Not sure if Level-5 offers the same quality as uncompressed

[Bonzo]

Hi,

I ripped a CD`s in FLAC lossless (Level 5). After that, I ripped the same CD into FLAC uncompressed (not Level 0 ... I mean really uncompressed)

After that I converted the folder made with Level 5 into uncompressed.

No I had the folder with the native ripped CD (uncompressed) and the folder with the converted (from Level 5 to uncompressed) files.

No I make MD5-Hashes.

I thought, they have to be the same, because I only removed the compression from the Level-5 files.

But every file was different!!

Is there really no difference in quality between Level-5 and uncompressed? I dont think so, because the conversion to uncompressed should only remove the compression, but it seems to be, that there are more things different.

Thanks for your answer

[garym]

Re: Not sure if Level-5 offers the same quality as uncompressed

there is no difference. Lossless = Lossless. But you need to make sure you're only looking at the AUDIO content when you compare md5/crc, etc. Differences in tags can change a "whole file" md5. You need to use the correct codec for this. Go to "codec central" at top of this page and download and install the dsp, "calculate audio CRC". This will compare whether the audio portion is bit perfect in comparison across the files.

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/codec-central-utility.htm

[Porcus]

Re: Not sure if Level-5 offers the same quality as uncompressed

The Calculate CRC utility codec will calculate audio-only checksum, yes.

Myself I use the foobar2000 player, with the bitcompare component. Then it will decode and compare the decoded files bit by bit.