[XENOPHOS]

i'm using the alac encoder with foobar2k and am about to convert it to flac but it says, compression level 8 is "smallest file, slow encoding" and level 0 is "biggest file, fast encoding"

I don't want to loose any sq from alac to flac so what level should I use.

 

[Bastet]

go with level 0 then, the bigger the better

...it's just faster because the encoder doesn't have to process the file as much as with lossier modes I guess.

 

[Honken]

I might be wrong, but I *THINK* that the highest compression level is still as good SQ-wise, but only it needs more processing to play. FLAC is always lossless, eh?

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[EnOYiN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bastet /img/forum/go_quote.gif go with level 0 then, the bigger the better ...it's just faster because the encoder doesn't have to process the file as much as with lossier modes I guess.

This is incorrect. FLAC will never get lossy. It is a lossless encoder. It's up to you what you want to use. The most standard compression is 5. I am using 8 myself. There is only a small difference in size between 5 and 8 though. There is no difference in SQ at all!

 

[XENOPHOS]

wait,...what do you mean that flac will never get lossy?

and how much longer does it take to encode between the levels?

so they all sound the same....alright.

 

[Ahriman4891]

Level 0 produces largest files, but is the fastest.

Level 8 produces the smallest files, but takes longest.

Whatever level you use, there is no difference in quality.

The file size advantage from level 8 to level 5 is almost nonexistent. However, level 5 still encodes quite a bit faster than level 8 (but, of course, slower than level 0).

I personally use level 5.

Oh, the time advantages only relate to ENCODING. The DECODING (playback) does not depend on compression level.

 

[Febs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by XENOPHOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif wait,...what do you mean that flac will never get lossy?

ALL levels of FLAC compression are lossless. If you encode a file to FLAC, and then decode it back to .wav, the resulting .wav file will be exactly the same, regardless of what level of FLAC compression you use. The only differences among the FLAC levels are (1) encoding speed and (2) file size.

 

[XENOPHOS]

thanks for all the info guys.

i'm just going to get off topic for a second but itunes is taking like a minute and a half per song when ripping in lossless. is this normal? its a really long time.

 

[EnOYiN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by XENOPHOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif thanks for all the info guys. i'm just going to get off topic for a second but itunes is taking like a minute and a half per song when ripping in lossless. is this normal? its a really long time.

I'd say that would depend on your computer. If you've got a quad core processor you will be able to encode things a lot faster then when you would use a 386.

 

[Joshatdot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by XENOPHOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif wait,...what do you mean that flac will never get lossy? and how much longer does it take to encode between the levels? so they all sound the same....alright.

Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro Rev 1.x
AMD XP 3200+, Barton Core 400MHz
2 x 512MB Geil DDR400, Dual Channel Mode

FLAC 1.1.4 from XP CMD Prompt

Pearl Jam - Even Flow.wav, Song Length 4:54, Size 49.4MB

FLAC 0 ~5 seconds to return to Prompt, Ratio 0.726
FLAC 1 ~5 seconds to return to Prompt, Ratio 0.719
FLAC 2 ~5 seconds to return to Prompt, Ratio 0.718
FLAC 3 ~5 seconds to return to Prompt, Ratio 0.696
FLAC 4 ~5 seconds to return to Prompt, Ratio 0.689
FLAC 5 ~5 seconds to return to Prompt, Ratio 0.688
FLAC 6 ~5 seconds to return to Prompt, Ratio 0.688
FLAC 7 ~9 seconds to return to Prompt, Ratio 0.688
FLAC 8 ~12 seconds to return to Prompt, Ratio 0.688

 

[riceboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ahriman4891 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Level 0 produces largest files, but is the fastest. Level 8 produces the smallest files, but takes longest. Whatever level you use, there is no difference in quality. The file size advantage from level 8 to level 5 is almost nonexistent. However, level 5 still encodes quite a bit faster than level 8 (but, of course, slower than level 0). I personally use level 5. Oh, the time advantages only relate to ENCODING. The DECODING (playback) does not depend on compression level.

Thanks Ahriman4891 for clearing things up for me. I was using 0 as well, but I'll try using level 5.