[karm14]

I'm trying to update the sources of my music without having to pay and I was wondering, is it worth it to convert a Spotify playlist (or maybe Youtube but I know it is lower quality) to FLAC files, or would I not hear a big improvement in audio quality?

 

[gerelmx1986]

I'm trying to update the sources of my music without having to pay and I was wondering, is it worth it to convert a Spotify playlist (or maybe Youtube but I know it is lower quality) to FLAC files, or would I not hear a big improvement in audio quality?

It is pointless, all what was lost when the original master file was passed thru the psychoacoustic algorithm of the lossy codec used, won't come back. You'll only end with a huge file that's wasting space.

What is lost in lossy compression is lost forever. I call this destructive compression.

You need to pay or buy the CD originals in oder to make perfect flac copies

 

[karm14]

It is pointless, all what was lost when the original master file was passed thru the psychoacoustic algorithm of the lossy codec used, won't come back. You'll only end with a huge file that's wasting space.

What is lost in lossy compression is lost forever. I call this destructive compression.

You need to pay or buy the CD originals in oder to make perfect flac copies

All right thank you so much!

 

[gerelmx1986]

All right thank you so much!

Before 2012, i had my entire collection as mp3 192kbps. But l did research and asked.

I had to re-rip my CDs as flac buy what I didn't have as flac.

Nowadays I buy in the following order of preference and going down the list when higher resolutions not available

DSD files to download
24-bit flac to download
16-bit, aka CD-quality flac to download
SACD or CD physical media to rip my self.

Note that SACD SACD ripping requires extra hardware as with a simple computer CD/DVD drive is not possible to access the encrypted DSD layer

 

[gerelmx1986]

before 2012 I had had some sony walkman mp3 players , as I considered iPods to sound inferior... these walkman used some software processing by sony that "applied makeup" to the nasty mp3 sound quality, therefore i never realised I was listening to bad files. Sony software makeup aka DSEE is indeed very good now with AI.

guess what player made me change from lossy to lossless flac? Noz it wasn't a walkman... an ipod classic, yeah that ipod, I once considered yo sound bad, made me realise how bad my files sounded as it didn't have sony magic trickery of DSEE (at that times DSEE with no artificial intelligence was good). Since then, the ipod has held a status of historic point in my life

 

[Bazaar]

Note that SACD SACD ripping requires extra hardware as with a simple computer CD/DVD drive is not possible to access the encrypted DSD layer

Can you elaborate on what the extra hardware is?

 

[One and a half]

Can you elaborate on what the extra hardware is?

Have a look at this post. It's very long, but answers all questions on how to rip SACD.

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...eer-yes-its-true/?tab=comments#comment-559449

Certain Sony, Cambridge Audio, Oppo Blu-Ray Players fitted with compliant chips in combo with a plugged in USB stick can rip an SACD ISO to a computer's standard hard drive. The reliability is a lot better than the PS3 method. The players need not be expensive either, and can be purchased used, you may already have a player in house already!

 

[gerelmx1986]

Can you elaborate on what the extra hardware is?

I have an pioneer BDP-170 player,, a router and a monitor or tv that is the extra hardware

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/tut...so-with-a-pioneer-player.897764/post-14719141

 

[Bazaar]

Thanks guys! I had googled the topic and saw the PS3 requirements, etc., seemed too onerous.

 

[acs236]

On a side note, it's kind of insane has difficult it is to get non-compressed digital music. Has anyone compiled a set of sources where you get purchase FLAC files or other uncompressed audio? I know of many, but if someone has an extensive list, that would be great.

 

[Bazaar]

https://www.digitaltrends.com/music/best-sites-downloading-hd-music/

I've been getting mine from hdtracks and 7digital. hdtracks is pretty aggressive with 20% discounts, from what I've seen. I know some have issues w/ the sound quality on hdtracks but so far, I haven't really noticed.

Also, I know the OP was asking about YT => FLAC (lossless); when I donated to MediaHuman for their Audio Converter (FLAC to ALAC), they gave me a free year to their YouTube to MP3 app. Obviously, it's not lossless, but I converted a YT video to 320 and it doesn't sound too bad.

 

[Slogra]

Just get the original audiotrack from youtube. It is usually aac 128kbps. Reencoding it to anything else makes it only worse quality or bigger in size.