mp3PRODecoder

Decodes mp3PRO files.

This plugin allows to play mp3PRO files with full quality. The new mp3PRO format combines mp3 with Coding Technologies' Spectral Band Replication (SBR) technology. Using SBR avoids the usual bandwidth limitation for low bitrate coding. Thus the mp3PRO format offers full audio bandwidth without annoying artifacts, even at bitrates below 64 kbit/sec. The plugin supports mp3 and mp3PRO decoding at all bitrates, VBR, ID3-v2 and streaming. Visit http://www.mp3PROzone.com for more information.

Staff review

All you need to play mp3PRO files is right here. Decode at any bitrate. Supports ID3 version 2 as well. Good stuff.

Comments

The version here is 1.0 and is full of bugs! Use version 1.2 (or newer). I tried version 1.2 on the latest Winamp 5.57 without problems. Download V1.2 at the mp3PROzone website. - January 13, 2010 by [email protected]

Piece of Crap - Really don't like this plug in. Misses features, overrides the much better nullsoft processor and does not enhance the quality of mp3pro's sufficiently. For listening to mp3pro use JetAudio which has the mp3pro decoder build in - May 7, 2008 by Arne Bokkers

Eliminates Conventional Tags - I didn't notice much improvement...I did notice the tags are stripped almost to nothing feature wise. A small window with tags info appears but is too limited in comparison to the default tag informations.Not really an upgrade, mostly a downgrade. - December 3, 2007 by Garth Clark

It's fantastic - It's fantastic - November 15, 2006 by beppe beppe

Listeners Notice a HUGE difference! - I do a weekly live podcast and I recommend this plugin to my listeners using winamp on every show. The feedback has been nothing but positive. "It almost doubles the sound quality." "The broadcast sounds more balanced and professional." "I can't believe this is free!" The listeners have spoken. I'll never broadcast on the Internet without MP3Pro encoders again. -Arthur www.bubblewonder.com - August 24, 2006 by Arthur Conley

Ugh... - slows loading of streamed sites and i couldnt take it anymore so i uninstalled it - June 20, 2006 by Seth Prescott

bad - MP3Pro is a bad plug-in. Quality of a sound has better for some records (encode with MP3Pro), but for the majority usual has appreciablly worsened. It concerns records both with low bitrate, and with high, and is especial with variable. Except for it the big loading of the processor and a blockage of high frequencies on spectroscope Winamp is appreciable - June 12, 2006 by vbif tuc

very good - to those of you who are comparing this to bitrates at 320kBps and 1440kBps... go to mp3PROzone.com!! THE OFFICIAL SITE. READ IT. mp3PRO at 64kBps was made comparable to 128kBps not 320 or 1440 so obviously the quality is going to be much better at 320 or 1440 rather than enhanced 64 comparable with 128 That said, compared correctly, mp3PRO is pretty good... cuts file size 30-50% while keeping quality around 128kBps. 4 of o 5 stars - January 7, 2006 by Alex Roberts

Playing in STEREO - I see a bunch of negative reviews???? I am listening to streaming music from KKJZ as I type and it is most certainly playing in STEREO. Sounds as good as listening to the \"real\" radio broadcast. - September 28, 2005 by D Blues

crap - So... Do you actually know how mp3PRO works? It codes half like normal mp3 and the rest is "predicted" by the mp3PRO filter. That said, it is of course great for internet radio etc. but it is crap for any music fan. I can hear the difference between 320kbit/sec normal MP3 and CD audio (1440kbit/sec). mp3PRO is like listening to CDs through a speaker the size of a mobile phone speaker. Not good at all. Why don't you try ogg vorbis? it is way better than mp3PRO! (really!) - September 3, 2005 by Sleepwalker Designs

LC Stereo is really Mono - As far as I can tell, with extensive testing and configuration changes, the mp3PRO decoder does NOT decode LC Stereo as STEREO, it decodes it as MONO, even though Winamp sais it's stereo. To me Stereo means that there is CLEAR seperation between left and right. When they both sound the same most of the time, no matter what I do, even when there is the occasional strange artifact in the right or left side, I concider it to be MONO. I've tested version 1.2 of the Thompson mp3PRO decoder on Winamp version 2.81, and version 5.08, the result is the same, the so-called Stereo is actualy comming through as Mono. When I am doing a Stereo stream, or Dual Mono, the Stereo seperation is crisp and clear, but LC Stereo and Mono encoding sound the same. I've been working with Mono and Stereo systems for most of my life, my family is very musical, we all have great ears for tunes, rythm, and stereo and surround sound. My grandfather was a Radio Announcer for many years, and a TV actor. As a result there was a lot of State of the Art audio equipment around, including a Record Recorder, which at the time only Radio Stations were allowed to purchase. So, when I say I can tell the difference between MONO and STEREO, I freaking Mean it people!!!! - August 25, 2005 by Aaron Ingebrigtsen

