FLAC level?

[Quarterquack]

The thing is, the music player itself has no influence on the matter. It plays back a series of coded bits/bytes. What would make a difference is the quality/coloration of the output (Ipods do this to hell and then back, and then to hell again), the quality (this doesn't really apply to mp3 players, really, but it would on other sources like a turntable) and post-output modifications, like Amps or DACs, or really a combination of both.

The problem comes in when there's a coloration at each level, that the user has no control of. While the coloration of one of the parts might be forgivable or even give rise to the well-beloved "wave" equalizer levels, with each addition of a shitty part/component, you get more of this coloration and possibly really fucked up audio levels, I've heard "bass freaks" with such shitty/loose base on their system that it almost made me want to cry when they said "duuuude, it booms so much". Distorts, more like it, and then covers up the rest of the song.

So, if you're stuck with an ipod with no other option; good pair of headphones (things like the koss portapros, the sony MDR-v6's or if you're usually not surrounded by people, a pair of alessandro's) and then add to that a nice connectable dac/amp combination. There's multiple ones that can be had for under 150$ that do the job just fine. It may sound like a bit extreme, but once you pick and choose something you like, you'll really start hating speaker system (with all their leakiness, and requirements for a good acoustic environment, that's usually north of 15,000$).

[Funkin']

Do any mp3 players have hardware good enough to differentiate FLAC from v0?

Not that I've came across.

I've always thought it moronic to load rockbox onto an ipod for FLAC

It is. Or it's funny when I come across a thread with people specifically asking for a portable player that will play FLAC.

I have a Cowon which has the ability to play multiple lossless formats. And eventhough this player does have the best sound quality out of any other player that I've owned(to my ears at least), I instead convert all my lossless to Vorbis q2 to be used with it. Because on portable players, my ears can't differentiate between the two.

[ca_aok]

Do any mp3 players have hardware good enough to differentiate FLAC from v0? I've always thought it moronic to load rockbox onto an ipod for FLAC. If you truly have a good soundsystem there has to be a better way of loading up your music than through shitty ipod headphone jacks, right?

The DACs in most portable players are crap, the wiring is shoddy, the headphone jacks are low output, and there will generally be ambient noise everywhere if you're listening on the go.

FLAC is a waste on a portable player if it's used in public.

I once talked to an employee in a hi-fi audio shop who had WAV files on his iPod, and swore they were better quality than Apple Lossless. I want to slap most audiophiles right across their faces for their ignorance, but so much of the audiophile world is based on snake oil products, poor logic, and hype.

Hence, keep a copy of FLAC on your computer for an archive and quiet home listening on a good quality system, and rock the V2 on your portable player.

[Waddafocky]

I use FLAC on my PMP because then I can tell people that I filled up my 120gig iPod and get girls that way.

[cinephilia]

for ipods only ?

The plugin I use (foo_dop) is for ipods only, but there might be plugins for other media players as well.

ok, thanks.