Sonnox 'Franuhofer' Pro-Codec. Any users ? Is it useful ?

[muziksculp]

Hi,

Any Sonnox 'Fraunhofer' Plug-in users ? What do you think about it ?

http://www.sonnoxplugins.com/pub/plu.../pro-codec.htm

How useful has is it been for you ? Results compared to not using 'Fraunhofer' ?

Any feedback/comments would be interesting, and helpful.

Thanks,
Muziksculp

[muziksculp]

hmmm... this doesn't seem to be popular

No one using it ? I wonder why ? Priced too high ? or something of a luxury that is not needed ?

[stevens119]

Originally Posted by muziksculp

Priced too high ? or something of a luxury that is not needed ?

IMO, yes, both. $300 to convert an MP3?...or a different kind of Mp3? It's still gonna be an MP3. However, if it were $100, I would seriously entertain it. I do think it would be useful. But as far as I now, it doesn't do anything special that you can't do with a standalone program, and once you pick the codec that sounds the best for most material, you would probably just use the same codec every time. Almost like a shootout plugin to decide which MP3 codec you should be using

[DSK]

IMO a niche product.

That alone warrants the high price.
If at 1/3 of the price you get 2x more customers this dictates you keep a high price.

I can really see that a digital outlet or a digital label could use this.
Being able to hear artifacts in real time is no small feat!

Just not a product for me

[DSK]

Originally Posted by stevens119

... once you pick the codec that sounds the best for most material, you would probably just use the same codec every time. Almost like a shootout plugin to decide which MP3 codec you should be using

You're saying that once you find what the best compressin is you'll always use the same one?

I think compression artifacts are so material dependent that they felt compelled to do this plugin.

Otherwise there would have been a sticky here sating: OMG 192khz mp3 the best.. should only use that one forever.

[muziksculp]

If Sonnox just priced it right from the start, many more users would be using it. Maybe $175 or less makes more sense, and would have given Sonnox a much better return on their investment, since a much larger customer base would have been attainable.

I feel that the $300. asking price is too steep, but then maybe not for those who feel it's worth the money for what it offers in return. and as far as I know it is the only product that offers real-time monitoring of a codec's resulting audio quality, and let's you tweak the options until you like what you hear, all in real-time !

So far no feedback from users of this plug-in. I'm sure someone is using it on GSlutz

[Plush]

Software processor is great. It's for optimizing your uploads and for preparing Internet music. That's what we use it for. Paid for it the first day we had it.

You have to pay for quality.

[muziksculp]

Originally Posted by Plush

Software processor is great. It's for optimizing your uploads and for preparing Internet music. That's what we use it for. Paid for it the first day we had it.

You have to pay for quality.

Thanks for the feedback.

You mention preparing Internet music, is this mainly mp3 streaming/download music ? i.e. would it improve using it for improving sound quality of mp3 files uploaded to 'Soundcloud' , and similar streaming audio hosting websites, or would these type of hosting sites own codec ruin the audio quality prepared via a specialized codec plug-in such as the Sonnox 'Fraunhofer' ?

Regarding having to pay for quality, I agree 100%, my main interest in this plug-in was to find out how useful it is, and the kinds of applications it is used in. I don't mind paying for quality, and a very useful utility.

Interestingly, I have not read much about it here on GSlutz, and it is rarely (or never) mentioned in various mp3 sound quality related topics.

Cheers,
Muziksculp

[muziksculp]

Here is a review in SOS about Sonnox's 'Franuhofer' Pro-Codec plug-in :

Sonnox Fraunhofer Pro?Codec

And a Video demoing it :

[manowar84]

overpriced!!!

[mista min]

I could see a mastering studio using this for their clients.

[muziksculp]

Would you buy it if it was priced at $150. (50% of the actual price ?)