Tools Apple AAC Apple's AAC encoder was first part of the
QuickTime media framework but is now part of Audio Toolbox.
FAAC and FAAD2 FAAC and FAAD2 stand for Freeware Advanced Audio Coder and Decoder 2 respectively. FAAC supports audio object types LC, Main and LTP. FAAD2 supports audio object types LC, Main, LTP, SBR and PS. Although FAAD2 is
free software, FAAC is not free software.
Fraunhofer FDK AAC A
Fraunhofer-authored open-source encoder/decoder included in
Android has been ported to other platforms. FFmpeg's native AAC encoder does not support HE-AAC and HE-AACv2, but GPL 2.0+ of ffmpeg is not compatible with FDK AAC, hence ffmpeg with libfdk-aac is not redistributable. The QAAC encoder that is using Apple's Core Media Audio is still higher quality than FDK.
FFmpeg and Libav The native AAC encoder created in
FFmpeg's
libavcodec, and forked with
Libav, was considered experimental and poor. A significant amount of work was done for the 3.0 release of FFmpeg (February 2016) to make its version usable and competitive with the rest of the AAC encoders. Libav has not merged this work and continues to use the older version of the AAC encoder. These encoders are
LGPL-licensed open-source and can be built for any platform that the FFmpeg or Libav frameworks can be built. Both FFmpeg and Libav can use the
Fraunhofer FDK AAC library via libfdk-aac, and while the FFmpeg native encoder has become stable and good enough for common use, FDK is still considered the highest quality encoder available for use with FFmpeg. Libav also recommends using FDK AAC if it is available. FFmpeg 4.4 and above can also use the Apple audiotoolbox encoder. which is capable of encoding LC-AAC, HE-AAC and HE-AAC v2 streams. The tool is a command-line interface tool only. A separate utility is also included to decode to PCM
WAV. Various tools including the
foobar2000 audio player and
MediaCoder can provide a
GUI for this encoder.
Media players Almost all current computer media players include built-in decoders for AAC, or can utilize a
library to decode it. On
Microsoft Windows,
DirectShow can be used this way with the corresponding filters to enable AAC playback in any
DirectShow based player.
Mac OS X supports AAC via the
QuickTime libraries.
Adobe Flash Player, since version 9 update 3, can also play back AAC streams. Since Flash Player is also a browser plugin, it can play AAC files through a browser as well. The
Rockbox open source firmware (available for multiple portable players) also offers support for AAC to varying degrees, depending on the model of player and the AAC profile. Optional iPod support (playback of unprotected AAC files) for the
Xbox 360 is available as a free download from
Xbox Live. The following is a non-comprehensive list of other software player applications: •
3ivx MPEG-4: a suite of DirectShow and QuickTime plugins which support AAC encoding or AAC/ HE-AAC decoding in any DirectShow application •
CorePlayer: also supports LC and HE AAC •
ffdshow: a free
open source DirectShow filter for
Microsoft Windows that uses FAAD2 to support AAC decoding •
foobar2000: a
freeware audio player for
Windows that supports LC and HE AAC •
KMPlayer •
MediaMonkey •
AIMP •
Media Player Classic Home Cinema •
mp3tag •
MPlayer or
xine: often used as AAC decoders on
Linux or
Macintosh •
MusicBee: an advanced music manager and player that also supports encoding and ripping through a plugin •
RealPlayer: includes
RealNetworks' RealAudio 10 AAC encoder •
Songbird: supports AAC on Windows, Linux and
Mac OS X, including the DRM rights management encoding used for purchased music from the iTunes Store, with a plug-in •
Sony SonicStage •
VLC media player: supports playback and encoding of MP4 and raw AAC files •
Winamp for Windows: includes an AAC encoder that supports LC and HE AAC •
Windows Media Player 12: released with
Windows 7, supports playback of AAC files natively • Another Real:
Rhapsody supports the RealAudio AAC codec, in addition to offering subscription tracks encoded with AAC •
XBMC: supports AAC (both LC and HE). •
XMMS: supports MP4 playback using a plugin provided by the faad2 library Some of these players (e.g., foobar2000, Winamp, and VLC) also support the decoding of ADTS (Audio Data Transport Stream) using the
SHOUTcast protocol. Plug-ins for Winamp and foobar2000 enable the creation of such streams.
Use in HDTV broadcasting Japanese ISDB-T In December 2003, Japan started broadcasting terrestrial DTV
ISDB-T standard that implements MPEG-2 video and MPEG-2 AAC audio. In April 2006 Japan started broadcasting the ISDB-T mobile sub-program, called 1seg, that was the first implementation of video H.264/AVC with audio HE-AAC in Terrestrial HDTV broadcasting service on the planet.