Lots of problems - This used to work fine for Winamp2+ but has problems with Winamp 5. When I try to listen to a Mp3Pro stream on Live365.com it causes the time to flash and the program to lock up. Changing the output plugins didnt help. Also I WISH it would just incode Mp3pro files only and leave others to Nullsofts encoder. - July 11, 2005 by Billy G

HQ, less disk space. - This one is special for old computers and huge mp3 collections without losing quality. Hey, let's face it, it rocks. - June 30, 2005 by hernan tello

Use it right - Hi.. I read about how bad this plugin works, and i think you guys got it wrong. I can't understand why you use it for all you mp3 files? 320 Kb/s is the only bitrate to use! If you want more space on your hard disks, get a new one! 200 gb disk cost 100$ and contains more than 20000 songs in 320 kb/s. Mp3 PRO is best for streaming audio. Listen to an 64 kb/s streaming audio in mp3 PRO, and you got a new experience in internet radio. To changes all you mp3files to mp3 PRO is the most stupid thing i ever heard... Soon we don't have to compress the music at all. Ulf Radio 88 Sweden - May 6, 2005 by ulf Ligander

Tagging - Totally messes up the MP3 file tags in the Media Library Is a disaster for organization - April 26, 2005 by Stephen Thompson

Weird - First off, to all those that refer to this as encoding - it is not. It is a decoder. This is a Thomson decoder. I have no idea what Coding Technologies has to do with it. In any event the version available for download is earlier than the Thomson version 1.2 that I have. So why are Coding Technologies not publishing the latest decoder? - October 7, 2004 by Clive Goldman

I wish it encoded Mp3pro only - It works fine, but I wish it would re-encode Mp3pro only instead of all Mp3 files. You have to uncheck it in its settings if you want to use Nullsofts better Mp3 encoder. - June 21, 2004 by Billy Spradlin

ok - works well, i just wish it had more options. still decent. - June 15, 2004 by bart heyman

Tag problems - Everything works well, bet loading new items to library, tags are not loaded, only filenames - May 19, 2004 by erkki p

Its pretty damn good - Gotta hand it these guys for coming up with something that should be incorporated into winamp already! It works just fine for me, and theres no quality loss with the normal mp3 files either. Another review said it sounded horrible on decent speakers. I'm running a 5.1 setup, and can notice no difference in the normal files, only a good difference in the mp3pro files. Good Stuff! - May 1, 2004 by Ron Maran

Bad Plugin - It is a good thing that they invented mp3pro files cause they are way smaller. I started changing all my mp3 files (almost 6000) into mp3pro files. At first i liked it cause i saved big gigas of hdd space, and with my old two speakers there was no problem listening to them smoothly (or so i thought). Now I have a 5.1 sound system, and the normal mp3 files sound great, but if i dont install this mp3pro plugin the mp3pro files sound bad. Once I install it, the mp3pro files sound a little better, but the normal mp3 files sound awful. So I don't like this plugin at all. That's y I rated it only 1 star. Thanks. - April 1, 2004 by Slim Shady

Nice try, but... - MP3Pro in and of itself is fantastic--I live the way it dramatically boosts the sound quality of moderate-bitrate streams. However, the MP3Pro 1.2 plugin makes Winamp crash constantly on my system, and thus it is unusable. And to compound my aggravation, you can't just enable MP3Pro for MP3Pro files--you either use MP3Pro for *all* MP3 files and streams, or you don't use it at all. That sucks. And so, because stability issues make this plugin unusable for me, I give it the lowest-possible rating. I absolutely hate stability problems. P.S. What sense does it make to say "Try OGG Vorbis"? This is a different plugin for a different format. Go to SHOUTcast.com and find how many wonderful OGG streams there are, you turkey. - February 25, 2004 by Phake Name

--- - Try OGG Vorbis! - January 5, 2004 by Riccardo Bassani

Minor features missing - this format is good, but this little decoder has some missing features such as ALT+3(file info) does not work, elapsed time shows in playlist during online streaming, and the most importantly, it ignores the minibrowser totally!, my minibrowser cannot update the correct page anymore! - January 5, 2004 by kow kay bin

error - mp3PRODecoder causes mistake , computer hangs, sie use 100% processor appears. Is this decoder compatible with version winampa 2.9 ? Where from do to take compatible version? - November 17, 2003 by Andrzej DFase

