MAD is a high-quality MPEG audio decoder. It currently supports MPEG-1 and the
MPEG-2 extension to lower sampling frequencies, as well as the de facto MPEG 2.5
format. All three audio layers — Layer I, Layer II, and Layer III (i.e.
MP3) — are fully implemented.

MAD does not yet support MPEG-2 multichannel audio (although it should be
backward compatible with such streams) nor does it currently support AAC.

MAD has the following special features:

    * 24-bit PCM output
    * 100% fixed-point (integer) computation
    * completely new implementation based on the ISO/IEC standards
    * available under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL)

Because MAD provides full 24-bit PCM output, applications using MAD are able to
produce exceptionally high quality audio. Even when the output device supports
only 16-bit PCM, applications can use the extra resolution to increase the
audible dynamic range through the use of dithering or noise shaping.

Because MAD uses integer computation rather than floating point, it is well
suited for architectures without a floating point unit. All calculations are
performed with a 32-bit fixed-point integer representation.

Because MAD is a new implementation of the ISO/IEC standards, it is unencumbered
by the errors of other implementations. MAD is not a derivation of the ISO
reference source or any other code. Considerable effort has been expended to
ensure a correct implementation, even in cases where the standards are ambiguous
or misleading.

OSI Certified Open Source SoftwareBecause MAD is available under the terms of
the GPL, it can be freely used in other GPL software, and is also available for
immediate evaluation prior to obtaining a commercial license. (Please contact us
to discuss commercial licensing terms.)