dBpoweramp Codec Central
 

Welcome to Codec Central containing the finest collection of audio codecs from around the world. Codec is short for compression and decompression, adding extra reading (decoding) and writing (encoding) abilities to dBpoweramp Music Converter.

There are two types of compression:

  • 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.

Previous Versions of dBpoweramp (before R12) including Sveta Portable Audio, CD Writer and Audio Player: download your Codecs from Legacy Codec Central.
 

 Which Codec Do I Need?  


First off do not install all codecs, dBpoweramp will only run slower. 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, plays on everything, mp3 (Lame) is built into dBpoweramp no need to install,
    •
  • Bitrate above 160Kbps - mp3, mp4 (aac), Ogg Vorbis and Musepack are all similar, 

In addition are Utility Codecs which perform useful actions on existing audio files (such as rename based upon ID Tag).

 Codecs  

  Included with dBpoweramp
  CDA       Audio CDs, dBpoweramp CD Writer can burn CDA   [.cda]
  mp3 dBpoweramp uses excellent mp3 Lame   [.m2a .mp1  .mp2  .mp3  .mpga  .mpa  .mpx  .mpg]
  Wave

Windows wave   [.wav]

  Popular Codecs

  m4a & mp4 & Apple Lossless  Newest mpeg standard (AAC LC, AAC HE, AAC HE v2, SBR, 3GPP & Apple Lossless ALAC, iTunes, iPod)   [.m4a, .mp4, .m4b]
  Musepack Highest quality lossy codec above 128Kbps   [.mpc, .mp+, .mpp]
  Ogg Vorbis Open source, high quality, includes auToV encoder   [.ogg]
  Real Audio Helix Real Audio   [.ra, .rm, .ram, .rmvb]
  Windows Media Audio (WMA) Microsoft's v10 Pro, standard, lossless & voice   [.wma, .asf, .wmv]

...also lossless

  Lossless no quality lost, like zip compression 

  Apple Lossless  Apple's own Lossless (ALAC, iTunes, iPod)   [.m4a]
  FLAC Popular Open Source Lossless   [.flac  .fla]
  Monkeys Audio Great all-round performer   [.ape]
  OptimFROG High-performance lossless   [.ofr, .ofs]
  Real Audio Lossless Real Audio Lossless   [.ra, .rm, .ram, .rmvb]
    Shorten Popular with file traders   [.shn]
    The True Audio  Open source [.tta]

  Wavpack

 Unique lossless and lossy hybrid mode   [.wv  .wvc]
  Windows Media Audio Microsoft's Lossless Audio   [.wma, .asf, .wmv]
  Speech audio codecs specifically for spoken word
  m4b Audio Book  Apple Audio book    [.m4b]
  Speex  Open Source   [.spx]
  Windows Media Audio (WMA) Microsoft's voice   [.wma, .asf, .wmv]
  Other Codecs
    AC3 Dobly Digital   [.ac3]
  AAC  Advanced Audio Compression   [.aac]
    AIFF  Commonly used on Apples   [.aif  .aiff  .aifc]
  Broadcast Wave Format (BWF) Professional broadcast   [.wav]
  CLI Encoder Encode to any Command Line Interface (CLI) encoder
    Dalet  Popular Radio Automation system   [.snd]
    DirectShow Decoder  Decode from any DirectX DirectShow installed decoder
  Midi Musical Instrument Digital Interface   [.mid  .rmi]
  mp2 Professional broadcast or VCD are common mp2 uses   [.mp2]
    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]
  Wave64 Sony's 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  Extracts audio details and presents them either as a list, or a tab delimiter table (for pasting into a spreadsheet, such as Excel)  
  Arrange Audio Arrange audio files based on ID Tags (Requires Power Pack)
  Calculate Audio CRC Compares audio files for bit differences, included as standard with dBpoweramp Reference
  Channel Split Extract multi-channel audio to single files
  Encode Local Speeds up encoding to network shares
  ID Tag Update Update tag version, type & manipulate or delete ID Tags
  Length Split Split files into smaller chunks
  Multi Encoder Encode to two formats simultaneously
  ReplayGain Non-destructive volume normalization (requires player to read ReplayGain tags)