From: <Matt.OReilly_at_wachovia.com>
Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 09:31:23 -0400

>>
Monkey's Audio Compressor gets about 50% compression.
It's probably the best out there.
www.monkeysaudio.com
It's open-source, but the license is restrictive.
pkzip compression is nothing like the MAC format,
which still takes some amount of processing power to
achieve.

What about the fact that the archos chokes on only
384kbps? (Or so I hear...)

Anyway, there is a Winamp MAC decoder, so it is sort
of a streaming format.

-Brent Roberts
<<

I didn't check my notes before I sent the email... I'm not sure if it
chokes on 384k, but I thought it was 1mb. Perhaps that's just wishful
thinking. :-)

>>
Why use mp3 when there is wav, you mean? Well, most people like the 1:11
size factor of mp3 (128kbit).

> If so, the encoding chip itself might be able to handle it natively
> even...

It can, but only if we find a skilled DSP programmer with the right tools.
There is no way we can to real-time (de)compression in the CPU.

--
Björn
<<
I agree that the size is better with mp3's, but for recording I would like
to be able to get the best quality possible.  If we can overcome the size
limitation, there's no reason I can see that an Archos couldn't replace a
DAT for semi-pro recording.
I wouldn't necessarily expect to play back the wav I just created, and I
don't think there's any way to do it.  What might be nice would be to have
the Archos encode the file post-recording (i.e., not real-time).  That
would probably be a hairy undertaking because of the complexity and the
potential for disaster (a 50mb file gets half-encoded and the Archos runs
out of battery, etc.).
I wonder if my designs on the device are a little different than those of
some of the other people who buy Recorders...  I see the mp3 encoding and
playback as a wonderful ancillary benefit, because mainly I would like to
use the Archos as a stereo single track recorder.  That purpose is best
served with as little audio quality loss as possible - the size of files is
less important to me than the quality.
Matt

Received on 2002-05-13