Verfahren zum Bestimmen der zu waehlenden Codierungsart fuer die Codierung von wenigstens zwei Signalen

When coding several signals which are not dependent on each other, selection of the suitable coding type is dependent on the degree of similarity. According to one aspect of the invention, the degree of similarity is determined by coding one of the signals first using the intensity stereo process and then decoding it in order to create a signal containing a coding error, whereupon the latter and the related non-coded signal are transformed into the frequency range. Within the frequency range, the actually audible spectral component, the signal bearing the coding error and the related signal not containing any coding error are selected or evaluated using a masking threshold which is determined by a psycho-acoustic calculation. If the degree of similarity is high, an intensity stereo coding is performed, whereas in the opposite case, the channels are coded separately.