2. digital
  3. 1360254437

CD vs FLAC

Hi Folks,

I am currently investigating a new home system and some of the questions I have are with respect to digital audio. My questions are:

1. All other components remaining equal (speakers, amps, preamp, etc.) is there any loss of audio quality in playing a FLAC file vs the track from a CD?

2. If there is a noticeable loss then what CD player would you recommend for a $1000 budget.

3. If there is no noticeable loss and I were to convert all my CD library to FLAC files and store them on a network accessible media server what source component would I use to stream this through my system - again keeping the budget to $1000?

4. Are there quality sounding CD players (first and foremost for CDs) that would allow the FLAC files to be processed through it and output to the preamp?

The system I am looking at would be comprised of the following:

Odyssey Stratos HT-3 Extreme
Odyssey Khartago 2-channel Basic
Odyssey Lorelei front speakers
Outlaw 975 AV Processor

If you require any additional information to respond then please let me know.

Thanks for your assistance!
remedy451
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
If you are planning on USB from a computer and you actually have a highly resolving system, FLAC will not sound as good as .wav. Even AIFF files dont sound as good as FLAC. The differences are mostly in the imaging soundstage and compression. FLAC loses a lot of the airiness and high frequency echo cues from the venue.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
levy03
442 posts
 
yep...wav sounds slightly better to me as well, but didn't want to comment since the op never mentioned wav. that being said...i've had way more meta data issues using wav. flac seems to do better in that regard.

Steve N....your statement rings true even when not using usb. i stream via the psa pwd/bridge
sthomas12321
408 posts
 
Flac and wav files are all I do now. Sounds awesome to me. Cd's are only good for ripping to flac/wav IMO
2chnlben
595 posts
 
With the affordability of storage (e.g.: external hard drives) converting CDs to WAV is a much more attractive solution these days...Then you need not second-guess.

A question for Steve N: If I convert my FLAC files to WAV will there be any audible difference between said files (the FLAC files that have been converted to WAV) and original WAV files?

Thanks,

_Ben
david12
1,454 posts
 
This is nearly impossible to answer, as it depends so much on the DAC. I used a Leema Antilla CD player and now an Ayre QB9 with Mac Mini. I think both AIFF and Apple lossless are slightly better than CD, but that, I am sure, is because of the better DAC.
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