[NewOne17]

Hello!
First of all, I want to apologize for my terrible English (my English teacher that teaches me for last 2 years didn't teach me 1 single thing 

). I have been reading this forum from few months back and now I would need some advice from you . 
1.)How can I check if FLAC files that I download are realy losseless or they are just conventer from lossly MP3's(I download only those albums that I cant buy here in my country)?
2.)Now I am using my Samsung S8500 Wave as my portable media player. Does it have good audio quality? Would there be a differnce betwen FALC and MP3 on that player? Oh, and my in-ear's are AKG K330. Would Sansa Clip + or Zip have better sound quality?
3.)It is important with which software do I convent FLAC to MP3? Is there any possibility of worst sound quality when using "wrong" software?
4.)What would have better sound quality? 320kbps MP3 or 500kbit/s OGG?
 
I hope you understood my bad English, and thanx for your answers 

 
And yes, I really am new here so if i did anything not by the rules please tell me so i can fix it (my post not the rules 

).

 

[manveru]

You don't have to be so modest, you're English is actually very good! If you hadn't mentioned it I wouldn't have guessed.
 
1) In any case, as far as I know there isn't really a way to tell. I have converted an album from mp3 to flac before and when looking at its audio properties it appears to have a high bitrate and be lossless. Of course, you could always try to tell by listening 

. Generally though, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I've never downloaded a lossless file that sounded like an mp3 before, and people usually mention whether or not they ripped it from the cd themselves, and many of them have. 
 
2) I don't know anything about the Samsung or Sansa, but I imagine there would be a difference. There is a difference on an iPod Classic, and those sound like poo.
 
3) I'm not extremely knowledgeable on this, but I really doubt it would make a difference what software you use. Maybe some software is technically a little better than others, but even if that's true it probably wouldn't come down to an audible difference unless the software was really that bad and made a bunch of errors. However, I highly recommend dBpoweramp for conversion software, it's the best I've come across. Lots of options with channels, sample rates,  bit depth, bit rate, plus support for pretty much every format imaginable. Full version is paid but you can keep the trial version indefinitely, which is what I do. It has all the basic functions you need. Windows only, but I also use it under Wine in Ubuntu. No idea for Mac.
 
4) I don't know, I never use ogg, but the higher bitrate seems to suggest more quality.
 
Hope some of this helps.

 

[Head Injury]

1. You can analyze its frequencies with some free programs. I'm not aware of a good one, I don't use one. Low bitrate MP3s will cut frequencies off lower (16 kHz for some bitrates versus 20-22 kHz for lossless) and some quiet information will be lost. You're not just going to be able to listen and tell. 9 times out of 10, you won't hear a difference without a true lossless file to compare it to, and even if you do have one high bitrate MP3s are still going to sound the same in most cases.
 
2. Don't worry too much about the player, and don't bother with lossless for portable use. Save the space for more songs. Sansa players have very good quality, so you can upgrade if you want. I'd do that before I waste space with lossless, if I were you.
 
3. If you're converting to MP3, use the LAME codec. Anything that uses LAME will work fine. Use 320 kbps or V0 variable bitrate quality levels. V0 is smaller and sounds the same.
 
4. That depends on what you mean by sound quality. The 500 kbps OGG file will be closer to the original lossless file (I.E. less missing data) but if you're going to use that high a bitrate I'd just stick with lossless. Most people can't tell the difference between 320 kbps MP3 and lossless files in blind tests, so as far as sound transparency both lossy files will work fine.

 

[NewOne17]

Tnx for answers. Well, right now I am not worrided about SQ, because I listen to music mostly on school bus, noisy environment.... but I am keeping my collection in FLAC, just in case I will have a chance to have a better sound system at home (later...now I am only 15 ). Now I used MediaMonkey to convent FLACs to MP3. Is MediaMonkey good for that? Does it use LAME codec? I convented to 320kbps MP3s. 
Can anyone suggest me any good program for checking if my FLAC file really is losseles?
 
Thanks for help.
 

 

[Head Injury]

It's always a good idea to keep lossless files at home. I in no way want to suggest you ditch them completely for MP3, just encode them to MP3 for your portables (which you're doing).
 
I think the new versions of MediaMonkey use LAME by default. If you have the option for variable bitrates, it does.

 

[manveru]

Yes, MediaMonkey should be just fine and it comes with LAME. Happy listening!