Default lossless level 5 compression vs lossless uncompressed

[Shpongle]

new to dBPoweramp......i have my CD ripper set to the default lossless level 5 position. when i click on different levels, the size of the file doesn't vary that much unless i click on lossless uncompressed. am i likely to hear a huge difference if i use this uncompressed setting? what is the downside to using this setting other than it taking up more space?

thanks

[Dat Ei]

Re: Default lossless level 5 compression vs lossless uncompressed

No matter what compression level you choose, the file is lossless, so the sound quality is the same. It is like zip a lossless compression. It influences only the file size and the cpu load to compress the audio data.


Dat Ei

[garym]

Re: Default lossless level 5 compression vs lossless uncompressed

No matter what compression level you choose, the file is lossless, so the sound quality is the same. It is like zip a lossless compression. It influences only the file size and the cpu load to compress the audio data.


Dat Ei

as Dat Ei notes, these are LOSSLESS files. Compression level is just a file size thing (and not even huge differences as you note). Zero effect on audio. (You may be mistaking a FLAC file for something like a lossy mp3 file, where compression *does* matter (that is a 64kbps mp3 file most likely sounds worse that a 320kbps mp3 file).

[Shpongle]

Re: Default lossless level 5 compression vs lossless uncompressed

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Just a further question....So why are there 9 different compression settings on the CD ripper if they are all lossless? Apologies if that is a stupid question.

[Shpongle]

Re: Default lossless level 5 compression vs lossless uncompressed

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Still a bit confused as to why there are 9 different compression settings?

[garym]

Re: Default lossless level 5 compression vs lossless uncompressed

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Still a bit confused as to why there are 9 different compression settings?

Not really sure how this came about. I think it is something from the old days. It's all about size and how hard it is to encode. So in olden times, harddisk space was super expensive, so making lots of files smaller, saved that space. Also, it had to do with the power of the CPU of computer when creating (encoding) the FLAC files. the computer had to work harder to encode at "8" vs. say, "2". But of course now, even the cheapest CPU made in the last 10 years can effortlessly encode to "8". Do keep in mind that some people are confused. They think the decoder (the player) has to work harder to decode a FLAC encoded at 8 vs 1, but this is not true. There may be an ever so slight difference, but not enough to matter. It's in the encoding of the file (creation) that the CPU has to work a bit harder to encode at 8 vs a lower level.

But again, they are all lossless, and decode to the exact same bitperfect copy of the CD.

[Shpongle]

Re: Default lossless level 5 compression vs lossless uncompressed

Not really sure how this came about. I think it is something from the old days. It's all about size and how hard it is to encode. So in olden times, harddisk space was super expensive, so making lots of files smaller, saved that space. Also, it had to do with the power of the CPU of computer when creating (encoding) the FLAC files. the computer had to work harder to encode at "8" vs. say, "2". But of course now, even the cheapest CPU made in the last 10 years can effortlessly encode to "8". Do keep in mind that some people are confused. They think the decoder (the player) has to work harder to decode a FLAC encoded at 8 vs 1, but this is not true. There may be an ever so slight difference, but not enough to matter. It's in the encoding of the file (creation) that the CPU has to work a bit harder to encode at 8 vs a lower level.

But again, they are all lossless, and decode to the exact same bitperfect copy of the CD.

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain so precisely.