Resolution, July 2011

16
resolution July/August 2011
REVIEW
A
t first glance this new plug-in might raise
an eyebrow. Just who is Fraunhofer, and
why should we care? And is it really worth
getting excited about an mp3 encoder?
I’ve been in the business longer than the mp3 has
been around, and to be honest I didn’t know who
Fraunhofer was. I’ve always been hyper-focused on
working with the highest quality audio possible, and
admittedly shunned the mp3 format as not being
an acceptable listening format for my clients. The
world has changed, I am older and hopefully wiser,
and the mp3 is here to stay. The Compact Disc is on
life support, our lives revolve around our iPhones
and iPads, and The Beatles are now on iTunes
(compressed, of course).
Fraunhofer IIS began work on improving audio
transmission over ISDN lines in the late 1980s and in
1991 completed development on the MPEG-1 Layer
3 codec. In 1995 researchers at Fraunhofer chose
mp3 as the file name extension for this codec, and
the rest is history. While the audio industry fought
the high def wars (DVD-Audio vs Super Audio CD),
the mp3 quietly entered the market and evolved into
the delivery format of choice in the new portable
music player and download world in which we
live. Fraunhofer has continued development of new
audio codecs and its joint effort with Sonnox brings
to us a plug-in that for the first time gives content
creators and engineers control over the compression
characteristics of audio — that is sure to change the
way we work from now on.
Mp3 and its AAC siblings are defined as ‘perceptual’
audio codecs. They take advantage of the ear’s inability
to process all frequencies at differing amplitudes
simultaneously. When the membranes of the inner
ear receive multiple sound waves the frequencies
of greater amplitude overwhelm the neighbouring
ear cells making it difficult to process adjacent
frequencies. This translates into one sound masking
another. When we speak of data compression we are
talking about throwing information away to make the
file size smaller. Perceptual audio codecs accomplish
this task by deciding which information the ear will
be unable to hear and remove it. While reducing file
size, the process also introduces errors in the form
of ‘coding noise’, which is typically masked. The
inability of the user to identify and address this noise
and make creative decisions regarding the degree of
data reduction has frustrated the professional audio
community for years. This situation has finally been
resolved.
The Sonnox Fraunhofer Pro-Codec is the first
plug-in to offer real-time auditioning of the mp3/AAC
encoding process. Traditionally this process involved
outputting a mix via an mp3 encoder, listening to
the result, making changes to the limited number
of options, outputting again, listening, etc.... Now
users have the ability to hear the encoded result
and compare against the original signal in real-time,
identifying exactly what’s being removed visually and
aurally, monitoring codec clipping, A/Bing different
codecs, outputting multiple codes simultaneously, and
more. The layout is such that almost anyone can get
great results immediately, and the more technically
inclined can dig a little deeper and tweak a little
further. And if that’s not enough, the layout is one of
the most creative I’ve seen.
The plug-in (UK£295) ships in RTAS, Audio Unit
and VST formats, and is supported on Mac Intel
10.5 or later and Windows XP or Windows 7. Audio
formats include mono, stereo and 5.1 surround.
Compatible workstations include Pro Tools, Logic,
Cubase, Nuendo, Sequoia and Wavelab.
Typically you would insert the plug-in as the
very last element in the signal chain, such as the
Master Fader. Any required dithering should take
place before reaching the input to the plug-in. The
left hand side displays an LED meter showing the
input signal, allowing you to monitor any input
clipping before hitting the codec. The main window
of the plug-in features a helpful FFT display, with five
Sonnox Fraunhofer Pro-Codec
We know that compressed formats are with us for the foreseeable yet optimising for
distribution has remained a laborious and convoluted process. BILL LACEY says that all that
has changed with the arrival of this unique and ingenious plug-in.
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