I just noticed that the new MP3Pro technology tools have been released. And the awesome part is that it's only one program that encodes / decodes the files. No more need for Winamp and an encoder....This is all in one
It's avalable at RCA.com.
Link Here
A little bleb from PCWORLD.com
MP3pro "dramatically improves sound quality in terms of bit rates," he says. An MP3pro file carries near-CD-quality sound recorded at 64 kilobits per second, about equal to that of the Windows Audio version and about half the file size required for the same song in the standard MP3 format. An MP3 music file recorded at 128 kbps will take up about 1 megabyte per minute of sound. The new codec allows recordings of two minutes per megabyte without losing fidelity.
The original MP3 codec discarded some high-pitch sounds in order to prevent encoding errors in low-bit-rate recordings, Arland says. The result sounded more like a tape recording than a CD, he says. An MP3pro recording uses two tracks, one like the old MP3 and another just for high-frequency sounds. The MP3pro "improves the high-end frequency response ... the higher pitches are more distinct," he says.
The new codec is backward-compatible with MP3 players--an MP3pro player will be able to play MP3 files. However, existing MP3 players will have some trouble with high-pitch sounds on MP3pro files because the old readers won't play the secondary high-frequency track.