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In Reply to: FLAC Degrades sound quality permanently posted by Mercman on January 5, 2012 at 16:11:41:
I've always assumed that FLAC was a mathematically lossless encoding. So I checked, to be on the safe side of science. Well, it is. A FLAC rip (for instance of a 16/44 CD) will enable the user to reconstruct the CD identically (i.e in 16/44 WAV).
Quote from Wikipedia: "FLAC uses CRC checksums for identifying corrupted frames when used in a streaming protocol, and also has a complete MD5 hash of the raw PCM audio stored in its STREAMINFO metadata header. FLAC allows for a Rice parameter between 0 and 16. […] If a CD is read and ripped perfectly to FLAC files, the CUE file allows later burning of an audio CD that is identical in audio data to the original CD, including track order, pregaps, and CD-Text."
Of course, the same would apply to other digital sources (DVD-A, SACD, Studio, etc.)
But it's true we're not talking solely about science, because if both music and computers are understandable in mathematical terms, mics, amps and speakers are not. Not entirely. It's about technology and how it reacts to different data encodings; beyond that it's about human ears. This reminds me of the whole SACD discussion. SACD use DSD files at 1bit/2,8MHz resolution. Is that, to one's ears, noticeably better than, say 20bits/96KHz? (both are approx. equivalent mathematically, people usually rip SACDs to 24/88.2) When you actually compare the two, most people don't hear a difference, and a few will argue that A or B is better based on technical audiophile considerations.
That is, differences based on specific hardware, based on different dedicated technologies. Typically what memory play, by removing many mechanical artifacts, may help improve a lot.
The matter of the fact is, processing data through a linear tech chain produces all kinds of "perturbations" (jitter, loops, artifacts, etc.; this is much easier to observe with video data for instance) that can be better-handled through improved designs; but such improvements are usually dedicated to a particular encoding/resolution in the digital part of the chain (it's quite like amps/speakers: they don't all do well in all music genres, they have "preferences" or rather we, humans, do). There is a notion of "tailored components" in audiophile research, that's what the SACD 1-bit standard was all about.
So, while I cannot for one second believe that FLAC isn't "lossless" in the purest, mathematical meaning of the term, it is actually possible that FLAC files do not sound exactly the same as WAV, ON A PARTICULAR SOUND SYSTEM (that will undoubtedly vary from one hardware chain to the other). That's because the real world is analog, unlike digital files. And we, such as hearable music, exist in the analog reality.
However, rigorously, making comparisons between lossless encodings from the same master (say, between DSD, WAV 24/96 and FLAC 24/96) would require, at the very least, an Audiophilleo (outstanding USB-to-S/PDIF "rubbish filter" ^^) to eliminate all the jitter that is produced by data treatment within the computer (but not symmetrically between a WAV and a FLAC for instance, because, well, they're different to process…), and a serious analog section (amp + speakers/headphones). I'm not sure one can hear the difference without spending 5-figures and listening very, very attentively. And even then, it might just be a specific technology talking, doing its mojo on one format more than the other.
My advice (will follow it myself): keep your FLACs, but to get the best out of 'em:
• Pay attention to USB jitter (again, Audiophilleo1 is a computer audiophile's best friend as we speak), that will do much more justice to your D/A conversion section than nitpicking about the encoding.
• Make it short from source to speakers (ideally, FLAC > Player > USB+Audiophilleo or S/PDIF > DAC > Pre-amp (if not integrated or not satisfactory inside the DAC, but don't let the preamp taint the sound, any "Direct" mode is your cue) > Power amp > speakers).
• Pay much attention to all analog cables (bad quality here will kill your music more than any compression, because it's random, it's not even a logical loss that occurs, and there's no such thing as a perfect analog component, so your money is always well-spent here).
• Oh and get a good player such as Pure Music or equivalent.
While others will be busy re-buying or re-ripping their lib in Wav for no obvious improvement , you'll be thoroughly enjoying good lossless HD music.
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Follow Ups
- RE: FLAC Degrades sound quality permanently - ikkei 10:00:42 01/06/12 (1)
- "Pay much attention to all analog cables (bad quality here will kill your music " - Cut-Throat 11:41:04 01/06/12 (0)
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