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Audio Files - MP3 (Poorly Compressible)
Compression Rate
Data
Compressors |
Original Size (bytes) |
Compressed Size (bytes) |
Space Saved (bytes) |
WinRK |
200,007,492
|
191,853,448 |
8,154,044 |
Squeez |
200,007,492
|
193,111,763 |
6,895,729 |
SBC Archiver |
200,007,492
|
193,970,424 |
6,037,068 |
bzip2 |
200,007,492
|
194,837,753 |
5,169,739 |
WinZip |
200,007,492
|
194,844,091 |
5,163,401 |
WinRAR |
200,007,492
|
195,399,154 |
4,608,338 |
gzip |
200,007,492
|
195,528,608 |
4,478,884 |
WinAce |
200,007,492
|
195,617,790 |
4,389,702 |
7-Zip |
200,007,492
|
195,766,726 |
4,240,766 |
ARJ32 |
200,007,492
|
195,922,521 |
4,084,971 |
StuffIt |
200,007,492
|
200,019,850 |
-12,358 |
In this test of MP3 files, we can see just how hard it is to compress media files that are already compressed. Even the best compressor, WinRK, could only achieve a maximum compression rate of 4%. Although a space saving of just over 8MB doesn't seem much, it's very good performance when it comes to MP3 files. Even its closest contender, Squeez, could not come close to it.
SBC Archiver, which was the best compressor at normal settings, delivered the same level of performance even at maximum compression. This relegated it to the third spot and far behind WinRK, the new performance leader. The other data compressors showed only average performance and reduced the fileset size by 4-5MB. The worst compressor was StuffIt. Even at maximum compression, it still chose to store the files in the archive without compressing them.
Compression Speed
| Data Compressors |
Original Size (bytes) |
Time (s) |
Speed (KB/s) |
StuffIt |
200,007,492
|
4.77 |
41930.3 |
gzip |
200,007,492
|
16.11 |
12415.1 |
ARJ32 |
200,007,492
|
21.64 |
9242.5 |
WinZip |
200,007,492
|
54.02 |
3702.5 |
bzip2 |
200,007,492
|
54.80 |
3649.8 |
7-Zip |
200,007,492
|
110.19 |
1815.1 |
WinRAR |
200,007,492
|
141.61 |
1412.4 |
SBC Archiver |
200,007,492
|
172.98 |
1156.2 |
WinAce |
200,007,492
|
196.08 |
1020.0 |
Squeez |
200,007,492
|
225.62 |
886.5 |
WinRK |
200,007,492
|
2174.72 |
92.0 |
Because StuffIt did not bother to compress the files, it recorded the fastest compression time of just over 4.7 seconds.
Of the other compressors (that actually did compression work), gzip was the fastest. It managed to compress the entire fileset in just 16 seconds, giving it a compression speed of over 12.4MB/s. ARJ32, WinZip and bzip2 were also fast, with compression speeds of 9.2MB/s, 3.7MB/s and 3.6MB/s respectively.
The other compressors were all slow at this fileset. However, none could beat the slow poke called WinRK. Although it was the best at compressing this fileset, it took over 36 minutes to complete the task! Insane!
Compression Efficiency
The compression efficiency rating is a simple way to evaluate the efficiency of each data compressor. This way, we can see which compressor can save the most space in the least time.
Please note that a higher efficiency rating does not mean the compressor is better. It just means the compressor has a better compression-to-speed ratio. A more efficient compressor is, of course, always more desirable than a less efficient one.
The most efficient data compressor when it comes to MP3 files compression at default settings was gzip by a very large margin. Its tremendous compression speed more than made up for its average compression ratio and made it the undisputed efficiency champion in this category. It was 47% more efficient than its nearest competitor, ARJ32.
WinZip and bzip2 were both quite efficient compressors. The other compressors were all rather inefficient compressors, generally taking too long to achieve about the same level of compression. The MP3 compression king, WinRK, ended up the most inefficient compressor. Its excellent compression ratio just couldn't make it up for its extremely slow compression time.
