Misc. Ramblings

One of the Daynoters had a recent column on creating and editing sound files. The columnist recommended the Ogg format because it is royalty free and creates smaller files than those saved as MP3. The first part is definitely correct and so may be the second, but I have not found this to be the case.

Long time readers will remember I did a unscientific file-size comparison between Ogg and MP3 (see it here) and found Ogg created a significantly larger file size. So I decided to give it another try, this time using one of the applications, Goldwave, noted in his column. To be fair, Goldwave is not the one he apparently used, but the one he did, Sound Forge, has only a limited use downloadable version. It is so limited use (see the limitations here) that I could not do a comparison that would be of any use. Hence, I used the other application - Goldwave.

In either case, this is the configuration:

Ogg Vorbis version 1.0, 44,100Hz, stereo, 128kbps
MP3 LAME 1.32, Engine 3.93, 44,100Hz, stereo, 128 kbps
MS WAVE, 16-bit stereo

And here are the results of ripping Dave Koz's "Can't Let You Go":

WAVE: 44,441KB

Ogg: 14,637KB

MP3: 4,032KB

Obviously, since this is just a couple of instances, I can't extrapolate these results very widely. But I'm really confused as to why everyone seems to be saying Ogg gives a smaller file size when, so far, I've found otherwise. I know that ripping a few files is hardly an exhaustive investigation but you would think the difference would be closer. As it is, it's not even in the same ball park. In fact, Ogg is over in the next county playing soccer.

Whatever is happening, be clear I am not impugning anyone's reputation. Rather, I am simply reporting the results I have. If you do your own testing and find differently, please let me know what your configuration is so I can change mine to match and re-run the test. Your mileage may vary.

Aloha!