Is FLAC really "better" than high-bit rate MP3?

[ScottK]

To me FLAC is like HD. Why not have the best quality of a file. FLAC can easily be converted into mp3 and moved to ipod or whatever you want and still have the FLAC album and etc..

because of size?

[DeadPoet]

To me FLAC is like HD. Why not have the best quality of a file. FLAC can easily be converted into mp3 and moved to ipod or whatever you want and still have the FLAC album and etc..

What's the point of flac if you can't notice any difference?
It's like downloading full bluray movie and watch it on laptop with 15.6" screen wearing acme 2$ headphones...

because of size?

HDD's are becoming cheaper everyday and you can get 1tb's storage under 100$ which is pretty affordable, in my opinion.
Plus, I don't think you need TB's of music whether it's lossles or lossy format. Download what you enjoy/will listen not all discography of Bob Marley (including live recordings) if you like only "No woman no cry" etc...

[ScottK]

my favourite player is winamp..so you know..

[DeadPoet]

Yeah, mine too.

Lot of my friends using foobar though. Is there any noticible difference in terms of quality?

[sandman_1]

Using lossless as a fail-safe mechanism can't be argued against, but have you ever wondered why listening tests are not conducted for lossy encodings at “high” bitrates (~256)? I challenge you to find anyone who can differentiate (a song, not problem sample-- after all people attend concerts to listen to music) between a MP3 -V0 encoded music and a FLAC encoded music. Yes, using lossless might give you the satisfaction of knowing that “this is as good as it gets”, but honestly, you'd be hard pressed to find people who can differentiate between a lossy and a lossless.

I can and it isn't hard to do if you know what to look for. I have done ABX with Foobar 2000 with a MP3 320k CBR vs Flac.

[Humbucker]

Using lossless as a fail-safe mechanism can't be argued against, but have you ever wondered why listening tests are not conducted for lossy encodings at “high” bitrates (~256)? I challenge you to find anyone who can differentiate (a song, not problem sample-- after all people attend concerts to listen to music) between a MP3 -V0 encoded music and a FLAC encoded music. Yes, using lossless might give you the satisfaction of knowing that “this is as good as it gets”, but honestly, you'd be hard pressed to find people who can differentiate between a lossy and a lossless.

I can and it isn't hard to do if you know what to look for. I have done ABX with Foobar 2000 with a MP3 320k CBR vs Flac.

Instead of ABX, add some FLAC and mp3 files in Foobar. Shuffle them, close your eyes and out of 10 songs, make guesses between FLAC and mp3....Mathematically, 5 of your answers should be wrong
Out of curiosity, you prefer 320 CBR over V0?

[th0r]

Lot of my friends using foobar though. Is there any noticible difference in terms of quality?

there shouldn't be a loss in sound quality (if that's what you're referring to) unless foobar, for some reason, is downsampling your flac files

I can and it isn't hard to do if you know what to look for. I have done ABX with Foobar 2000 with a MP3 320k CBR vs Flac.

i can, too, but what humbucker's saying is an interesting test for those (like myself) who prefer flac over mp3. if you look at flac files verses mp3 files structurally (as in an audio editing program) you can see the obvious differences in bitrate, clipping, etc., but that's a biased test that isn't really applicable in a debate over sound quality

[Galardo]

I haven't found any difference between them except for the size as FLAC is way heavier than mp3

[sandman_1]

Instead of ABX, add some FLAC and mp3 files in Foobar. Shuffle them, close your eyes and out of 10 songs, make guesses between FLAC and mp3....Mathematically, 5 of your answers should be wrong
Out of curiosity, you prefer 320 CBR over V0?

What do you think a double blind ABX test is? Mathematically? I did it 20+ times correctly identifying the lossless from the lossy track and vice versa, so your mathematics is really messed up.

No I do not prefer 320K CBR. I did that only for the test since that is the highest quality setting for MP3.

Double Blind ABX test

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABX_test

Foobar 2000 ABX component which is what I used to conduct the test. Try it out yourself.

http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_abx

Also, Mathematically, the probability of me getting 20 right out of 20 just by mere coincidence is

1/(2^20)= 0.00000095367431640625% a very very minute chance.

[nnmx]

I haven't found any difference between them except for the size as FLAC is way heavier than mp3

If you had good audio system, you would find