[MPlayer-users] Less-than-optimal audio-codec choices

[The Wanderer]

The situation:

For all files for which I have bothered to check which use MPEG audio,
the codec chosen by mplayer is mp3lib.

According to http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/codecs-status.html:

mp3lib supports decoding layer 2 and layer 3 audio, but not layer 1.

libmad supports decoding layer 1, 2 and 3 audio, although if my
experiences are any guide the quality is not necessarily good.

FFmpeg supports decoding layer 3 audio in one part and layer 1 & 2 audio
in another part. I have at least one layer-1-audio file which plays
sound with -ac mad but gives "no sound" with -ac mp2, so there may be
some inaccuracy or misunderstanding here.

It does not appear to make sense for mp3lib to be the default choice for
MPEG layer 1 audio; if it is not possible to determine the type of MPEG
audio prior to attempting decoding, it would at the least seem desirable
to fail out of mp3lib and attempt to fall back on either of the other
two noted codecs.

Are there any problems with this notion? Is there anything I'm missing?
Is there anything to be done about it all?

-- 
       The Wanderer

A government exists to serve its citizens, not to control them.