High fidelity audio transform coding with vector quantization

Multi-stage tree-structured vector quantization (MSTVQ) is examined as an alternative to entropy constrained scalar quantization (ECSQ) in transform coding of high fidelity audio signals with a simultaneous masking model for distortion control. Discrete-cosine-transform coefficients are normalized by an interpolated spectral power envelope and groups of adjacent coefficients are vector coded with variable rate to achieve distortion-masking. With the current coder configuration, high fidelity quality for a sampling rate of 32 kHz is achievable with data rates below 64 kbps for some transform and masking model, preliminary results show that MSTVO and ECSQ have a similar rate-distortion performance