Sourcing FLAC

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Sourcing FLAC

gary1001

15 posts

Geek

#207704 10-Jan-2017 11:44

Since upgrading my audio kit, I can now actually hear the difference between 320kps MP3 and FLAC. The downside, most of my existing music just sounds “thin”.

So, where are people sourcing their high def audio now?

Feel free to PM me if you wish.

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6614 posts

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#1700811 10-Jan-2017 11:50

Tidal is the only streaming service that offers a decent quality from what i have found.
Im not much of an audiophile at all but what my Grandad did was quite cool. He got all his record collection on a NAS in FLAC format. Apparently each record was 30GB+!! (Unsure what level of compression or if there was any at all)

Google may be your friend for this one. But where to legally source that high of quality music in NZ, Thats a good question for geekzone!

deadlyllama

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#1700815 10-Jan-2017 11:57

Buy physical CDs and rip to FLAC? Or buy your music from Bandcamp? That's what I've mostly done.

My CDs are about 300MB each, in FLAC.

PolicyGuy

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#1700861 10-Jan-2017 12:40

https://nz.7digital.com/

The search panel allows you select different formats including "16-bit FLAC" and "24-bit FLAC"

Item

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#1700865 10-Jan-2017 12:48

As above, Bandcamp, 7Digital and also BoomKat offer a selection - if not all - of their catalogue in DRM Free lossless. I believe there are others out there as well.

I also ripped my CD collection - 400 odd - to lossless as well...I am assuming you no longer have/buy physical media?

darthmeow

101 posts

Master Geek

#1700867 10-Jan-2017 12:51

deadlyllama:

Buy physical CDs and rip to FLAC? Or buy your music from Bandcamp? That's what I've mostly done.

My CDs are about 300MB each, in FLAC.

Look into a good ripping program too such as Exact Audio Copy w/ AccurateRip loaded in. Classical or anything with lots of dynamic range will compress really well @ ~300MB for a 75 minute CD but pop/highly range compressed garbage will balloon out to 500+MB for an equivalent length disc.

Oh and welcome to the world of decent sound!

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#1700868 10-Jan-2017 12:52

TimA:

Apparently each record was 30GB+!! (Unsure what level of compression or if there was any at all)

That seems...odd?

A lossless Super Audio CD album comes in at a few GB for 60 minutes tops and most lossless rips are between 300 and 600Mb for an album...and from a CD original it should be higher fidelity and greater dynamic range than a record, so I have no idea why it should be that size and I can't imagine there would be any benefit for it being thus?

I have seen some "24bit" lossless vinyl rip around 2-3Gb but no larger.

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

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#1700869 10-Jan-2017 12:54

I use HDTracks or buy directly from the artist when I can... it's nice to support them directly whenever possible.
HDTracks will require a VPN though...

I did get some FLAC from the B&W Society of Sound, and some are good... but a lot of it is along the lines of audiophile 'plinks and plonks'.

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

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#1700870 10-Jan-2017 12:55

darthmeow:

Look into a good ripping program too such as Exact Audio Copy w/ AccurateRip loaded in.

I use XLD on my Mac which seems to work well at both ripping and converting to ALAC...

(yes I still use iTunes mostly hence the ALAC...it works fine for me. I do have Audirvana which I use with my headphones occasionally)

Coil

6614 posts

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#1700871 10-Jan-2017 12:55

Item:

TimA:

Apparently each record was 30GB+!! (Unsure what level of compression or if there was any at all)

That seems...odd?

A lossless Super Audio CD album comes in at a few GB for 60 minutes tops and most lossless rips are between 300 and 600Mb for an album...and from a CD original it should be higher fidelity and greater dynamic range than a record, so I have no idea why it should be that size and I can't imagine there would be any benefit for it being thus?

I have seen some "24bit" lossless vinyl rip around 2-3Gb but no larger.

It was a few years ago now, Late 00's. It could have been 3GB each but i remember at the time it was not a affordable option to store his collection of music digitally.
Each record was dual sided.

darthmeow

101 posts

Master Geek

#1700878 10-Jan-2017 13:04

Item:

darthmeow:

Look into a good ripping program too such as Exact Audio Copy w/ AccurateRip loaded in.

I use XLD on my Mac which seems to work well at both ripping and converting to ALAC...

(yes I still use iTunes mostly hence the ALAC...it works fine for me. I do have Audirvana which I use with my headphones occasionally)

XLD has saved my bacon a few times on my mac air using an external USB dvd drive. 9/10 though I'm at my windows desktop setup :)

blakamin

4431 posts

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#1700894 10-Jan-2017 13:36

TimA:
Each record was dual sided.

I actually had my drink come out my nose at that one...

Cheers *lmao*

rhy7s

625 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1701125 10-Jan-2017 21:00

CDs are still a good DRM free lossless distribution method. Re: differences though, have you ABXed your files? https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,16295.0.html

richms

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#1701126 10-Jan-2017 21:03

I used to get all mine from what.cd but now thats gone just dont bother.

Richard rich.ms

Technofreak

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#1701143 10-Jan-2017 21:47

blakamin:

TimA:
Each record was dual sided.

I actually had my drink come out my nose at that one...

Cheers *lmao*

Fortunately I wasn't drinking at the time, just managed to pick myself of the floor for long enough to post.

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alexx

867 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1701149 10-Jan-2017 22:12

Most of the time I rip from CD (using abcde) to FLAC or download FLAC from the artist / Bandcamp.

I haven't tried HDTracks yet.

Most CD albums are working out to around 300 MB per album in FLAC format, compared to about 100 MB for AAC/M4A files from iTunes.

Regarding music quality, there is also the question of listener fatigue. This might be something that can't be found with simple AB or ABX testing. There is some debate whether (and how much) listener fatigue can be influenced by the type of audio encoding.

Each month, disks and SSDs get cheaper per GB, so I'd rather rip to FLAC than MP3.

#include <standard.disclaimer>

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