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FLAC On A Mac

Forgive me if this subject has been discussed on this forum before, but I don't do much PC Audio and I get very confused.
I have downloaded some High Res content from HDTracks to my Macbook. These are all FLAC files. I tried transferring them to a flash drive to be played in two devices that are supposed to be FLAC compatible (most recently, the Marantz NA 7004 Network Music Player). These files won't play on either device.
They also won't play using the MacBook as the source, although I anticipated that.
Do I need some sort of a music management player to play these files? When I surf the net looking for conversion programs, most of them aim to change flac to mp3, which would defeat the purpose of trying to get a High Res file.
richardfinegold
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
Ranperry - depends on your system. Everyone thinks they have a truly resolving system. If you are using an active preamp, you probably will not hear the difference. I have heard it and I have enough customers that have reported this that I believe it. YMMV.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
richardfinegold OP
196 posts
 
Achilles: you had asked about the Marantz NA 7004 player a few months ago on this thread and I just saw it now. I had discussed it on some other threads in the "Digital" forum.
It turned that my original model was defective. After obtaining an exchange, I'd give it a big thumbs up for sound. It uses the same cirrhus logic chip that the 803 and 804 SACD/CD players use . If you have familiarity with those players you will know what to expect.
It is a very versatile piece. I had originally purchased it with High Rez
Downloads in mind but have wound up playing standard Rez material from my MacBook and Internet radio at least as much.
It's has a couple of major weaknesses: the first is the interface, which is terrible and mandates that you use another device such as an iPad to control it. The iPad app is less than perfect, to say the least. The second problem is that the device itself is buggy. For example, the iPod/USB input will frequently give "no compatibility" indication, even when the same track has been played on the player before, and requires multiple overrides to work.
ranperry
13 posts
 
@ Audioengr

I am not arguing that you and others heard a difference, I am just speculating that is was not the format but the application / OS that was used.
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
If I am using the same computer and software and the only thing I am changing is the same track, only FLAC versus .wav, how does is the OS at fault?

If the FLAC CODEC does not play nice with the OS, this is not the fault of the OS. It's the fault of the FLAC software.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
ranperry
13 posts
 
The application that plays the FLAC file needs to "extract" chunks of it into memory when playing. If the application is poorly written, the extraction process may use resource that will degrade the streaming output. A good example is trying to play a 1080p file on a weak CPU with slow graphics card. It is not the file but the way it is executed.

I suggest you try comparing FLAC Vs WAV with various operating systems while using different players.
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