Q:s
  1. What is VQF?
  2. MP3 vs VQF? (size)
  3. MP3 vs VQF? (quality)
  4. Who created it?
  5. What do I play VQFs with?
  6. Where do I get some more VQFs?
  7. How do I encode VQFs?
  8. Can I convert MP3s to VQFs
  9. VQF & MP3 in the future?
A:s
  1. VQF is a highly compressed digital audio format, just like MP3. Most of the programs for it are under development and most of them are not yet half as good as the ones created for the MP3 format.

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  2. VQFs are between between 30 and 25% smaller than MP3s, using the corresponding bitrate. (80 (VQF) to 112 (MP3) or 96 to 128)

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  3. I have (in my completely unscientific experiment called "listening") noticed that VQFs using the corresponding bitrate (see above) play with noticeably better quality than WinAmp, and slightly worse quality than NAD (you won't know the difference). Even VQFs that have been converted from MP3s sound better than WinAmp (using NAD for MP3 => Wave).

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  4. NTT (Nippon Telephone & Telegraph) created it, but it is under distribution of Yamaha.

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  5. There are several options for you. The most popular players that i know of are TwinVQ & SoundVQ. I have not yet made up my mind about which one i like, but my initial impression is that they both suck. There has to be some serios development here before VQFs can really challenge the MP3 format.

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  6. Try out this site: VQF.com and ... for more VQFs. (more sites will be added shortly)

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  7. There are, again, several options. I use the TwinVQ Encoder, but i haven't had much of a chance to look at the competition yet. Encoding VQFs using TwinVQ is very slow, but I see no reason why they shouldn't be able to speed it up in future releases.

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  8. You can convert MP3s by decompressing them into Wave and then encoding them with TwinVQ Encoder. This is a very time-consuming and not really uncomplicated process. If anyone should write a program that automates the conversion from MP3 to VQF, then you can be sure that it will be well recieved by users like myself. =)

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    MP3s are todays standard, and it's complete monopoly (if you can call it that...) makes it extremely difficult for VQFs to take over. The software for VQF is also WAY behind MP3 software, but there is no doubt that VQFs are in all ways technically superior to MP3s. And I think that's what is going to matter, in the long run. However, it is when MP4 gets out that things might start to get REALLY messy...