You can use the aacPlusEnc encoder with the attached script (place the script in the boca folder). However, there are many problems with the encoder:
no support for MP4 containers, only raw .aac files can be created
missing support for variable bitrate will hurt quality
supports only up to 48 kbps for stereo files
supports only very specific combinations of sample rates and bitrates
the Windows binary from technoraver.net contains a virus
It seems to be only a proof of concept encoder based on the 3GPP reference code. Quality will be very bad compared to sophisticated encoders like Nero, Fraunhofer FDK or Apple AAC.
As for VBR, there ist no mention of VBR in the aacPlusEnc source code and no options to control it. The tool only accepts one bitrate argument and no further options to specify encoding mode (that's for version 0.17.5).
I will add the script to the official fre:ac sources, so everyone can use it if desired. However, as I think it will not be very useful to most people because of the mentioned limitations (especially missing MP4 container support), I won't include it in the binary distribution for now.
Once I add generic (encoder independent) MP4 container support to fre:ac, I might rethink this decision and will probably include the script.
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There's also "enhAacPlusEnc" a.k.a "Enhanced aacPlus 3GPP Encoder" in the wild which produces practically the same result as aacplusenc but in m4a. It's old but IMHO it's even better than Opus at extremely low bitrates. But i don't know if it's possible to build it for linux or Mac. And unfortunatley i can't find link to it's source code now.
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Closing this ticket now. The script is in the 20170317 Component Development Kit distribution (but, as explained earlier, not included with the binary distributions).
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
You can use the aacPlusEnc encoder with the attached script (place the script in the boca folder). However, there are many problems with the encoder:
It seems to be only a proof of concept encoder based on the 3GPP reference code. Quality will be very bad compared to sophisticated encoders like Nero, Fraunhofer FDK or Apple AAC.
Last edit: Robert Kausch 2016-12-01
Thank You!
For me it produced better sound than Nero and FDK on the same bitrates.
Is there a way to alter the script to enable VBR? aacplusenc does support VBR, i know.
Sad. But fortunately 1. anybody can build it from sources 2. i use linux.
Last edit: AX Redneck 34noff 2016-12-02
OK, I found a listening test that included the 3GPP encoder and quality indeed does not seem too bad: http://www.mp3-tech.org/tests/aac_48/results.html
As for VBR, there ist no mention of VBR in the aacPlusEnc source code and no options to control it. The tool only accepts one bitrate argument and no further options to specify encoding mode (that's for version 0.17.5).
I will add the script to the official fre:ac sources, so everyone can use it if desired. However, as I think it will not be very useful to most people because of the mentioned limitations (especially missing MP4 container support), I won't include it in the binary distribution for now.
Once I add generic (encoder independent) MP4 container support to fre:ac, I might rethink this decision and will probably include the script.
Oohh strange... but where did i read about VBR?... Excuse me, my bad.
Anyway Thank You for the script!
There's also "enhAacPlusEnc" a.k.a "Enhanced aacPlus 3GPP Encoder" in the wild which produces practically the same result as aacplusenc but in m4a. It's old but IMHO it's even better than Opus at extremely low bitrates. But i don't know if it's possible to build it for linux or Mac. And unfortunatley i can't find link to it's source code now.
Closing this ticket now. The script is in the 20170317 Component Development Kit distribution (but, as explained earlier, not included with the binary distributions).
Seems like i found it: http://tipok.org.ua/node/17
Last edit: AX Redneck 34noff 2017-06-13