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dBpoweramp Codec Central

Codec Central contains a wide selection of audio codecs. Codec is short for compression and decompression, adding extra reading (decoding) and writing (encoding) abilities to dBpoweramp.

There are two types of encoder:
  • Lossy: where audio quality is lost whilst encoding in order to create smaller files,
  • Lossless: no audio quality is lost (like zip compression).
Refer to Spoon's Audio Guide for details and help choosing the right audio codec to suit your needs.


Which Codec Should I Choose?

Here is a short guide - make sure your intended player supports your chosen type:
  • Highest Quality: lossless, no quality is lost,
  • Most Compatible: mp3 is king, it plays on everything, AAC (in the m4a container) is a close 2nd.
Additional Utility Codecs perform useful actions on existing audio files (such as rename based upon ID Tag).


Included with dBpoweramp Reference
 AIFF Uncompressed Apple Format  [.aif .aiff]
 AAC Advanced Audio Compression (LC, HE, HEv2)  [.m4a]
 Apple Lossless Apple's own Lossless (ALAC)  [.m4a]
 CDA Audio CDs  [.cda]
DSD  DSD Direct Stream Digital  [.dsf]
 FLAC Popular Lossless  [.flac]
 mp3 dBpoweramp uses the excellent mp3 Lame    [.m2a  .mp1  .mp2  .mp3  .mpga  .mpa  .mpx  .mpg]
 Monkeys Audio Lossless codec  [.ape]
 Ogg Vorbis Open source, high quality  [.ogg]
 Opus New internet delivery codec  [.opus]
 Wave Windows wave  [.wav]
 Wavpack Lossless codec  [.wv  .wvc]
 Windows Media Audio (WMA) Microsoft V10 Pro, standard, lossless & voice. Windows Only  [.wma, .asf, .wmv]
 [ID Tag Update] Update tag version, manipulate or delete ID Tags without re-encoding, process whole library in a batch
 [Multi Encoder] Encode to two formats simultaneously
 [ReplayGain] Non-destructive volume normalization calculation (requires compatible player)

Additional Codecs Note codecs listed here are for the Windows version of dBpoweramp only.
AC3  AC3 Dobly Digital  [.ac3]
 m4a QAAC iTunes Encoder Advanced Audio Compression  [.m4a]
 Broadcast Wave Format (BWF) Professional codec  [.wav]
 CLI Encoder Encode to any Command Line Interface (CLI) encoder
 Dalet Radio Automation system  [.snd]
DX  DirectShow Decoder Decode from any DirectX DirectShow installed decoder
 Midi Musical Instrument Digital Interface  [.mid  .rmi]
 mp2 Professional broadcast  [.mp2]
 Musepack High quality lossy codec above 128Kbps  [.mpc,  .mp+,  .mpp]
 Ogg Vorbis Tuned auToV encoder  [.ogg]
 Wave64 Sony extension to the wave format  [.w64]

Utility Codecs for Music Converter

Utility Codecs do not compress or read audio, rather perform useful actions.

 Audio Info Extract audio details to list, or a tab delimiter table (for Excel)
 Arrange Audio Arrange audio tracks based on ID Tags (Requires Reference)
 Calculate Audio CRC Compare tracks for differences in the audio component
 Channel Split Extract multi-channel audio to single files
 Length Split Split tracks into smaller chunks
 Tag From Filename Set ID tags from filename or folder names

32 Bit Windows Only Codecs   (view 64/32 bit compatibility)
 mp3 Helix Incredible 100x encoding speed (2 GHz Dual Core CPU), 4x faster than Lame  [.mp3]
 mp3 Fraunhofer IIS From the designers & creators of mp3  [.mp3]
 OptimFROG Lossless codec  [.ofr  .ofs]
 Real Audio Helix Real Audio  [.ra, .rm, .ram, .rmvb]
   Shorten Lossless codec  [.shn]
 Speex Speech Only Codec  [.spx]
 The True Audio Lossless codec  [.tta]