2.0 firmware. However, the iTunes AAC files must be renamed to .mp4 form their original .m4a.

Thanks for the info, I see the PSP doesn't display AAC files Album/ Artist info either though, yet. Hopefully these issues can be fixed in a future firmware upgrade. That would be a bonus.

:)