International ISDB-Tb In December 2007, Brazil started broadcasting terrestrial DTV standard called International
ISDB-Tb that implements video coding H.264/AVC with audio AAC-LC on main program (single or multi) and video H.264/AVC with audio HE-AACv2 in the 1seg mobile sub-program.
DVB The
ETSI, the standards governing body for the
DVB suite, supports AAC, HE-AAC and HE-AAC v2 audio coding in DVB applications since at least 2004. DVB broadcasts which use the
H.264 compression for video normally use HE-AAC for audio.
Hardware iTunes and iPod In April 2003,
Apple brought mainstream attention to AAC by announcing that its
iTunes and
iPod products would support songs in MPEG-4 AAC format (via a
firmware update for older iPods). Customers could download music in a closed-source
digital rights management (DRM)-restricted form of 128 kbit/s AAC (see
FairPlay) via the
iTunes Store or create files without DRM from their own CDs using iTunes. In later years, Apple began offering music videos and movies, which also use AAC for audio encoding. On May 29, 2007, Apple began selling songs and music videos from participating record labels at higher bitrate (256 kbit/s cVBR) and free of DRM, a format dubbed "iTunes Plus" . These files mostly adhere to the AAC standard and are playable on many non-Apple products but they do include custom iTunes information such as
album artwork and a purchase receipt, so as to identify the customer in case the file is leaked out onto
peer-to-peer networks. It is possible, however, to remove these custom tags to restore interoperability with players that conform strictly to the AAC specification. As of January 6, 2009, nearly all music on the USA regioned iTunes Store became DRM-free, with the remainder becoming DRM-free by the end of March 2009. and later supports AAC-LC, HE-AAC and HE-AAC v2 in MP4 or M4A containers along with several other audio formats. Android 3.1 and later supports raw ADTS files. Android 4.1 can encode AAC. •
WebOS by HP/Palm supports AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, and .m4a containers in its native music player as well as several third-party players. However, it does not support Apple's FairPlay DRM files downloaded from iTunes. •
Windows Phone's
Silverlight runtime supports AAC-LC, HE-AAC and HE-AAC v2 decoding.
Other devices • '''
Apple's
iPad''': Supports AAC and FairPlay protected AAC files used as the default encoding format in the iTunes Store •
Palm OS PDAs: Many Palm OS based PDAs and smartphones can play AAC and HE-AAC with the 3rd party software
Pocket Tunes. Version 4.0, released in December 2006, added support for native AAC and HE-AAC files. The AAC codec for
TCPMP, a popular video player, was withdrawn after version 0.66 due to patent issues, but can still be downloaded from sites other than corecodec.org. CorePlayer, the commercial follow-on to TCPMP, includes AAC support. Other Palm OS programs supporting AAC include Kinoma Player and AeroPlayer. •
Windows Mobile: Supports AAC either by the native
Windows Media Player or by third-party products (TCPMP, CorePlayer) •
Epson: Supports AAC playback in the
P-2000 and
P-4000 Multimedia/Photo Storage Viewers •
Sony Reader: plays M4A files containing AAC, and displays metadata created by iTunes. Other Sony products, including the A and E series Network Walkmans, support AAC with firmware updates (released May 2006) while the S series supports it out of the box. •
Sonos Digital Media Player: supports playback of AAC files •
Barnes & Noble Nook Color: supports playback of AAC encoded files •
Roku SoundBridge: a network audio player, supports playback of AAC encoded files •
Squeezebox: network audio player (made by
Slim Devices, a
Logitech company) that supports playback of AAC files •
PlayStation 3: supports encoding and decoding of AAC files •
Xbox 360: supports streaming of AAC through the Zune software, and of supported iPods connected through the USB port •
Wii: supports AAC files through version 1.1 of the
Photo Channel as of December 11, 2007. All AAC profiles and bitrates are supported as long as it is in the .m4a file extension. The 1.1 update removed MP3 compatibility, but according to Nintendo, users who have installed this may freely downgrade to the old version if they wish. •
Livescribe Pulse and Echo Smartpens: record and store audio in AAC format. The audio files can be replayed using the pen's integrated speaker, attached headphones, or on a computer using the Livescribe Desktop software. The AAC files are stored in the user's "My Documents" folder of the Windows OS and can be distributed and played without specialized hardware or software from Livescribe. •
Google Chromecast: supports playback of LC-AAC and HE-AAC audio ==See also==