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Bit new to DB Poweramp, been ripping my CD's to my UpNP in FLAC Lossless Level 8. Is FLAC best format to rip to to get highest quality? Also just below FLAC lossless level 8 which I use is an option 'lossless uncompressed'. Is that option even higher quality than Level 8? Should I be selecting that one? thanks Steve
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Re: FLAC ripping
It's all lossless at any level setting. -
Re: FLAC ripping
compression level has to do with how much space the file takes up on your harddrive and how long it takes to encode the file (it takes longer to encode at higher compression levels). It has nothing to do with audio quality or "losslessness". Any FLAC file, from uncompressed to level 8 will be decoded (prior to playing) to the exact same bitperfect lossless file. Don't confuse lossless "compression" with LOSSY compression (where a 128kbs file contains *different* info as compared to a 256kbs file).Comment
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Re: FLAC ripping
[QUOTE=SteveT;15514Is FLAC best format to rip to to get highest quality? [/QUOTE]
Hi Steve, welcome to the forum. One other point, to add to the garym's excellent clarification about compression....any lossless codec has the same, "highest" quality. This is because they all preserve all the data bits contained on the original CD, the only difference being that they put them in different containers. So whether you opt for flac, alac, ape, WMA lossless, etc., you'll get the same lossless quality. The best choice is the one that's compatible with all your intended playback devices.Comment
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Re: FLAC ripping
There's more to consider than just whether or not a file format is lossless. One should also take into account the format's ability and flexiblity for including tags (metadata) in the files. It is foolish to rip CDs to a library of music without embedding tags in the files to identify the content in ways that are searchable. With this in mind, FLAC is by far the best choice. Vorbis comments are easy to create, insert and read. Here are some unrelated, hypothetical examples of some tags that can be added to enhance the usefulness of a music collection:
PERFORMER=Bob Dylan (Vocal, Guitar, Harmonica)
COMPOSER=Traditional
COMPOSER=Woody Guthrie (Additional lyrics)
LABEL=Vanguard Records
FORMAT=A=FLAC,F=44100,W=16,M=Stereo
ENCODER=dBpoweramp v.15.2, Compression Level 5, FLAC 1.3.1
ALBUMARTIST=Barbara Streisand
WWWARTIST=http://www.paulmccartney.com/
Remember this, regardless of your choice of file formats: "Rip Once, Rip Right!"
Here at Fullfidelity Music® in the USA, we add up to several dozen tags to music files for clients, using an consistent set of extended FLAC tags.
Dennis....aka "d2b"Comment
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Re: FLAC ripping
I neither said nor implied that tags don't matter, nor has anybody here suggested ripping CDs to a library of music without embedding tags in the files. We're all pretty serious metadata enthusiasts around here
, so if the OP had been asking anything about that, rather than about (audio) quality, I'm sure there would have been an "enthusiastic" discussion about tagging. To which I would have offered the recommendation that he avoid formats that don't tag well, like AIFF and WAV.
I stand by my opinion, however, that the best lossless codec for any particular user is the format that's compatible with their playback devices. FLAC is a great codec....very widely-supported and very easy to tag. It's also a very poor choice if you use Apple devices for playback.
(So...was that a subversive ad for your business....?
)
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