WAV versus FLAC


Until now I though that the sound coming from the files in these two formats are identical. However, recently, I have heard from a person whose opinion I respect highly that sound from WAV files is "warmer" and that from FLAC files is "brighter".

I wonder if anyoner else have similar observations?

Thank you
simontju
Hmmmmmm, I did my "fun" experiment using relatively powerful CPU - ....

Yes, you are absolutely correct, I take this back. To my ears, the brighter top-end of FLAC remains regardless of the PC.

To me, it seems like all lossless formats have problems with the top-end extension and "life", some more, some less.

I think I will be ending my "lossless" journey here; I am sticking to WAV!

Most important: Enjoy the music!

Best,
Alex Peychev
Just finished a "shuffle play" test, 3 FLAC and 3 WAV files. To give the most difference between them, I set the Squeezebox server to send FLAC as FLAC to the player, but send WAV as PCM (default is to also send WAV as FLAC). So the player has to decompress the FLAC stream but not the stream from the WAV file.

The Squeezebox Touch feeds a Neko D-100 DAC. All cabling is Monoprice premium XLR cables. See my system for the rest of the equipment.

My test file is one I use often for auditioning equipment, the first track from Lyrita 247 (Redbook CD), Boult conducts Moeran, a track I'm very familiar with.

I couldn't identify any differences. I just guessed, and my guesses were mostly wrong. A real test would involve a variety of music and more runs, but this is already getting pretty boring.
Daverz, how do you change the setting for sending WAV files? You mentioned the default was FLAC but you changed it to PCM. Where in the settings can you do that? What version of Squeezebox Server do you use?
Vett93, you'll find those settings by clicking on the "Settings" link at the bottom right of the Squeezeboxserver web page. That will open up a new page for Server Settings.

Click on the "Advanced" tab and change the dropdown box to "File Types". You can change the stream format for each type of music file that SBS plays.

My only recommendation is to make a note of the original settings before you change them in the event you wish to go back.