Lossless compression and playback

[Ohmen]

I have been using Exact Audio Copy and LAME to encode my music into MP3's for a long time now. I am now considering that I have been making a mistake by not using a lossless codec. I would like to experiment with something different. Is there a lossless codec that is a hands down winner? I have about 20,000 songs and it is quite the undertaking to rip it all. So I want to be sure I have considered all my options. Hard drive space is not much of a concern anymore so the only things I care about are maintaining sound quality and the ability of a media center to play the format.Any strong opinions out there for or against the codec I should use?

 

[avaserfi]

The two big lossless formats are WAV and FLAC from what I understand they are largely the same minus the fact that FLAC takes up half the file space that WAV does while WAV files are more compatible with a larger number of software.

 

[MDS]

FLAC is probably the most widely supported lossless format but you have to make sure that the media player you want to use supports it. I don't think Windows Media Player supports FLAC but WinAmp does. You could always use WMA Lossless if you will be using WMP.

The only thing that makes any one particular lossless codec a winner is widespread support for it as all lossless codecs that are truly lossless will produce the same sound quality (otherwise it wouldn't be 'lossless').

If hard drive space isn't a concern then why not just use the full uncompressed WAVs? Then you never have to worry about the encoder/decoder going out of support and disappearing.

 

[Ohmen]

both of my media players support wma so I am going to try that out. FLAC appears to be widely accepted but I don't see how I could play that through my A/V sytem.

 

[Ohmen]

WOW, that is like 10x faster than EAC/Lame

 

[Ohmen]

I am unable to determine the difference on my computer speakers. Tomorrow I will get my daughter to help me do a kind of blind test with my Home theater system. In the past. I always thought the EAC/Lame rip using -Alt preset standard was as good as the original. But that was over computer speakers or portable mp3 players. But now that I can stream it to my home theater system it seems a little compressed, flat or not as vibrant as the original. That's no good. So we'll see what this does for the sound quality.

 

[sholling]

both of my media players support wma so I am going to try that out. FLAC appears to be widely accepted but I don't see how I could play that through my A/V sytem.

I have nearly 10,000 songs ripped to FLAC and I've found that there are a few ways to get the music to the listing room. There are wireless transmitters that are format neutral. My experience with them is very limited. Others have had good experiences with the better products and I'll leave it them to share their knowledge with you. On the low-end Logitech's wireless solution works okay up to about 30 feet but I find it skips when trying to reach the other end of the house. I use it strictly for streaming audio into my bedroom.

I think that the real solution, for my home anyway, is an audio server in or near my entertainment center. I've experimented with an old PC and although the computer fan noise was awful, the sound was pretty good. I'm now in the process of rebuilding the audio server using a combination of new and salvaged components. This includes a new very low noise case and power supply, an old motherboard, and an old fanless video card.

On the portable front Cowen makes a couple of FLAC friendly players.

 

[Ohmen]

well with my first tests. I am unable to hear a difference. I am going to convert a few more CD's and try some more tests.