Stereo vs. Joint Stereo
David Z
know what Joint Stereo is?
- David
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as
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StainlessSteelRat
> I noticed that a lot of MP3 files are in "Joint Stereo." Does anyone
> know what Joint Stereo is?
http://users.du.se/~kdo/mpc/vocabulary.htm
"A technique "mid-side" (MS) stereo to reduce the bit-rate by exploiting
similarities between the two stereo channels. The Mid channel is the sum of
the left and right channel (M = L+R), the Side channel is the difference (S
= L-R). If the signal is near mono, then S-channel will contain very little
data, so MS-stereo coding will be more efficient. If the signal has
significant stereo separation, ordinary LR-stereo should be used.
Additionally, certain psychoacoustic masking effects may be exploited with
both MS and LR stereo. A smart joint-stereo algorithm should be able to
switch either to MS or to usual LR stereo depending on the changes in the
actual audio signal. Smart joint stereo is always more
"quality/filesize"-efficient than pure stereo option."
--
StainlessSteelRat
Tommy Johnson: I had to be up at that there crossroads last midnight,
to sell my soul to the devil. Ulysses Everett McGill: Well, ain't it a
small world, spiritually speaking. Pete and Delmar just been baptized
and saved. I guess I'm the only one that remains unaffiliated.
David Z
news:b7bm4j$d2vbm$1...@ID-171922.news.dfncis.de...
> David Z wrote:
> > I noticed that a lot of MP3 files are in "Joint Stereo." Does
anyone
> > know what Joint Stereo is?
>
>
> http://users.du.se/~kdo/mpc/vocabulary.htm
>
> "A technique "mid-side" (MS) stereo to reduce the bit-rate by
exploiting
> similarities between the two stereo channels. The Mid channel is the
sum of
> the left and right channel (M = L+R), the Side channel is the
difference (S
> = L-R). If the signal is near mono, then S-channel will contain very
little
> data, so MS-stereo coding will be more efficient. If the signal has
> significant stereo separation, ordinary LR-stereo should be used.
> Additionally, certain psychoacoustic masking effects may be exploited
with
> both MS and LR stereo. A smart joint-stereo algorithm should be able
to
> switch either to MS or to usual LR stereo depending on the changes in
the
> actual audio signal. Smart joint stereo is always more
> "quality/filesize"-efficient than pure stereo option."
Interesting. I downloaded 2 files of the same song. They were the same
size (5478 vs. 5475 kb) and the same bit rate (128 kbps), except one was
in Stereo and the other in Joint Stereo. I listened to both and decided
I liked the Stereo one better because it had better dynamics and more
natural sound.
Rudi Cheow
> Interesting. I downloaded 2 files of the same song. They were the same
> size (5478 vs. 5475 kb) and the same bit rate (128 kbps), except one was
> in Stereo and the other in Joint Stereo. I listened to both and decided
> I liked the Stereo one better because it had better dynamics and more
> natural sound.
>
Of course this "experiment" does not take into account the other major
variables, such as the quality of the original rip or more importantly
the quality of encoding. It could be the case that one of those files
was encoded using an inferior encoder to the other, so the results of
the test could be pre-determined regardless of whether they are
encoded in Stereo or Joint Stereo.
What you need to do to determine what you like for sure is to rip a
WAV file from a CD, and then using the same encoder encode it at the
same bit rate in both Stereo and Joint Stereo. Then you have a set of
constants with only one variable - this will prove to you which one
you prefer more. Better still, get one of your friends to do it for
you and do a blind listen - listen to both without knowing which one
is which - then your judgement is completely unclouded and only then
totally empirical.
Though saying that most people would prefer regular Stereo, simply
because it sounds more natural and the separation is better. But if
you're fussed (I know I'm not) and like experimenting you can conduct
the simple exercise above and find out for sure!
R
thekma...@gmail.com
The only software I've seen so far with the option to use either regular or joint are Audacity(for production) and iTunes. Both Real and Media Player rip only in joint, and I don't know about WinAmp because they frickin CHARGE for an upgrade to Premium to be able to rip anything. smh!