FAAD2 2.10.1

We suggest you read these 2 guides:

Is DTS Better Than AAC? and Understanding the Differences Between AAC, AAC-LC, and AAC-HE

Also download FDK AAC Codec.

FAAD2 (Freeware Advanced Audio (AAC) Decoder) is a decoder for AAC audio formats. The AAC format is a lossy encoding format audio files (ie with loss of quality) rival of the popular MP3.

It supports several profiles (LC, LTP, Main, LD, HE, HEv2...), and can playback AAC/MP4 streams.

What's the difference between FAAD2 and FAAC?

FAAD2 and FAAC are both related to Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), but they serve different purposes:

FAAD2 (Freeware Advanced Audio Decoder 2):

Purpose: FAAD2 is an open-source software library for decoding AAC audio files. It is used to play back AAC-encoded audio.

Function: It allows applications to decode AAC streams into playable audio formats. FAAD2 supports various AAC profiles, including Low Complexity (LC), High Efficiency (HE-AAC), and HE-AACv2.

Use Cases: FAAD2 is commonly used in media players, audio processing software, and any application that needs to decode AAC audio streams for playback or further processing.

FAAC (Freeware Advanced Audio Coder):

Purpose: FAAC is an open-source software library for encoding audio into the AAC format. It is used to create AAC-encoded audio files from other audio sources.

Function: It allows applications to encode audio streams into AAC format. FAAC focuses on producing compliant AAC files, though its encoding efficiency and quality are generally considered inferior to more modern encoders like the ones provided by Apple or Fraunhofer.

Use Cases: FAAC is used in applications where AAC encoding is required, such as in audio conversion tools, streaming services, and other software needing to produce AAC-encoded content.

Key Differences:

FAAD2: Used for decoding AAC audio.
FAAC: Used for encoding audio into AAC format.

FAAD2 is for playback and decoding of AAC audio, while FAAC is for creating and encoding AAC audio files.