Flac , Wav (OR) CD ?

Another thing to be careful of is when using Windows based media players, unless everything is set up correctly whatever files you have may be resampled to 44.1/16 even if you really intend to send the native format to your DAC. When I first started dabbling with this stuff I figured this part would be handled automagically, but it's actually really complicated and annoying.

What you're talking about is WASAPI shared mode. It uses a fixed sample rate in order to maintain the ability for multiple apps to output sound. Used to be two devices wouldn't output sound simultaneously. The sample rate will be whatever the default rate for shared mode is in the control panel.

The way around that is to use software that uses either ASIO, which bypasses windows for the most part; or to use software which uses WASAPI Exclusive mode. In exclusive mode...everything is played at its native rate if the hardware supports it.

This does work. I've been using WASAPI Exclusive in Foobar2000 since December. Everything from 44.1/16 which is the lowest my DAC supports, up to 384/24. In fact...I switched to WASAPI over ASIO because it makes it easier to go back and forth between playing music in exclusive and using shared for non-critical Windows stuff. ASIO required me to reinitalize the card.

And it is bit-perfect because thats a requirement for DSD on my DAC.
 
No. The iPhone is not an iPod. Rockbox is a firmware replacement for the older physical iPod units.

FLAC on iPhone seems next to impossible. Apple probably won't approve the apps.
Um, no. FLAC on an iphone is completely possible. There is literally an app called Flac Player.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flac-player/id390532592?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo=4


There are also apps to playback FLAC files on your network.
I use a couple of them by a company called Stratospherix(no affiliation) on an almost daily basis.
Their FileBrowser app is $7(I think), and is used on an iphone 5, 4s, ipad mini, and an old ipod touch here.
Their Music Player app is also great for ios users. Especially if you have your tagging sorted out.
 
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There's a FLAC Player app for iPhone, dude.
I don't keep up with whats available for apple devices. I'm at work so can't do a lot of research. It just seemed to me the way Apple locked things down...they wouldn't approve any audio players since they provide one...and they'd rather you use ALAC.

Im actually pretty anti-Apple for many reasons. I mean...I do own an iPod but it's never use the default firmwarr and I've never touched iTunes in my life.
 
Apple knocked it out of the park with the iphone and ipad. Everything else is meh. IMO of course.

That's great that I can play FLAC files on the iphone! I have 4 old phones (2 4S and 5) and they have all been repurposed as the streaming players on any vintage amp. I add a bluetooth adapter from Outlaw Audio to the Aux input and away we go.

I once tried to tell the difference between FLAC, WAV and CD because I happened to be burning some CDs into a headless music server. Since I was curious about the massive size of the wav file vs the much smaller FLAC, I wanted to make sure it actually sounded the same and I'll be darned if I could not hear a difference. If there is a measurable difference, I can't hear it. Ditto CD. I think it was an OMD "Best Of" CD... or maybe Thompson Twins... I don't remember, but I DO remember how I simply could not hear any difference in quality between the three formats.

As far as the argument between MP3 and FLAC, I can only speak to my own experience. I think it's a lot like HDTV. With HDTV, you get used to the quality and then when you suddenly go back to NTSC, you're amazed at how fuzzy and soft the images look. Even at its best NTSC simply cannot compete. However, we were fine with NTSC for decades. Same thing with MP3. For a while, I had only MP3 files and that was what I listened to until I transferred all my CDs to FLAC and was listening to those for the last couple of years (maybe more...who knows?) A few months ago I found a stash of old MP3 files and when I played them back I quickly noticed that I noticed! The music was clearly lacking ::insert audiophile term here:: . So back to FLAC it is!
 
I don't keep up with whats available for apple devices. I'm at work so can't do a lot of research. It just seemed to me the way Apple locked things down...they wouldn't approve any audio players since they provide one...and they'd rather you use ALAC.

Im actually pretty anti-Apple for many reasons. I mean...I do own an iPod but it's never use the default firmwarr and I've never touched iTunes in my life.
That doesn't really make sense, though. There are other audio players that they approve.
Same for weather apps, map apps, clock apps, notes apps, and on and on.

Dealing with FLAC and Apple isn't as seamless as it could(or should) be sadly, but it's far from locked down.
 
Apple knocked it out of the park with the iphone and ipad. Everything else is meh. IMO of course.

That's great that I can play FLAC files on the iphone! I have 4 old phones (2 4S and 5) and they have all been repurposed as the streaming players on any vintage amp. I add a bluetooth adapter from Outlaw Audio to the Aux input and away we go.

