I'm of the opinion that Codec 2 [0][1] should pause on trying to perform better at lower and lower bit rates, and put some work into higher ones.

Getting down to 700 and even 450 b/s is neat and all, but there seems (to me) to be a gap between 4000 and 10000 b/s in the patent-free space.

* [0] http://www.rowetel.com/?page_id=452

* [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codec_2