Great, but could be greater... - I've known mp3PRO for some time, but I never wanted to use mp3PRO before because Thomson's crappy encoder only allows encoding to 64kbps, which sounds much worse than a 320kbps encoded "normal" mp3. A few days ago I got a copy of JetAudio 5.13 plus, and to my surprise it can encode mp3PRO to 192kbps vbr. So I thought I'd give it a try again. And it's amazing. The sound quality is just great at 192kbps vbr. So I guess I'll migrate to mp3PRO anyway... :) PS. and Winamp is still my favorite audio player. :) - May 24, 2003 by Abiya Wyanto

Poorly executed. - Whenever I try to load an MP3pro file using this plugin, even with the newest version (1.2), it crashes my entire operating system. It's a good thing that they were smart enough to make it backwards-compatible with regular mp3 decoders, because this is a format that nobody asked for and I don't care about. In the regular Winamp mp3 decoder, it just makes a loud CLICK at the header data and proceeds to play just fine. - April 15, 2003 by Demie Demie

Hmmm - I like - MP3pro codec I dislike Thompson MP3pro decoder for winamp Why ? - Because it makes my standard mp3 files sound really poor - (not good when I have thousands of albums stored on my H/Drives in both formats ). Having to check then uncheck the enable box for each type of file makes winamp hard to use Solution - borrow myMP3 pro v4 by Stienberg from a "friend" and all mp3 encode/decode problems are gone HURRAY. Sorry winamp but until this decoder is fixed I can no longer use you fantastic player - February 13, 2003 by Steve West

mp3PRO - My New Standard Format - I have been experimenting with mp3PRO for several months now and have given it a thorough "tire kickin'". My personal conclusion is: It's the new standard that I decode all my music in from now on. As of this writing, I have 800+ songs from 150+ artists. I have re-sampled ALL of my music to 320 kbps x 44,000 Hz @.mp3, then decoded to 96 kbps x 44,000 Hz using NERO's mp3PRO decoder. Conclusion: I have an excellent ear for music and the quality is just great! My belief is that the negative responses to mp3PRO MAY BE due to the fact that when people download mp3's off of a Gnutella supported site, the mp3 file may have already been trashed, result...the sound is going to just plain suck when converted (if it's done right at all). My suggestion: Try it on music that is "ripped" properly from a legit CD, then decode it to mp3PRO @ 96 kbps x 44,000 Hz and see how good it is. It is JUST AS GOOD (not better) in my opinion as a CD or an mp3 @ 192 kbps. True, mp3PRO will not sound better than mp3 @ 320 kb ps x 44,000 Hz, but I enjoy the quality it does produce and at 1/2 to 2/3 less in size on my hard drive! It's a small compromise to decide on considering that I can store 812 songs with mp3PRO using only 2.73 GB of disk space! Try that with .mp3!!! - January 30, 2003 by Some Bastard

Almost disgruntled - I made some MP3Pro files with MMJB 7.2 and turned my eyebrows up when I played them in Winamp and they sounded like I recorded them via microphone through a foam mattress. They sounded like regular, crappy 64kbps MP3s. When I finally thought to play them in MMJB and my jaw almost dropped at the significant different, I sought this plugin which I knew had to be out there. No offense to anyone (but someone will get mad anyway), I don't know if some people are dumb like I almost was or you're just some sick sadistic audiophile, but anything that can make my MP3s sound that good and help me save meager space on my meager hard drive on my meager laptop I would almost pay for, but fortunately do not have to. Oh, and also, the readme file itself claims that there are some probs with regular MP3s but mine sound fine to me. I like MP3Pro and probably won't turn back. - October 6, 2002 by Kyle Parish

Foisted Public - Another piece of junk being foisted upon the public. As mentioned by another reviewer it limits the top decode rate for MP3 to make the MP3Pro file sound better than the former. This is like the Franhoffer codec that is part of some OS, ME for one, which also restricts the decode quality probably so the MS WMA sounds comparitively good. Find the Franhoffer (professional) MP3 codec, install, and make sure you read the notes so you set it up properly. There are some who are coding at 320 JS (joint stereo)which can cause flashing, i.e., degradation of sound quality without saving any space. On my tinny computer speakers I can easily hear quality improvements up through 224kbs on most files and some at higher rates. Do not tell me you hear no difference unless you've set up accordingly and are not listening to an up-coded file. If you still hear no difference then you aquire the feeling I have toward blind people - sympathies. If you can't stream high quality, then time shift. Set your machine to download all night long and you can listen all day long. - September 13, 2002 by N Thums

