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Why do Wav and Flac Files Sound Different?

This article is from 2016, so outfits like JRiver may have developed workarounds for the metadata/sound quality issues sussed out below. Inquiring minds want to know.

Why Do WAV And FLAC Files Sound Different?

"Based on these results, we attempted to pinpoint which section of the metadata might be responsible. Since the cover art file associated with the metadata is the largest contributor to the metadata header size, we began by examining the effect of deleting cover art prior to the WAV-to-FLAC-to-WAV conversion protocol. This proved fortuitous, as our first suspicion proved correct."

bolong
agisthos
506 posts
 

@m2team00

Same. I did 1200 cd’s with dbpoweramp back in 2009 and it took 3-4 months.

I was gonna go full OCD and use Exactaudiocopy but would have killed myself ripping that many cd’s at 1:1 speed. Too difficult. Dbpoweramp does it all and I still use it all the time.

bolong OP
617 posts
 

Thanks for the suggestions. I am assuming that stripping the folder of all metadata means the CD cannot be used in a manner such that individual songs can be called up by my transport, i.e, the whole file becomes a monolith that can only be played from start to finish of the album without the ability to call up individual tracks.

bolong OP
617 posts
 

Thanks for the suggestions. I am assuming that stripping the folder of all metadata means the CD cannot be used in a manner such that individual songs can be called up by my transport, i.e, the whole file becomes a monolith that can only be played from start to finish of the album without the ability to call up individual tracks.

erik_squires
16,118 posts
 

AFAIK, WAV always had metadata, just not cover art, but if you find a player that plays music differently because of the cover art, you should report it as a bug!

Ag insider logo xs@2x
cleeds
5,957 posts
 

bolong

I am assuming that stripping the folder of all metadata means the CD cannot be used in a manner such that individual songs can be called up by my transport, i.e, the whole file becomes a monolith that can only be played from start to finish of the album without the ability to call up individual tracks.

Each track should still be an individual file, even without the metadata.

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