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

**Monteiro** · 08-28-2010, 06:49 PM

I only downloaded flac rips since get a Pedros. And I think flac is better than mp3.

**apextwin146** · 08-28-2010, 06:56 PM

Originally Posted by Monteiro

I only downloaded flac rips since get a Pedros. And I think flac is better than mp3.

Yeah we will just believe it cuz you say so. Any other facts you wanna create while u r at it?

**rounder** · 08-30-2010, 07:03 AM

320 pwns flac.. why dl 30mb song ???

**nemo8** · 08-31-2010, 12:02 PM

Flac is definitely better, and not just the quality, but the filesize too!
An mp3 is three times bigger when it has the same quality as a flac.

**obaletan** · 08-31-2010, 04:12 PM

Originally Posted by nemo8

Flac is definitely better, and not just the quality, but the filesize too!
An mp3 is three times bigger when it has the same quality as a flac.

I think you may wanna read up on your facts flac<->mp3.... though i dont agree that mp3 is better

Originally Posted by apextwin146

Originally Posted by Monteiro

I only downloaded flac rips since get a Pedros. And I think flac is better than mp3.

Yeah we will just believe it cuz you say so. Any other facts you wanna create while u r at it?

I can create facts.... I promise they will be interesting

**Element4l** · 08-31-2010, 08:37 PM

Flac is pretty much lossless quality (correct me if I'm wrong) but it takes up a huge amount of space. Over 30-40 mb per song depending on the length. I believe MP3 is one of the greatest inventions because how the hell else would you fit 60 000 songs on your ipod? How would you keep your seeding ratio up if you always download flac?

I download all my favorite artists best albums in flac, the others in 320 kbps MP3 or VBR MP3. Then convert them, place in itunes and put the originals away for safe keeping.

**sandman_1** · 08-31-2010, 09:22 PM

FLAC as others have said is lossless. What that means is when decompressed to something like WAV or RAW format, it is bit exact to the original be it CD, DVD, ect.. There are other lossless compressions schemes besides FLAC. Monkey Audio is just as good as FLAC in compression and in some cases better.

MP3 is a lossy compression scheme. Once something is converted to MP3, you have lost things in the music/audio that cannot be recovered. So decompression results in inaccurate copy of the original and won't be bit exact.

My recommendations, listen to FLAC at the house and listen to mp3 on portables. If you have decent audio equipment in your home, you can tell the difference between FLAC and 320bit MP3 or at least I can with my ears. MP3 seems to destroy the high end range of frequencies and makes instruments like cymbals sound washed out.

With that said, today's music is overly compressed, Dynamic Range Compressed that is, and has the loudness jacked up to the point of distortion and clipping so the distinction between FLAC and MP3 will be even harder to tell, the cd version of Death Magnetic by Metallica is a good example of this.