Download Fraunhofer MPEG Layer-3 Audio Decoder: fast downloads for latest versions of MPEG Layer-3 Decoder. The MPEG Audio Decoder decodes MPEG-1 layers 1 and 2 audio to PCM.

This article includes a, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient. Please help to this article by more precise citations. (December 2016) () MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer 2.mp2 audio/mpeg, audio/MPA Initial release 1993; 25 years ago ( 1993) Type of format Audio compression format, Contained by, Website MPEG-1 Audio Layer II or MPEG-2 Audio Layer II ( MP2, sometimes incorrectly called Musicam or MUSICAM) is a defined by ISO/IEC 11172-3 alongside and (MP3). While is much more popular for and applications, MP2 remains a dominant standard for audio broadcasting. See also: • MP2 is a, which means that compression takes place in the with a low-delay filter bank producing 32 frequency domain components. By comparison, MP3 is a with hybrid filter bank, which means that compression takes place in the after a hybrid (double) transformation from the time domain. • MPEG Audio Layer II is the core algorithm of the MP3 standards.

All psychoacoustical characteristics and frame format structures of the MP3 format are derived from the basic MP2 algorithm and format. • The MP2 encoder may exploit inter channel redundancies using optional 'joint stereo'.

• Like MP3, MP2 is a perceptual coding format, which means that it removes information that the human auditory system will not be able to easily perceive. To choose which information to remove, the audio signal is analyzed according to a psychoacoustic model, which takes into account the parameters of the human auditory system. Research into has shown that if there is a strong signal on a certain frequency, then weaker signals at frequencies close to the strong signal's frequency cannot be perceived by the human auditory system. This is called frequency masking. Perceptual audio codecs take advantage of this frequency masking by ignoring information at frequencies that are deemed to be imperceptible, thus allowing more data to be allocated to the reproduction of perceptible frequencies. • MP2 splits the input audio signal into 32 sub-bands, and if the audio in a sub-band is deemed to be imperceptible then that sub-band is not transmitted. MP3, on the other hand, transforms the input audio signal to the frequency domain in 576 frequency components.

Therefore, MP3 has a higher frequency resolution than MP2, which allows the psychoacoustic model to be applied more selectively than for MP2. So MP3 has greater scope to reduce the bit rate. • The use of an additional tool, and higher frequency accuracy (due to the larger number of frequency sub-bands used by MP3) explains why MP3 does not need as high a bit rate as MP2 to get an acceptable audio quality. Conversely, MP2 shows a better behavior than MP3 in the time domain, due to its lower frequency resolution. This implies less codec time delay — which can make editing audio simpler — as well as 'ruggedness' and resistance to errors which may occur during the digital recording process, or during transmission errors. • The MP2 sub-band filter bank also provides an inherent ' concealment' feature, due to the specific temporal masking effect of its mother filter. This unique characteristic of the MPEG-1 Audio family implies a very good sound quality on audio signals with rapid energy changes, such as percussive sounds.

Because both the MP2 and MP3 formats use the same basic sub-band filter bank, both benefit from this characteristic. Applications of MP2 [ ] Part of the and standards. Cannon Cordon Bleu Classique Gas Cooker Manual.

Layer II is commonly used within the broadcast industry for distributing live audio over satellite, ISDN and IP Network connections as well as for storage of audio in digital playout systems. An example is 's programming distribution system. The Content Depot distributes MPEG-1 L2 audio in a Broadcast Wave File wrapper. MPEG2 with RIFF headers (used in.wav) is specified in the RIFF/WAV standards. As a result, Windows Media Player will directly play Content Depot files, however, less intelligent.wav players often do not.

As the encoding and decoding process would have been a significant drain on CPU resources in the first generations of broadcast playout systems, professional broadcast playout systems typically implement the codec in hardware, such as by delegating the task of encoding and decoding to a compatible soundcard rather than the system CPU. All players in countries contain stereo MP2 decoders, making MP2 a possible competitor to in these markets. DVD-Video players in countries are not required to decode MP2 audio, although most do. While some store audio in MP2 and many consumer-authored DVDs use the format, commercial DVDs with MP2 soundtracks are rare. MPEG-1 layer 2 is the standard audio format used in the and formats (VCD and SVCD also support variable bit rate and as added by MPEG-2). MPEG 1 layer 2 is the standard audio format used in the standard for set-top boxes. MPEG 1 layer 2 is the audio format used in camcorders.