Audio encoding device, decoding device, and method capable of flexibly adjusting the optimal trade-off between a code rate and sound quality

摘要

Provided are an audio encoding device and an audio decoding device, by which optimal trade-off between code rates and sound quality can be flexibly adjusted. A variable frequency segmentation encoding unit includes: difference degree calculation units for calculating a difference degree between first and second input signals depending on a segmentation method for segmenting a frequency band into sub-bands; a selection unit for selecting one of the segmentation methods; and a difference degree and segmentation information encoding unit for encoding the selected method and the difference degree for each sub-band. A variable frequency segment decoding unit includes: a segmentation information decoding unit for decoding the segmentation information to learn the segmentation method; a switching unit for outputting a difference degree code corresponding to the segmentation method; and difference degree decoding units for decoding the difference degree code to the difference degree for each sub-band.