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S3/Diamond Rio 600 Review

WMA Vs. MP3 - 2

November 12, 2001

It seems that at every bit rate tested the MP3 audio file comes out smaller, but only slightly. However, if the Microsoft claim of increased quality is true, then this small difference in file size is less of an issue.

The pattern is the same with the compression of the GTA music track; MP3 continues to show its ability to produce smaller file sizes than Microsoft’s encoder. But as I said, size isn’t always the most important factor for compressed music. There is always a balance between file size and audio quality. When the fidelity of the music increases, so doesn’t the size of the music file. However, with the MP3 and WMA producing near identical file sizes, is the actual sound quality also similar?

Music is intended for listening by humans, so to test Microsoft’s claims of better quality audio files, I used a panel of five of them. Each listened "blind" to two samples of music, one encoded with WMA and the other using MP3--i.e., not knowing which was which--and picked which sounded better.

To add some realism to this test, each pair of samples was played through a pair of in-ear headphones, which would typically be used with a portable player, and then on a standard home hi-fi system.

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Skip To Page 1 Introduction 2 Rio 600 Overview 3 Rio 600 Overview - Continued 4 Rio Audio Manager 5 Audio Compression Explained 6 Audio Compression Explained - Continued 7 WMA Vs. MP3 • 8 WMA Vs. MP3 - 2 9 WMA Vs. MP3 -3 10 Conclusion

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