Apple"s iTunes has emerged victorious in a series of listening tests run by the CD Freaks Web site. The report explains that a number of tests were run by members of the public of five AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) codecs, and Apple"s implementation of the standard won through.
The AAC codecs tested were: Nero AACenc v.2.6.2.0, Compact! 1.2beta3, FAAC 1.23.5 (all three in 128kbps VBR), Apple iTunes 4.2 and Real Producer 10 beta (both in 128kbps CBR). The test closed February 29. The report says: "In 12 songs tested, iTunes had the best score on average with Nero close behind." To assess the scores, results of the public tests were aggregated and subjected to a statistical analysis, which means the report coordinator is able to say he is "95 per cent confident" that iTunes implementation of AAC is better than its closest competitor.