MAD Plug-in for Winamp

This is a MAD input plug-in for Winamp 2. It replaces the MPEG audio decoder functionality that comes with Winamp to provide superior sound for MP3 and other MPEG audio files. It supports output resolutions from 8 to 32 bits. Hear the Difference The following sound samples demonstrate the audible difference between MAD and most other decoders. These samples were created at an 8-bit resolution so that the difference is readily apparent; naturally the quality improves with more resolution, but the difference remains. * Sample decoded by Nullsoft MPEG Audio Decoder 2.666: sample-nullsoft.wav (711K) * Sample decoded by MAD plug-in 0.7.0a: sample-mad.wav (711K) You may want to turn up your volume to really hear the difference. How it Works High-quality output begins with a highly accurate decoder. MAD fully satisfies the ISO/IEC 11172-4 computational accuracy requirements for compliance. However, accuracy alone is not enough. Internally, MAD represents the decoded audio signal with high precision. Combined with a form of dither, this allows output samples to be calculated with less objectionable quantization noise and more audible dynamic range than most decoders produce today. The result is unusually high-quality output that is a more faithful reconstruction of the signal encoded in MPEG audio than you may have realized possible. download here