I once tried to tell the difference between FLAC, WAV and CD because I happened to be burning some CDs into a headless music server. Since I was curious about the massive size of the wav file vs the much smaller FLAC, I wanted to make sure it actually sounded the same and I'll be darned if I could not hear a difference. If there is a measurable difference, I can't hear it. Ditto CD. I think it was an OMD "Best Of" CD... or maybe Thompson Twins... I don't remember, but I DO remember how I simply could not hear any difference in quality between the three formats.

As far as the argument between MP3 and FLAC, I can only speak to my own experience. I think it's a lot like HDTV. With HDTV, you get used to the quality and then when you suddenly go back to NTSC, you're amazed at how fuzzy and soft the images look. Even at its best NTSC simply cannot compete. However, we were fine with NTSC for decades. Same thing with MP3. For a while, I had only MP3 files and that was what I listened to until I transferred all my CDs to FLAC and was listening to those for the last couple of years (maybe more...who knows?) A few months ago I found a stash of old MP3 files and when I played them back I quickly noticed that I noticed! The music was clearly lacking ::insert audiophile term here:: . So back to FLAC it is!
Check out this one when you have the time:

https://www.stratospherix.com/products/filebrowser/

From what I recall there are three versions; a free one, the 'regular' one, and a business one.
I have no idea what the business one does compared to the regular one.

The free one isn't of any use except for trying it out to see if it works for you, so it's less of a free app and more of a trial thing. Trying out the audio end of it only gives you 20(?) seconds of playback time and then cuts out.
If it works to your liking, the paid version is cheap, plus it can be used on any device that has the same apple account tied to it. I'm at 4 devices for the single purchase right now.

As I mentioned above, they also have another app that is geared towards music only. I have it and like it, I just tend to lean towards FB more. I have a portable hard drive plugged into my router, and after getting FB setup I just used it to search for the folder I want, click play on the first track, and listen.
FB has a bit of low-key clunky interface as far as music players go, but totally suits my needs most of the time. Playlists, searching, etc is not its strong suit. Just playing an album? Fabulous.

Anyway, I think any music fan who also uses Apple stuff should at least be aware of what these guys offer.
Even if one has a way more capable digital music setup and player, it might still be worth a purchase.:thumbsup:
 
That doesn't really make sense, though. There are other audio players that they approve.
Same for weather apps, map apps, clock apps, notes apps, and on and on.

Dealing with FLAC and Apple isn't as seamless as it could(or should) be sadly, but it's far from locked down.

Right...like I said...I never kept up with it.

Back about 7 years ago when I first got a smartphone...I looked at both the iPhone and Android devices. At the time...the one thing I noticed about iPhone was a significant lack of other browsers and significant lack of audio players. At the time they had a policy that they would not approve applications that duplicated a feature they already included. You wanted a browser, you had Safari and that was it. You wanted music, there was iTunes. I do seem to recall reading they started allowing browsers a long time ago...but I never kept up with it.

I've never actually used an iphone for more than to try one out. I've never actually gone in their app store and looked; but I know how Apple was and made, an obviously bad assumption, that they hadn't changed. I figured if it wasn't a streaming service; they'd be continuing to force you to use iTunes for music playback.

I know a lot about some things, and practically nothing about everything else. Apple products fall under that third tier of "stuff I know nothing about and probably never will." I also personally never got in to the whole idea of using my phone as a music player. I have a hard enough time keeping my phone charged to get me through the day...so I usually tried to have my RockPod for dedicated music use. That's not to say I haven't used it as such either with a streaming service or pushing DLNA over VPN. When I'm going on a road trip...or I'm going somewhere that I know I'm going to want music; I'm still very much tied to my dedicated player. If only because killing it's battery doesn't leave me without a phone. I honestly don't even have a media player installed on my Android device except for a UPnP audio client.

No..I apologize. I was wrong on the iPhone FLAC ordeal.
 
Right...like I said...I never kept up with it.

Back about 7 years ago when I first got a smartphone...I looked at both the iPhone and Android devices. At the time...the one thing I noticed about iPhone was a significant lack of other browsers and significant lack of audio players. At the time they had a policy that they would not approve applications that duplicated a feature they already included. You wanted a browser, you had Safari and that was it. You wanted music, there was iTunes. I do seem to recall reading they started allowing browsers a long time ago...but I never kept up with it.

I've never actually used an iphone for more than to try one out. I've never actually gone in their app store and looked; but I know how Apple was and made, an obviously bad assumption, that they hadn't changed. I figured if it wasn't a streaming service; they'd be continuing to force you to use iTunes for music playback.

