Audio Codec

[neonextgenazn]

What's the best audio codec for recording? I plan to use my laptop to record my professors' lectures. My computer currently has Windows Media Audio 9.1, ACELP.net, Windows Media Audio 9 Voice, and Windows Media Audio 9.1 Professional. Thanks a lot guys!

 

[jiiteepee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by neonextgenazn What's the best audio codec for recording? I plan to use my laptop to record my professors' lectures. My computer currently has Windows Media Audio 9.1, ACELP.net, Windows Media Audio 9 Voice, and Windows Media Audio 9.1 Professional. Thanks a lot guys!

WMA Mono suits for your plans well. You just should find a recorder software that allows record directly to this (or other compressed) format. IIrc, there are some this type recorderd available (even as freeware).

Try here from - http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/win95/AUDIO_VIDEO_CAPTURE/
or - http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm


jiitee

 

[neonextgenazn]

Can you recommend me some specific codecs? I plan to use MS OneNote for recording since it automatically integrates the recorded lectures with my typed notes. Thanks!

 

[neonextgenazn]

I need some more input guys! Thanks!

 

[RotAtoR]

If you're only recording spoken word audio there is always speex which was designed specifically for this task. As a bonus, it also happen to be open source and part of the Xiph/Ogg family.

http://www.speex.org/

 

[neonextgenazn]

I'll give Speex a try. Do you happen to know whether this is the best codec available for recording lectures at the moment?

 

[akg_man701]

Why don't you just use mp3? It's only spoken word so you should be OK.

 

[neonextgenazn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by akg_man701 Why don't you just use mp3? It's only spoken word so you should be OK.

I will definitely be encoding the lectures to mp3s. I just need to verify that the codec I will be using to encode is the best! How exactly do I install Speex? I've never really worked with any open source codes before. Thanks guys!

 

[blessingx]

You have to define what you mean as best?

Best quality: WAV/AIFF/lossless
Best for compatibility: MP3 (with a setting like "--abr 56 -mm"/"--preset voice" [same] in LAME or similar with a FhG [LAMEs advantages significantly lessen this low] encoder)
Best compression: probably Speex.

Personally I'd use MP3 if you plan on sharing or listening away from the computer. It's what I use for audiobooks. Speex isn't support by hardly any portables, etc. and uncompressed/lossless is a waste of space. Everything plays MP3.

 

[neonextgenazn]

I did not know that Speex encoded in another format. Where can I find the best codec to encode in mp3 format? Thanks again!

 

[jiiteepee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by neonextgenazn I did not know that Speex encoded in another format. Where can I find the best codec to encode in mp3 format? Thanks again!

http://www.free-codecs.com/index.htm

jiitee

 

[neonextgenazn]

Which one of these codec would you recommend to encode in mp3 format?

 

[blessingx]

It's debatable which encoder to use at this low of a bitrate, but try of the applications here that uses LAME and use one of the settings I mentioned above (which equal each other). Depending on how that sounds to your ears you can increase the bitrate if you'd like.

Or play it easy and download iTunes. It uses a FhG branched encoder. Older LAME builds lead over FhG shrunk at these low bitrates. I use it with 64 kbps mono VBR MP3 (with smart encoding turned on) for some audiobooks. You may be wasting a little space, but for voice it works.

 

[neonextgenazn]

Is it possible to convert the Speex format to a format that's compatible with Ipods?