Reviews by S L

Have been using handbrake for quite sometime now as a casual user not professional or anything. Such a pity they remove target filesize from its option due to certain somebody ranting about it. I really liked that option.

Recently I tested both HandBrake (nightly build svn 5026) & XMedia Recode (3.1.3.0). Let me tell you Handbrake is definitely getting competition from XMedia Recode.

Test 350mb avi to 150-160mb mkv
Handbrake = 15mins
XMedia Recode = 7mins
Handbrake = Constant Quality RF 22.5
XMedia Recode = Constant Quality RF 25

If based on my target filesize range Handbrake has superior quality due to better RF but XMedia Recode is way faster! Handbrake needs to improve encoding speed.

As a casual user not a professional or heavy user, I loved handbrake as was among the best I used so far. I recently tested XMedia Recode 3.1.3.0 and quite impress with it so far. Couple of things to say about difference I found between latest XMedia Recode and nightly build HandBrake svn 5026.

For a 350mb avi movie using same settings for both encoders, XMedia Recode took just 7 mins to get it into 160mb mkv while handbrake took 15 mins to get to 155mb. But there is slight quality difference, handbrake uses Constant Quality RF 22.5 while XMedia Recode needs Constant Quality RF 25 to achieve the target filesize I wanted that was 150-160mb range. If based on target filesize Handbrake has superior quality but if based on encode speed XMedia Recode is way faster.

Pro
Faster encoding than Handbrake
Con
Bigger filesize than Handbrake