Doesn't the US patent on mp3 end in a few months?
Can we has native mp3 yet?

To support my statement on the 16kHz ceiling for MP3 ..
"There is no scale factor band 21 (sfb21) for frequencies above approx 16 kHz, forcing the encoder to choose between less accurate representation in band 21 or less efficient storage in all bands below band 21, the latter resulting in wasted bitrate in VBR encoding"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3

It's just not there. I see it in spectrum analyzers. Even PGRTA will show it. I have a few MP3 codecs (including a registered Fraunhofer Pro, LAME, etc) and they all do this.

To OP, have you tried converting to wma and see if it sounds any better? That may be a quick way to narrow down the codec.

Last edited by rharv; 02/03/17 02:08 PM.

Make your sound your own!
.. I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome