Yes. But how do I get the FLAC files? Currently all my files are 256 AAC.
How I got FLAC files:
1)
Ripped my CD collection into FLAC using MediaMonkey (paid version of the app uses multiple CPU cores for faster rips). I still buy CDs even though I no longer have a CDP (whose transports always crapped out on me while I still love the sound), and every time I get a new disc, I rip it, listen to it while flipping through the album art, then get up and archive the hard copy in my library (the
actual, physical library, with wood shelves along the walls, in one room of the house).
2)
Downloaded from websites that sell FLAC downloads. I've only downloaded three albums so far but that's because I had no friend nor cousin coming home from the US, Japan, or Europe at the time, and I wanted to get my music as soon as they came out, without having to deal with our corrupt Customs officials who go by the law that basically says, "Customs has the right to call B.S. on the declared price, including the actual receipt, and charge the minimum fee of (somewhere around $30) for imports." If I really had to, I walk into our post office with a camera on my neck, with the power lamp visibly signalling, "I'm recording this." This is also why I want to volunteer as a riot cop to whack every Communist student at an anti-free trade protest, because I have a feeling that their parents are Customs agents.
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How you should get FLAC files:
1)
DON'T. There are three types of people with portable players of any kind: drag and drop, iTunes, and someone who is to some extent illiterate either way (Mac or Windows/Linux) who uses either depending on what people around them use and then hand over their device and have that person load music or any other kind of file on it. If you can use iTunes without tearing your hair out when you want to replace files, then stick with AAC. iTunes sells 256kbps or even 320kbps VBR depending on the seller, and 320VBR has little difference compared to lossless (FLAC or ALAC, doesn't matter). You'd also have less problems with storage since you can cram even more files into whatever iDevice you're using, so that kind of offsets not having an SD card slot. If you really want to go for lossless then use ALAC (or otherwise still need more storage), available in sites that sell high-quality FLAC files like www.hdtracks.com, and if you're using iTunes as a music player, there are iTunes-compatible wireless portable HDDs (has its own battery) that you can use and your iDevice will access the files there wirelessly. Seagate has one, check out their website.
Basically what I'm saying is that there really is no need to go with FLAC if you have an iDevice. Why do I have one and FLAC? Even before FLAC I got frustrated with iTunes (why can't I just drag and drop?! how do I remove these files and puti n new ones?! all it does is fill up an empty iPod, but how do I choose which ones?!), started using FLAC with my computer, then got another iPod when the Rockbox firmware allowed for FLAC and drag n drop. Then my mom gave me an iPad as a Christmas present because I was the only one who was not using a touchscreen device apart from my Nokia smartphone, although by the time I opened my gift I already got a Galaxy S that worked with FLAC.
Now here's the tricky part: because iTunes needs to get the FLAC files into the player syncing it to each music player app I have installed, every time there's an iOS update, something gets screwed up in FLAC Player or Accudio, and it takes about two updates for me to get it working right, with all the music in it visible again as well as all album art. With Android, I just drag and drop the FLAC files, organized into Artist/Album/track_xx.flac folders properly tagged in MediaMonkey when I ripped them, into my microSD card in Windows Explorer; I then pull it out, then put it in my phone, then
every music player app installed can access all the files without any issues about which one is associated with what, so if an Android or even music player app update (or lack thereof) screws it up, there's another player that might get its update sooner. So far, this level of errors hasn't even happened yet - the worst I've gone through was MediaMonkey for Android's BETA version that had to re-scan everything every time its launched, then forgets it when you get out of the app.
So yeah, again, if you're using Apple devices, stick with AAC; or ALAC if you're downloading lossless music from sites like www.hdtracks.com. If you shift to Android after considering the simplicity of drag n drop into an SD card and are willing to work for it (read what I put in above about how to work such devices), that's when you start considering using FLAC. Don't take this the wrong way, but if you need this much basic info on using FLAC and aren't even using them at this point, you really should just stick with ALAC and AAC, because chances are the way I was tearing my hair out figuring out iTunes will happen to you using anything that isn't iTunes all the way, even if you need to sync FLACPlayer using iTunes. I have cousins who are still dumbfounded that I "drag and drop," and they think it's dumb, but of course I feel the same way about iTunes save for how it will automatically set up a brand new device for you.