2. digital
  3. 156968-116029

has anybody else noticed this about flac audio?

o.k are you ready for some truth friends ? flac has compression levels from 0 to 8 with the official flac default level being 5. now flac is lossless compression so there should be no sound loss from the original source no matter what compression level you use however if you encode the same song using every different flac compression level even though they will all be lossless there absolutely is a difference in the overall sound including tone and sound stage from level to level and doing your own test will only prove me right. now here’s where it gets strange? vintage vinyl has stereo + stereo depth perception (3d sound stage).digital audio has stereo + mono depth perception (2d sound stage) and this includes all new remastered vinyl cut from the digital master. this is why digital audio does not sound like vintage vinyl along with brick wall compression.i find it odd that the only flac compression level not recommended as a default no matter what software you use is flac compression level 4 ? it just so happens that re-encoding digital audio to flac with compression level 4 converts digital mono depth perception back into digital stereo depth perception (3d sound stage) just like vintage vinyl! and i don’t think this is by mistake friends ? do your own test and get ready to have your mind blown. here is an audio sample: level 5 http://pc.cd/pCcrtalK level 4 http://pc.cd/iVWrtalK
guitarsam
guitarsam OP
179 posts
 
sam here and i'm not saying there is anything wrong with flac

please listen to these two cd audio samples re-encoded using Aul converteR 48x44 sample 1 is flac compression level 0 sample 2 is flac compression level 4.same source 

1) http://pc.cd/R77otalK

2) http://pc.cd/CgV

if these 2 samples sound the same i'm losing my mind? the only difference is flac 0 and flac 4.


itsjustme
684 posts
 
Guitarsam - the levels have to do with the level of compression achieved, but all are lossless. The more convoluted (literally!) a code you use, or the more passes, the longer it takes,and the better the compression will be. In fact the differences are HUGE, like 15:1 worst case, so it matters to anyone who cares about time invested. It does not change the digital output one bit (also literally). Nothing new to see here, move on. Well, maybe something new to learn here, read on.

What is also not new is that someone heard differences, where none exist, because they expected to hear differences.

I have had this hit me in reverse as well. I just **knew** the cables made no difference so i ascribed a difference to components. until i switched the cables and the sound differences also switched. Damn.

So don’t feel too bad about it, but recognize what you just learned.

Its all described here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLAC
G
audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,404 posts
 
That being said #8 flac file is uncompressed .

audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,404 posts
 
That being said #8 flac file is uncompressed .

djones51
4,947 posts
 
I didn't hear any differences in the two files. I listened carefully and switched back and forth every few seconds. It's possible there is a slight difference since I didn't expect to hear any and it wasn't a controlled test. 
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