I have a bunch of mpc songs now, and this format seems to become more and more popular.

I've had no problems with eJukebox and mpc files except when it comes to renaming the id3 tags within the eJukebox editor. Nothing changes when i rename an artist or an album if it's an mpc file. Everything seems ok (i get no error messages), but when i close and open eJukebox, nothing has changed.

I am forced to use Tag&Rename to rename the files... it's a shame, because i have really grown to enjoy eJukebox' own tag editor.

What is mpc format? please, junk.

MPC is short for Musepack. MPEGplus, mp+ and mpc all seem to be the same format. I don't know much about it, except that it seems to be very popular as a replacement for mp3 encoding for some people.

You can read more about it <here>.

The reason i have so many files in the mpc format is because there are many such files the eDonkey network, and they are often more easy to get than the mp3 versions of the same album.

Apparently this MPC is either REALLY new or really obscure, because all Google finds on it is a bunch of confusing crap. To make things more confusing, back in the mid 90's there was ANOTHER audio format called .mpc, which appears to have been like MIDI or something.

Finally, after about a half hour of searching (I was apparently still looking when junk responded), this (click here) is also an MPC resource, although junk's would seem to be more definitive, even if they are uglier pages.

Thank you for your replies junk and jhlurie!

I haved just done my own searchs with a similar result...
I think currently the enormous advantage of mp3s is that is THE standard everywhere on computers but also possibly on DVD players, sound car systems, portable players...
There are so many others format that I think it's very risky of favour one in particular without knowing its durability even if it is really better!

Thanks.

I agree with you there, that the portability of the mp3's is a very important issue. I'd like to have my mpc files as mp3 files, but i don't wanna do any converting, and besides.. the mpc files sounds good. But i've had no problems with them whatsover besides renaming the tags inside eJukebox...

OK, I understand your request.

Ahh... If someone could tell me which format will be THE standard that will replace the popular mp3s in futur?

Thanks.

I think it is safe to say there will never be another standard like MP3. MP3 was the first and quite a revolution at the time, hence its widespread support. But time has moved on and MP3 is without any doubt no longer state of the art.

While some may disagree, the situation is more or less:

- The most "official" followup standard is AAC.
- The best encoder for very-low bitrates (64 kbit/s) is MP+
- The best encoder for typical MP3-type bitrates (128 kbit/s) is Ogg Vorbis
- The best encoder for high bitrates (192 and up) is MPC/Musepack
- The most compatible encoder remains MP3
- The most industry-friendly encoder supporting all kinds of digital rights management is Windows Media Audio 9

Thank you Demnos for sum up the current situation.
6 formats, plus the others you don't quote... that's too much. What shambles!
I don't like the war of standards because that's us, end users who always will be the first losers...

So I still encode my CDs in mp3!

Thanks.

Yes, an interesting overview, Demnos. I will also continue encoding my CD's as mp3 high quality VBR mp3's... but i guess the standard is old nevertheless.

One format you forgot to mention is APE, and the other lossless compression formats. But until HD sizes increases by 3-400%, yet having the same price as today, it is impossible for me encode all my albums in APE format.

I believe lossless compression will become a standard eventually, as soon as drive space and broadband width increases, especially considering all the hi-fi enthusiasts out there, demanding better-than-perfect medias when it comes to sound.