[debradarko]

i downloaded the ciccone youth album a while ago but all the tracks are a FLAC file
what the hell is flac?

i need help cause im a n00b

[█████████]

www.google.com

use your imagination.

[debradarko]

thanks

[pbradley]

file type

"lossless"

like .mp3 but with more data and, therefore better sound quality.

drawbacks: large files, not compatible with all media players

[SYRFox]

I don't get that audiophile thing to be honest. I mean, okay for classical music for instance, you got tons of instruments so maybe that makes a difference, but come on I don't notice any difference when I hear flac and say, 192kbps MP3. I'm not a sound ingenior, maybe I just don't get good ears, but well.

[debradarko]

but i cant put the files onto my itunes

[ZEROpumpkins]

Debra- flac is Wav quality at half the size (i.e. lossless, unlike mp3 which is 1/10 the quality) You'll find a program that converts it to .wav with a quick google search, and you can convert .wav to mp3 with another quick google search.

[king_buzzo]

just get Switch, its a really good program for converting different audio files.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by SYRFox

I don't get that audiophile thing to be honest. ... maybe I just don't get good ears, but well.

it's not that necessarily but

1) there is a difference between live sound and recorded sound

2) there is a difference between different kinds of recordings

the difference will be there if you pay attention.

if you're running your audio in your computer with a pair of desktop speakers, definitely you won't hear the sound, but if you've got a decent speakers, the difference will be evident.

i can hear the difference between cd-quality and mp3 in my car stereo-- in a big way. mp3s sound flat, "thin", and shrill when you turn up the volume.

i can also hear the difference between vinyl and cd-- not just the vinyl noise, ha ha, but it's like the vinyl sound is "thicker"; i can't explain this because the language doesn't have a huge vocabulary specific to sound, but there is a difference between vinyl and cd, on how the music "feels", unless of course the vinyl pressing is crummy and worse actually than the cd.

on the subject of vinyl i bought this beauty last week:

 

 

the record itself is this soft pink thingy beautifully tinted but i can't find pix online.

but anyway, ha ha, that has nothing to do with the sound, i just wanted to show off my new record

[king_buzzo]

^nice buy!

[atsonicpark]

Haha, instead of google, I was going to reccomend "en.wikipedia.org".

Flac blows.

That Pelican vinyl looks amazing.

[king_buzzo]

flac is allright, especially when you've got live shows.

[Sonic Youth 37]

Originally Posted by king_buzzo

just get Switch, its a really good program for converting different audio files.

Switch is great, just go with it. It's what I use and it will convert .flac to 128 AAC in one go.

[StevOK]

download winamp. It plays flac.

[Rob Instigator]

Originally Posted by SYRFox

I don't get that audiophile thing to be honest. I mean, okay for classical music for instance, you got tons of instruments so maybe that makes a difference, but come on I don't notice any difference when I hear flac and say, 192kbps MP3. I'm not a sound ingenior, maybe I just don't get good ears, but well.

it is not your ears that are the issue, but the system and speakers you are using to play back the music.

[sobriquet]

Originally Posted by debradarko

i downloaded the ciccone youth album a while ago but all the tracks are a FLAC file
what the hell is flac?

i need help cause im a n00b

.Flac will probably replace Mp3 in the next few years as it obtains better compression ratios.It stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec. Mp3 is fine and all, but in order to achieve its desired file size, it compromises with quality. FLAC does not do this. The only reason not to use it right now, is that not all portable music players support it. The Ipod/Iphone being the only popular players that I can think of, that should, but don't ( last time I checked anyway ).

[ZEROpumpkins]

Yeah It'll be nice once we can use .flac instead of .mp3's on our music players.

[pbradley]

".flac" always reminds me of these

 

and this

 

(this relevant, interesting post brought to you by boredom and hunger)

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by sobriquet

.Flac will probably replace Mp3 in the next few years as it obtains better compression ratios.It stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec. Mp3 is fine and all, but in order to achieve its desired file size, it compromises with quality. FLAC does not do this. The only reason not to use it right now, is that not all portable music players support it. The Ipod/Iphone being the only popular players that I can think of, that should, but don't ( last time I checked anyway ).

that or more likely the continuing cheapening of both storage & bandwidth, which will make file size irrelevant, just like one doesn't think of the file size of word documents these days.

[ZEROpumpkins]

Yeah they won't be able to compress it much more, it's more of a case of better, cheaper storage methods.