Best place to buy FLAC music files?

[zrmaxwell]

I am getting a FLAC capable music player in a couple of weeks, and i was wondering..

 

(The question has been asked in the title of this post..)

[The Flying Sloth]

I highly doubt you can head the difference between a 320kbps MP3 on a reference system let along on a portable system. I wouldn't bother.
But that's just me

[_Dawnte_]

You could get a subscription for tidal or deezer HiFi.

[H713]

3 hours ago, The Flying Sloth said:

I highly doubt you can head the difference between a 320kbps MP3 on a reference system let along on a portable system. I wouldn't bother.
But that's just me

It really depends on the situation, but for the most part I have to agree. With some tracks the compression does almost nothing, with others it actually makes a noticeable difference, though with 320 kbps MP3 it's definitely less noticeable than at lower bitrates. I find that it's much more noticeable on systems with a huge dynamic range. As an example, when doing a listening test on a concert hall or studio main monitors installation, it can make some amount of difference. With some portable systems I can't hear a difference at all. 

 

In short, unless I'm trying to do comparative tests on a capable system, I don't see a lot of point. 

[CTR640]

I have to agree you won't really hear any difference between FLAC and 320kbps MP3. Spend your money on something else.

[rice guru]

7 digital, boom kat, bllep, bandcamp are where I used to buy Flacs. I also used to buy CDs and just rip music from them as well as it was generally kinda cheaper.

[Psittac]

I second bandcamp.

 

I find that it is difficult to pinpoint differences in the audio chain from source to output, but sometimes you can clearly tell a difference.  Example going from listening to a music video on youtube to a master on tidal, the difference is night and day in my opinion.

 

Then again confirmation bias is difficult, I swear that I switched my dac from 16bit 44.1khz to 24bit 384khz I noticed a night and day difference in clarity, but I've heard people say you physically can't tell the difference.

 

Audio is so SO subjective and has so many variables and is so prone to confirmation bias that I don't think the leaders in the field could truly tell you one way or the other.  Myself, I just go with what I can comfortably afford and enjoy what I have.