diff --git a/timeline/src/Engine/Audio_File.C b/timeline/src/Engine/Audio_File.C
index eeea756..285380e 100644
--- a/timeline/src/Engine/Audio_File.C
+++ b/timeline/src/Engine/Audio_File.C
@@ -88,6 +88,21 @@ Audio_File::filename ( void ) const
     return _path;
 }
 
+static bool is_poor_seeker ( const char * filename )
+{
+    if ( ( strlen(filename) > 4 &&
+           ! strcasecmp( &filename[strlen(filename)-4], ".ogg" ) )
+         ||
+         ( strlen(filename) > 5 &&
+           ! strcasecmp( &filename[strlen(filename)-5], ".flac" ) )
+        )
+    {
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    return false;
+}
+
 /** attempt to open any supported filetype */
 Audio_File *
 Audio_File::from_file ( const char * filename )
@@ -96,11 +111,21 @@ Audio_File::from_file ( const char * filename )
 
     Audio_File *a;
 
-    if ( ( a = _open_files[ std::string( filename ) ] ) )
+    if ( is_poor_seeker(filename) )
     {
-        ++a->_refs;
-
-        return a;
+        /* OGG and FLAC have poor seek performance, so they require
+         * separate file descriptors to be useful */
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        /* WAV are quick enough to seek that we can save
+         * filedescriptors by sharing them between regions */
+        if ( ( a = _open_files[ std::string( filename ) ] ) )
+        {
+            ++a->_refs;
+            
+            return a;
+        }
     }
 
     if ( ( a = Audio_File_SF::from_file( filename ) ) )
@@ -118,7 +143,7 @@ Audio_File::from_file ( const char * filename )
 
 done:
 
-    ASSERT( ! _open_files[ std::string( filename ) ], "Programming errror" );
+    /* ASSERT( ! _open_files[ std::string( filename ) ], "Programming errror" ); */
 
     _open_files[ std::string( filename ) ] = a;
 
@@ -130,8 +155,15 @@ done:
 Audio_File *
 Audio_File::duplicate ( void )
 {
-    ++_refs;
-    return this;
+    if ( is_poor_seeker( _filename ) )
+    {
+        return from_file(_filename);
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        ++_refs;
+        return this;
+    }
 }
 
 /** release the resources assoicated with this audio file if no other
diff --git a/timeline/src/Engine/Audio_File.H b/timeline/src/Engine/Audio_File.H
index 29a2f88..068074b 100644
--- a/timeline/src/Engine/Audio_File.H
+++ b/timeline/src/Engine/Audio_File.H
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ protected:
         const char *name;
         const char *extension;
         unsigned long id;
+        int quality;
     };
 
     char *_filename;
diff --git a/timeline/src/Engine/Audio_File_SF.C b/timeline/src/Engine/Audio_File_SF.C
index 70f9edd..a7258d9 100644
--- a/timeline/src/Engine/Audio_File_SF.C
+++ b/timeline/src/Engine/Audio_File_SF.C
@@ -42,11 +42,13 @@ const Audio_File::format_desc Audio_File_SF::supported_formats[] =
     {      "Wav 24",       "wav",   SF_FORMAT_WAV    | SF_FORMAT_PCM_24    | SF_ENDIAN_FILE },
     {      "Wav 16",       "wav",   SF_FORMAT_WAV    | SF_FORMAT_PCM_16    | SF_ENDIAN_FILE },
     {      "Wav f32",      "wav",   SF_FORMAT_WAV    | SF_FORMAT_FLOAT     | SF_ENDIAN_FILE },
-    {      "Au 24",       "au",     SF_FORMAT_AU     | SF_FORMAT_PCM_24    | SF_ENDIAN_FILE },
-    {      "Au 16",       "au",     SF_FORMAT_AU     | SF_FORMAT_PCM_16    | SF_ENDIAN_FILE },
-    {      "FLAC",       "flac",    SF_FORMAT_FLAC   | SF_FORMAT_PCM_24 },
-#ifdef HAS_SF_FORMAT_VORBIS
-    {      "Ogg Vorbis", "ogg",     SF_FORMAT_OGG    | SF_FORMAT_VORBIS | SF_FORMAT_PCM_16 },
+    {      "Au 24",        "au",    SF_FORMAT_AU     | SF_FORMAT_PCM_24    | SF_ENDIAN_FILE },
+    {      "Au 16",        "au",    SF_FORMAT_AU     | SF_FORMAT_PCM_16    | SF_ENDIAN_FILE },
+    {      "FLAC",         "flac",  SF_FORMAT_FLAC   | SF_FORMAT_PCM_24 },
+#ifdef HAVE_SF_FORMAT_VORBIS
+    {      "Vorbis q10",   "ogg",   SF_FORMAT_OGG    | SF_FORMAT_VORBIS, 10 },
+    {      "Vorbis q6",    "ogg",   SF_FORMAT_OGG    | SF_FORMAT_VORBIS, 6 },
+    {      "Vorbis q3",    "ogg",   SF_FORMAT_OGG    | SF_FORMAT_VORBIS, 3 },
 #endif
     {      0,            0          }
 };
@@ -125,6 +127,14 @@ Audio_File_SF::create ( const char *filename, nframes_t samplerate, int channels
         return NULL;
     }
 
+    if ( !strcmp( fd->extension, "ogg" ) )
+    {
+        /* set high quality encoding for vorbis */
+        double quality = ( fd->quality + 1 ) / (float)11;
+
+        sf_command( out, SFC_SET_VBR_ENCODING_QUALITY, &quality, sizeof( double ) );                    
+    }
+
     Audio_File_SF *c = new Audio_File_SF;
 
     c->_path       = filepath;
diff --git a/timeline/wscript b/timeline/wscript
index b7a45fa..6a7762a 100644
--- a/timeline/wscript
+++ b/timeline/wscript
@@ -31,7 +31,12 @@ def configure(conf):
     # conf.env.append_value('CXXFLAGS', '-D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64')
 
     conf.check_cfg(package='sndfile', uselib_store='SNDFILE',args="--cflags --libs",
-                      atleast_version='1.0.17', mandatory=True)
+                      atleast_version='1.0.18', mandatory=True)
+
+    conf.check(msg='Checking for SF_FORMAT_VORBIS',
+                  define_name='HAVE_SF_FORMAT_VORBIS',
+                  fragment='#include <sndfile.h>\nint main ( int argc, char **argv ) { return SF_FORMAT_VORBIS; }',
+                  execute=False, mandatory=False)
 
     conf.define('VERSION', PACKAGE_VERSION)
     conf.define('SYSTEM_PATH', '/'.join( [ conf.env.DATADIR, APPNAME ] ) )