FDK AAC Encoder [aimp5.40]

[Soolo]

AAC/M4A Encoder (FDK) v1.0.6 Soolo | 2025-03-13 | 802.3 KB | Downloads: 12254 Platform: Windows App Version: v5.40 or newer Type: Encoders Target: 32-bit, 64-bit Based on fdkaac by nu774 using the Fraunhofer FDK. Download

.M4A

[Armacadia]

Unless I'm misunderstanding something, this seems to produce much worse quality result than the old standalone FDK encoder at similar settings, link to which was provided on this forum while 5.30 was still the actual version.
I have tried coverting a FLAC file to 320kbps CBR; the first screenshot shows the spectral range of the original FLAC file, screenshots 2-3 show the old encoder at CBR 320 (no format conversion, channel mixing + dithering + anticlipping on in the converter settings), 4-5 show this encoder at CBR 320 MPEG-4 AAC LC (still no conversion, mixing, dithering and anticlipping on). Output file size happens to be about the same in both cases.
Could be not the encoder itself to blame but its xml manifest, I dunno?