Curious about the FLAC audio format

[james_bond]

Hi,

I am curious about the FLAC audio format. Never used it. I have only used CD audio & MP3s.

Is FLAC even better than audio CD in sound quality ?

Is high end audio hardware mandatory to take advantage of the high end audio that FLAC offers ?

 

I am using a Desktop & this is the speaker I am using >> Click Here

Is my hardware capable enough ?












I

[PlayStation 2]

The intention of FLAC (and any lossless compressed audio format) is to archive audio in the same quality as the source you got it from, but with the added benefit of compression that doesn't remove data. 

If you rip CD audio in the FLAC format, it should, ideally, sound the same as if you were just listening to the CD audio itself.

[Guest]

FLAC can be better as CDs max out at 16-bit 44.1 KHz bitrate. You can rip a CD's audio into FLAC (and therefore it will be lossless, at its maximum quality) but you can also download even higher quality FLAC files from sites like HDtracks or Qobuz, which offer bitrates higher than what a CD can offer. 

 

Even with a lower-end sound system you could hear the difference between, say, lossless FLAC and Spotify's free-level highly-compressed audio but when you get into the higher bitrates and the subtle advances in quality you may not be able to appreciate the difference unless you have high-end audio equipment, and of course you need audio equipment capable of handling those higher bitrates and more advanced formats, like DSD or MQA. 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

2 hours ago, james_bond said:

Hi,

I am curious about the FLAC audio format. Never used it. I have only used CD audio & MP3s.

Is FLAC even better than audio CD in sound quality ?

Is high end audio hardware mandatory to take advantage of the high end audio that FLAC offers ?

 

I am using a Desktop & this is the speaker I am using >> Click Here

Is my hardware capable enough ?

With a fairly basic speaker setup like that, you probably won't be able to detect much of a difference between FLACs and decent quality MP3s. Same goes for your phone. For basic setups, it's not the format that's going to make the difference, rather it's the mastering done by the artist.

[james_bond]

Now that I know about FLAC I Googled "my favorite song name+flac" but all I got was MP3s.

MP3s are all over the internet. There is hardly any FLAC available for free download.

[Gamer Schnitzel]

23 minutes ago, james_bond said:

Now that I know about FLAC I Googled "my favorite song name+flac" but all I got was MP3s.

MP3s are all over the internet. There is hardly any FLAC available for free download.

FLAC files are large and most people want small mp3 files. You're gonna have a hard time finding FLACs. If you're not gonna go buy CDs of your favourite music and rip them as FLAC you might as well not bother. FLAC files are used by audiophiles who are happy to spend thousands on sound quality. If you're gonna google free stuff you might as well stop here.

[Gamer Schnitzel]

The most mainstream thing for better music quality is the streaming service Tidal. Their music is meant to have higher bitrate and quality than Spotify and they offer a trial. Maybe you can try that and see if you can hear a difference in sound quality.

[james_bond]

1 hour ago, Gamer Schnitzel said:

If you're not gonna go buy CDs of your favourite music and rip them as FLAC you might as well not bother.

I just finished ripping some 25 CDs as FLAC. The sound quality is as expected same as the CDs.

What I am craving for is sound quality which is superior to Audio CDs but you have already explained 

that free to download FLACs are very hard to find.

 

Anyways, ripping CDs as FLAC is something I never attempted before so at least I learned something new.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

2 hours ago, james_bond said:

Now that I know about FLAC I Googled "my favorite song name+flac" but all I got was MP3s.

MP3s are all over the internet. There is hardly any FLAC available for free download.

A number of reasons for that. I'll just name a few that I think are the biggest reasons:

• As mentioned before, file size. A regular track on FLAC could be at least 30+mb large. Whereas the same track compressed to mp3 could be 8-12mb in size. If you have your entire library as FLACs, the storage requirements add up really quickly. Like one Album of around 12 tracks could be roughly half a gigabyte. 
• FLACs aren't supported natively by Apple devices and iTunes. If you want lossless audio on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod, you had to use Apple's own format called Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC). So people just stick to MP3s for the most part (plus ALAC file sizes are slightly larger than FLACs, not good for the expensive storage on iOS devices).
• The audio solutions on most smartphones are not natively capable of driving the sort of headphones where the additional detail in FLAC will really shine. So not much of a point of putting FLACs on your phone unless you have a very fancy setup like those FiiO BTR5s. With most consumer headphones being bass heavy that drowns out the mids and highs, your FLACs are still going to sound like poop.

[james_bond]

@BlueChinchillaEatingDorito

 

That's great info.

You mentioned what doesn't work. Now please mention what is needed to enjoy high quality audio originating from a FLAC.

What kind of headphones & what kind on speakers ?

 

Although I am using a 4G internet connection with a daily limit of 3GB I don't mind downloading 4-5 FLACs of 35-40MB per day.

I have one SSD & one spinning drive so no shortage of storage.

[vong]

20 minutes ago, james_bond said:

I just finished ripping some 25 CDs as FLAC. The sound quality is as expected same as the CDs.

What I am craving for is sound quality which is superior to Audio CDs but you have already explained 

that free to download FLACs are very hard to find.

 

Anyways, ripping CDs as FLAC is something I never attempted before so at least I learned something new.

This to me sounds like you think ripping to FLAC is going to magically make your music from the speakers sound better. CD quality is still very much good, that's why they still exist.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

8 minutes ago, james_bond said:

@BlueChinchillaEatingDorito

 

That's great info.

You mentioned what doesn't work. Now please mention what is needed to enjoy high quality audio originating from a FLAC.

What kind of headphones & what kind on speakers ?

 

Although I am using a 4G internet connection with a daily limit of 3GB I don't mind downloading 4-5 FLACs of 35-40MB per day.

I have one SSD & one spinning drive so no shortage of storage.

I think to really get the most on the cheap, getting a good pair of headphones are the way to go. Something that is open back and represents lows, mids, and highs relatively evenly. Something like the AKG K240s or Samson SR850 (if you can even find them for a reasonable price anymore, no longer the 50 dollar bargain they once were) would be my pick for some good starter headphones. I'm sure someone else here could provide more suggestions, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head at the moment.