<s>
mp3PRO	B-Algorithm
is	O
an	O
unmaintained	O
proprietary	O
audio	O
compression	O
codec	B-General_Concept
that	O
combines	O
the	O
MP3	B-Application
audio	I-Application
format	O
with	O
the	O
spectral	B-Algorithm
band	I-Algorithm
replication	I-Algorithm
(	O
SBR	O
)	O
compression	O
method	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
it	O
was	O
developed	O
it	O
could	O
reduce	O
the	O
size	O
of	O
a	O
stereo	O
MP3	B-Application
by	O
as	O
much	O
as	O
50%	O
while	O
maintaining	O
the	O
same	O
relative	O
quality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
included	O
in	O
their	O
MPEG-2	B-Application
AAC	I-Application
derived	O
codec	B-General_Concept
aacPlus	O
,	O
which	O
would	O
later	O
be	O
standardized	O
as	O
MPEG-4	O
HE-AAC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thomson	O
Multimedia	O
(	O
now	O
Technicolor	O
SA	O
)	O
licensed	O
the	O
technology	O
and	O
used	O
it	O
to	O
extend	O
the	O
MP3	B-Application
format	O
,	O
for	O
which	O
they	O
held	O
patents	O
,	O
hoping	O
to	O
also	O
extend	O
its	O
profitable	O
lifetime	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
released	O
as	O
mp3PRO	B-Algorithm
in	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
originally	O
claimed	O
that	O
mp3PRO	B-Algorithm
files	O
were	O
compatible	O
with	O
existing	O
MP3	B-Application
decoders	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
the	O
SBR	O
data	O
could	O
simply	O
be	O
ignored	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
reality	O
was	O
that	O
MP3	B-Application
players	O
lacking	O
specific	O
mp3PRO	B-Algorithm
decoding	O
capability	O
experienced	O
a	O
significant	O
reduction	O
in	O
audio	O
quality	O
when	O
playing	O
mp3PRO	B-Algorithm
files	O
as	O
only	O
the	O
lower	O
half	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
frequency	O
range	O
is	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
mp3PRO	B-Algorithm
development	O
has	O
been	O
abandoned	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nero	B-Application
's	O
Soundtrax	O
application	O
,	O
bundled	O
in	O
the	O
Nero	B-Application
Multimedia	I-Application
Suite	I-Application
,	O
is	O
capable	O
of	O
encoding	O
and	O
decoding	O
this	O
format	O
into	O
several	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
outdated	O
MusicMatch	B-Application
Jukebox	I-Application
player	O
(	O
which	O
will	O
still	O
run	O
even	O
on	O
Windows	O
10	O
x64	O
)	O
were	O
able	O
to	O
decode	O
and	O
encode	O
this	O
format	O
,	O
too	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
early	O
2000s	O
,	O
mp3PRO	B-Algorithm
was	O
usable	O
in	O
several	O
portable	O
music	O
players	O
and	O
in	O
popular	O
music	O
software	O
,	O
but	O
its	O
market	O
share	O
has	O
deteriorated	O
rapidly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
codec	B-General_Concept
itself	O
is	O
largely	O
surpassed	O
in	O
quality	O
and	O
efficiency	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
device	O
and	O
application	O
support	O
,	O
by	O
modern	O
codecs	B-General_Concept
like	O
AAC	B-Application
and	O
its	O
HE-AAC	O
variants	O
which	O
employ	O
the	O
same	O
SBR	O
method	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thomson	O
Demo	O
mp3PRO	B-Algorithm
Player/Encoder	O
is	O
an	O
unmaintained	O
proprietary	B-License
freeware	I-License
media	O
software	O
program	O
originally	O
released	O
by	O
Thomson	O
(	O
now	O
Technicolor	O
SA	O
)	O
and	O
Coding	O
Technologies	O
(	O
acquired	O
by	O
Dolby	O
Laboratories	O
in	O
2007	O
)	O
which	O
converts	O
Waveform	O
Audio	O
File	O
Format	O
(	O
WAV	O
)	O
files	O
to	O
mp3PRO	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
official	O
website	O
claims	O
that	O
nearly	O
50%	O
more	O
music	O
,	O
compared	O
to	O
standard	O
MP3	B-Application
,	O
can	O
be	O
held	O
by	O
a	O
storage	O
device	O
whether	O
CD	O
,	O
hard	O
drive	O
,	O
or	O
flash	O
drive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
quality	O
of	O
64	O
kbit/s	O
mp3PRO	B-Algorithm
technology	O
is	O
stated	O
to	O
be	O
in	O
the	O
range	O
between	O
96	O
and	O
128	O
kbit/s	O
MP3	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
specific	O
demo	O
program	O
performs	O
one	O
WAV	O
file	O
to	O
mp3PRO	B-Algorithm
conversion	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
mp3PRO	B-Algorithm
codec	B-General_Concept
,	O
has	O
been	O
unmaintained	O
for	O
more	O
than	O
a	O
decade	O
and	O
is	O
generally	O
regarded	O
as	O
obsolete	O
.	O
</s>
