Evaluation of Audio Compression Codecs

TL;DR

This paper evaluates various audio compression codecs focusing on both compression efficiency and perceptual audio quality, providing insights for users to select codecs based on sonic fidelity and performance.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive assessment of common audio codecs considering perceptual quality metrics alongside compression performance.

Findings

Perceptual quality varies significantly across codecs.

Visualizations and PEAQ scores reveal quality differences.

Guidelines for selecting codecs based on perceptual fidelity.

Abstract

Perceptual quality of audio is the combination of aural accuracy and listener-perceived sound fidelity. It is how humans respond to the accuracy, intelligibility, and fidelity of aural media. Today this fidelity is also heavily influenced by the use of audio compression codecs for storing aural media in digital form. We argue that, when choosing an audio compression codec, users should not only look at compression efficiency but also consider the sonic perceptual quality properties of available audio compression codecs. We evaluate several commonly used audio compression codecs in terms of compression performance as well as their sonic perceptual quality via codec performance measurements, visualizations, and PEAQ scores. We demonstrate how perceptual quality is affected by digital audio compression techniques, providing insights for users in the process of choosing a digital audio compression scheme.