Audacity seemed to be a popular choice for “free” (open source) recording software on Windows. I had previously done some sound recording with Audacity, which were quite terrible (not having a sound proof room didn’t help either) and being somewhat bored, I once again decided to Audacity another go.
This time round, I decided I would record some streaming audio (playing on Nero and iTunes) and save the recordings in different formats. The resultant recording was quite tinny, which may or may not have something to do with the built-in Realtek sound card.
Here is the same sound sample encoded in different formats:
Sample 1
Sample 2
Ogg encoded files tend to be smaller than the mp3 encoded ones. With the average audio hardware available to most people, it is doubtful that one can make out one from another.