I know a lot about some things, and practically nothing about everything else. Apple products fall under that third tier of "stuff I know nothing about and probably never will." I also personally never got in to the whole idea of using my phone as a music player. I have a hard enough time keeping my phone charged to get me through the day...so I usually tried to have my RockPod for dedicated music use. That's not to say I haven't used it as such either with a streaming service or pushing DLNA over VPN. When I'm going on a road trip...or I'm going somewhere that I know I'm going to want music; I'm still very much tied to my dedicated player. If only because killing it's battery doesn't leave me without a phone. I honestly don't even have a media player installed on my Android device except for a UPnP audio client.

No..I apologize. I was wrong on the iPhone FLAC ordeal.
Cool.

I was in the same boat about Apple and FLAC.
And then somebody here(uofmtiger, I'm pretty sure) a few years ago mentioned FileBrowser. With that, and a hard drive plugged into my router, it was a revelation. Completely changed how I enjoy music.

We're all here to help(well, hopefully lol), so it's why I feel compelled to drop information into threads like these.
I'd never say that this way is the only way, or the best way. Just throwing it out there that it is a way.
Honestly, I'd be happy if I could find an Android app that works as well as FB. I have a tablet that is a few years old that doesn't get much use beyond road trips, that I'd love to put into service. That's a story for another day, though.
 
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I didn't want to put it this way...but I think I will.


There are a handfull of basic reasons people reject FLAC:

They read some misinformation that tries to claim to decoding can causr "lag" and affect sound. Entirely untrue.

They think any form of data compression is bad.

They use Apple products.

They for some reason think there can be data corruption. That is rare and requires corruption of the actual file...which would ruin a WAV file anyway.

They don't care about sound quality and think MP3 is fine because "no one can tell the difference and you're stupud for thinking otherwise." These are the same people who dislike something and feel everyone should hate it with them and belittle those who refuse to follow them.

But they all have one thing in common.....none of them are very valid reasons.
I'm that "mp3 guy". But that is because I only download music to learn the songs to play them in my band(s). For "critical" listening I do vinyl. And I don't think vinyl sounds all that hot compared to a high quality digital source. But for me the sound quality is only a part of the experience.

But then, who sits down with a nice single malt and a cigar and "critically listens" to music any more anyway? ;)

For really good hi-fi, I listen to LIVE music these days. Any recorded music is just a facsimile of the real thing.
 
My choice would be ALAC, but given the options, I would say FLAC. I once had my collection in FLAC, so it would be my second option.
 
Cool.

I was in the same boat about Apple and FLAC.
And then somebody here(uofmtiger, I'm pretty sure) a few years ago mentioned FileBrowser. With that, and a hard drive plugged into my router, it was a revelation. Completely changed how I enjoy music.

We're all here to help(well, hopefully lol), so it's why I feel compelled to drop information into threads like these.
I'd never say that this way is the only way, or the best way. Just throwing it out there that it is a way.
Honestly, I'd happy if I could find an Android app that works as well as FB. I have a tablet that is a few years old that doesn't get much use beyond road trips, that I'd love to put into service. That's a story for another day, though.
Always glad to hear when my advice helps someone out.:beerchug:
 
The ripping to FLAC is finally done. Started a batch conversion to an ALAC version at 2:00 am. It will take some time. I’m impressed with dbpoweramp. It even ripped my SACD and DTS Audio discs. I’ve guess I geeked out on the status window. I’ve never seen a display of both CPUs crunching separate song files before. Kinda cool.

D71E7A5C-40C8-4384-9753-FA26488FE86E.jpeg
 
All done now, but like all things ‘puter, there were issues and some head scratching along the way. The SACD rips were good. The DTS Audio DVD rips are just shhhhhhh. The weirdest thing are the HD Tracks 96/24 AIFF to FLAC to ALAC conversions. They play wonderfully on my MacBook Pro. Listening to Dark Side of The Mule as I write this. They will not load on to either my 5th 60 gb or 160 gb Classic. I thought it might be the double conversion so I tried AIFF to ALAC. Either way there’s an unsupported bit rate error. I’ll have to try converting them to 44/16 AIFF and then to ALAC and report back.
I put the insomniaX app on my MacBook. It overrides the computer sleeping when the cover is closed. There’s a warning about possible overheating so I took temp readings at the fan port a few times and it’s only 5* warmer (110 vs105) when closed after hours or playing music. So now I have a new addition to my audio rack which I can control with the iTunes remote app on my phone.
390AD72F-7628-4FB2-8E70-B3997042C084.jpeg
 
If they all sound the same (IMO they do) Why go with anything other than FLAC? It requires less HD space and supports metadata tagging.
 
I’m impressed with dbpoweramp. It even ripped my SACD and DTS Audio discs. I’ve guess I geeked out on the status window. I’ve never seen a display of both CPUs crunching separate song files before. Kinda cool.

You should watch it on a quad-core; 4 at once! Have a dual-core with hyper threading? Even more.
 
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