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badtz · Apr 17, 2003, 04:08 AM

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/15883

Does anyone know if there are any audio programs that can play Flac encoded audio files?

Is it possible for iTunes to have a plug-in that'll let it be played?

Is the only point of this is to backup audio files/CDs?

Thanks for any info!

CatOne · Apr 17, 2003, 09:15 AM

I don't really see the need for it. Purists may grouch, but they have done double blind tests with audiophiles and they cannot reliably tell 256 Kbps MP3s from CD.

I believe FLAC usually results in about 2x compression over WAV format. A 256 Kbps MP3 has about 10x compression over WAV.

If you're doing it for listening purposes, either on a computer or an iPod, then high bit rate MP3s are sufficient, and on the Mac they're a LOT easier to use, to boot.

badtz · Apr 17, 2003, 11:45 AM

......for backup purposes ... i can see where it would be ideal ......

it's just would be even EXTRA convenient if there was something to play those files .......

jokell82 · Apr 17, 2003, 12:39 PM

http://www.macamplite.com/

The newest version has the FLAC plugin built in (and the serial number is right there on the site).

Agent69 · Apr 17, 2003, 01:34 PM

FLAC rocks. I used it on my PC and it was great. And FLAC is now part of the Ogg group of codecs.

If there is one area where the Mac lags behind the PC, it is in support of alternative audio and video codecs. Hopefully, Apple will extend iTunes and allow people to use whatever they want via plugins and such.

badtz · Apr 17, 2003, 02:31 PM

Originally posted by jokell82:
http://www.macamplite.com/

The newest version has the FLAC plugin built in (and the serial number is right there on the site).

was wondering how you got the flac plugin?

I'm unsure of how to use the plugins in the Power Pack that comes with it?

Thanks

Is macFlac the best prog. to encode with ?

Developer · Apr 17, 2003, 02:54 PM

Originally posted by Agent69:
Hopefully, Apple will extend iTunes and allow people to use whatever they want via plugins and such.

They do. iTunes can play anything that QuickTime can, and QuickTime can by extended by plugins.

jokell82 · Apr 17, 2003, 02:57 PM

If you download the newest MacAmp Lite X, the plug in is already installed, you just drag the FLAC files to the playlist and they play automatically. You don't have to install anything else...

As for encoding, I don't encode to FLAC very often. I still use SHN for 16 bit audio, as that's still pretty much the standard. But if I ever record in 24 bit (I record live audio), I have to use FLAC. In either case, I use the program shntool. It's a unix program that I run from the command line, if you want to try it out you can get it here: http://www.etree.org/shnutils/shntool/

You'll have to install both shntool and the "helper program" for the format you want to encode to (or decode from).

cgc · Apr 18, 2003, 01:47 PM

Is there such a thing as a lossless audio codec? I would think that since you are converting from an analog signal that can be one of an infinite number of values to a digital signal that has discrete levels you will ALWAYS have loss of clarity. Maybe that flac thing is just not as lossy as another format. That is why an analog vinyl record can sound better that a CD (until the reocrd degrades).

larkost · Apr 19, 2003, 08:07 PM

Yes, there is such a thing as a lossless digital CODEC. AIFF files that are compressed with FLAC can be decoded without loss when compared to the orriginal AIFF.

And on the analog vs digital recording bit: Vinal has a higher theoretical fidelity than CD, but in the real world you wind up losing all of that fidelity and more in the multiple analog transfers required to create a vinal album as opposed to the nearly end-to-end digital recoding process. Then you add the wearing of the vinal (vs the laser reflection on CD) and the fact that a $20 walkman can read the information better than a $500 record player, and all that theoretical gain (no pun intended) is gone.

cgc · Apr 28, 2003, 02:19 PM

If the computer reads the information from an audio CD as a digital file then it can be lossless as it is simply compressing the information. I was assuming it was converting it to analog then converting it to digital. In any event, the Pulse Code Modulation that a CD employs is definately not lossless, though it is not bad.