OGG 1.0 much better - Russell Phillips wrote Better than any other format. posted on July 27, 2002 @ 19:11 PM Okay, I have to say a few things here. This codec is THE best codec available today without a doubt in my mind. I have compared this codec to many other codecs such as OGG, WMA and MP3, and I have found that NOTHING has better compression than Mp3PRO. Here is a link to show a spectral graph of Mp3 at 128kbps compared to Mp3PRO at 64kbps. The original wave file is shown in the background. You will see that the two files are about 5% different (not sure which is better) but the Mp3PRO is running at HALF the bitrate.. http://www.deakin.edu.au/~raph/mp3comp.gif P.S. If this image does not load that means that I have probably been kicked off my University network for gross misconduct. :) ------------------------------------- actually OGG Vorbis 1.0 is the best audio codec out yet. it is about the same quality as mp3 pro or wma, but it does not det the very awful sounding artifacts, even at low bitrates like 45kbps - September 8, 2002 by Darrell Dominey

Works, but not widely compatable - It seems things only encoded with the propritary technology work... This plug-in won't play MP3Pro Files that weren't made without their authentic plug-in.... and that jsut bites - July 29, 2002 by Itysir Wedaman

Better than any other format. - Okay, I have to say a few things here. This codec is THE best codec available today without a doubt in my mind. I have compared this codec to many other codecs such as OGG, WMA and MP3, and I have found that NOTHING has better compression than Mp3PRO. Here is a link to show a spectral graph of Mp3 at 128kbps compared to Mp3PRO at 64kbps. The original wave file is shown in the background. You will see that the two files are about 5% different (not sure which is better) but the Mp3PRO is running at HALF the bitrate.. http://www.deakin.edu.au/~raph/mp3comp.gif P.S. If this image does not load that means that I have probably been kicked off my University network for gross misconduct. :) - July 27, 2002 by Russell Phillips

What can i say... It's amazing! - So, now mp3PRO works on Winamp 2.x :) I have a 64kbps file with a similiar quality of a normal mp3 file at 128kbps! And the EQ works for me, allready tested it :) (Using Winamp 2.80) - July 24, 2002 by Eduardo Maio

Reduce the size - With this plug-in you can reduce the filesize by 50% And the sound it's great. And now it's support by many other software, like NERO... - July 16, 2002 by Mark-A -

Christopher Whitehead - Christopher Whitehead You don't need to reload winamp, just close the plugin window and replay the track you were playing. You will see the 22kHz changing to 44kHz. The strange thing is that for you the plugin was not set by default on Play all mp3. I did not have the problem when I install it. Do you have the latest version ? Anyway, I have encoded (with nero) more than 4000 mp3pro (from original CD) and it's great. A try does not cost anything but may change your life for better - April 23, 2002 by NacNac MOTT

Very interesting technology. - A 64k MP3pro file isn't quite up to scratch with a 128k mp3, *especially* if you happen to have a surround sound encoder. However, it is definately a huge improvement over a 64k mp3. Certainly have a play with it, www.thomson-multimedia.com has an encoder you can use. I wouldn't use this to encode your library just yet though. - April 21, 2002 by Tom Grimshaw

Impressed, but you need to configure it right. - I signed up specifically to leave feedback for this plugin. The sound is really good compared to wm formats, none of that high crackle or roboticness at 64kbit rate. I'm pretty sure I have come across a problem that alot of you other users have run into to give it less than desirable feedback. Alright I have Nero with the wave editor and was noticing how much better it was sounding in that app than Winamp. At first I thought there may have been some problem with this plugin that was keeping it from working right or either Nero's WaveEditor had a newer version of the codec. I also noticed on Winamp that it displayed it was playing at 22khz and also when I would encode in 32kbits stereo(LC) it would show up as mono in Winamp. After messing around with it a little more I decided to mess around with the configuration in this plugin. Alright first thing I noticed was the check box for 'use this plugin for all MP3s' was unchecked. I thought well maybe for some reason Winamp isn't recognizing the mp3's as mp3Pro codec. Well guess what folks? After I checked the box and restarted Winamp(I don't know if you have to restart) the sound was just like it was in Nero's WaveEditor, except being able to equalize it(which I turned the EQ off just to make sure). Undoubtly, Winamp has a prob with recognizing songs as being MP3 or MP3Pro. I would suggest everyone to grab this plugin and you will be amazed. Just make sure in the configuration of the plugin to check the checkbox I mentioned above. - April 21, 2002 by Christopher Whitehead