mp3PRO is the combination of standard mp3 audio and Coding Technologies' Spectral Band Replication (SBR) enhancement technique, while being backwards and forwards compatible. The new mp3PRO format offers significantly improved audio quality over a wide range of bit rates.
Using advanced psychoacoustics techniques and music structure analysis, mp3PRO creates files that are more compact than original mp3 files, with great sound quality. You will be able to play all of your old mp3 files. New mp3PRO files will play normally on old mp3 players, but without the dramatic mp3PRO improvements. Of course, new mp3PRO files played on this application, or any mp3PRO-enhanced application, will provide the optimal listening experience!
When making an mp3PRO file, the new mp3PRO encoder splits audio recordings into two parts. One part analyzes the low frequency band information and encodes it into a normal mp3 stream. This allows the encoder to concentrate on less information and allows it to do a better job of encoding. This also maintains complete compatibility with old mp3 players. The second part analyzes the high frequency band information and encodes it into a part of the mp3 stream that is normally ignored by old mp3 decoders. New or upgraded mp3PRO decoders will tap into this part of the stream and put the two bands back together, resulting in the full audio bandwidth.
The resulting performance of mp3PRO is significantly higher than that of mp3. mp3PRO at 64 kbps performs better than mp3 at 96 kbps, offering a convenient way to drastically improve the storage efficiency of portable players. Products with full mp3PRO encoding functionality will allow a broad variety of encoder configurations, including higher compression (48 kbps and below for stereo) and higher bit rates offering enhanced audio bandwidth (>= 20 kHz) and quality.
For streaming applications, mp3PRO will help to increase the audio bandwidth of the compressed signal, giving it a substantial audio quality boost over current streaming mp3 formats at the same bitrate. This means improvements to every aspect of your digital music listening experience: faster download times, higher audio quality streaming music, and increased storage capacity.