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The following codecs are installed with Windows Media Encoder. The Windows Media Audio codec is recommended for most content because it usually produces the best sound quality in a media file with mixed media types and music-based content. However, if you are creating a low bandwidth stream (below 20 Kbps) that has voice-only audio content, better results may be obtained by using the Sipro Labs ACELP.net codec.
| Codec | Description |
| Windows Media Audio Codec version 2 | The Windows Media Audio codec is a highly scalable codec that provides high quality mono and stereo audio content over a wide range of bandwidths. You can use the Windows Media Audio codec to encode audio content at bandwidths ranging from 5 kilobits per second (Kbps) to 160 Kbps. The audio sampling rate ranges from 8 kilohertz (kHz) to 48 kHz. This allows you to choose the best combination of bandwidth and sampling rates for your content.
This codec is also very loss tolerant, so it is excellent for use with streaming content. It has superb clarity and tonal depth to provide better sounding music content than comparable codecs. In addition, this codec can be used to remove an audio track from a piece of content by selecting the 0 kilobits per second (Kbps) audio format. If you are creating audio files for download, the Windows Media Audio codec is a great choice because it provides near CD-quality sound at half of the datarate required by most codecs. |
| Windows Media Audio Codec version 1 | This codec was also known as MSAudio. It is provided to support playback of existing content but should not be used to encode content. |
| FhG MPEG Layer-3 | Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) Layer-3, which is created by FhG, is a high-fidelity mono audio codec that is particularly good for CD-quality audio for an intranet or the Internet. MPEG Layer-3 comes with several formats depending on the network bandwidth you choose. |
| Sipro ACELP.net | ACELP is a low bit-rate codec that provides excellent voice compression. ACELP comes with several audio formats depending on the network bandwidth you choose. |
| Voxware | Voxware provides high-quality sound using low- to mid-range bit rates. It comes with a variety of mono and stereo audio formats to choose from depending on your network bandwidth. It is also suitable for encoding mono voice-only content at extremely low bit-rates. |