Computer Audio Asylum Music servers and other computer based digital audio technologies.

---

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Computer Audio Asylum ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

Blind Test Results - the difference between AIFF and FLAC

Posted by Scrith (A) on April 2, 2009 at 10:38:50

In Reply to: Critical listening comparison of iTunes lossless or uncompressed music files played via Vista and OSX posted by DSG on April 2, 2009 at 09:31:34:

This doesn't really answer your question (has anyone compared Mac vs. PC playback of lossless files), but here's some experience I've had with lossless audio formats, audio software, and so forth:

I conducted some blind tests my wife about one year ago. In my experience she has very sensitive ears, and she is generally ambivalent about audio formats and hardware (although she definitely appreciates how good our computer audio setup sounds). The system: Vista 64, 8GB, Foobar2000 (no upsampling or DSPs), Benchmark DAC1 USB, Jeff Rowland Model 201 monoblock amps, Dynaudio Confidence C1 speakers, Cardas Golden Reference power cables, interconnects, speaker cables, PS Audio Duet power conditioner.

The results? She could not hear ANY difference between FLAC and AIFF. I also used this opportunity to check Foobar 0.9.x vs. Foobar 0.8.3...also no difference (I had tested her before on Foobar 0.9.x vs 0.8.3 and she didn't detect a difference at that time either).

She DID notice a difference with USB cables (no name generic vs. a Cryo Parts cable I had recently acquired), which surprised me (I've had posted prior to this test that it seemed like a digital cable should not make a difference in playback quality...my conclusion after the test is that USB might be a particularly sensitive way of transmitting information, particularly given all the interference going on in a computer-based system, so perhaps a cable upgrade is warranted). Her feedback was that cable B (the Cryo Parts cable, since replaced by a Polestar cable from the same company) sounded clearer, whereas cable A (generic) seemed very slightly "fuzzy" in the highs.

In a previous test (about 6 months earlier) I found that she could tell the difference between MP3 (vbr) and FLAC, but not between DirectSound (in Vista64) and KernalStreaming (which bypasses DirectSound, like ASIO). Her feedback there was pretty simple: file A (FLAC) sounded "right", whereas file B sounded like some of the data was missing (paraphrasing a bit).

My conclusion was that, assuming you are using a system that can handle simple decompression and audio playback (which, apparently, is more than one can expect from many Mac laptops and minis, based on what others have posted here about hearing an improvement with AIFF vs. lossless compressed on those systems), there will be no audible difference between the two (which makes logical sense, at least, because the data being sent to the DAC is identical when using uncompressed vs. lossless compression...assuming the system can keep up with the relatively trivial task of decompression and keep the playback buffers full).

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Kimber Kable

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---