[Meeotch]

Hey guys, I'm in the process of converting my entire music library to FLAC and need some help/advice:
 
FLAC seems like the best options for maintaining sound quality while minimizing file size. However I have noticed that when I play back some of my FLAC files, I am unable to seek forward and backward without issues. Sometimes there is a long pause before playback restarts after seeking. Sometimes my music player freezes after seeking. I did some research and discovered "seektables" and am concerned that some of my FLAC files don't have these seekpoints embedded.
 
I also want to make sure that future DAP's will play these problem files.
 
Now I'm wondering if FLAC is really the best way to go? My guess is that as DAP's continue to support higher storage capacities, and SD cards get bigger, we won't need compression anymore. So what do you think, should I convert everything to FLAC (which is taking forever!) or keep everything as WAV and avoid any shortcomings with FLAC?

 

[Beyakusenn]

There is a clear difference in file size between WAV and FLAC, but to me it's not significant enough to convert everything to FLAC.
High bitrate, well converted AAC or MP3 give much better compression and after doing some blind tests myself, I found out I couldn't hear the difference in a normal controlled environment (my livingroom). So if I really needed more compression for portable use, I would go for high bit-rate lossy music instead of FLAC.
At the moment, I don't need to convert my music yet, as I have a 128 GB for one part of my music and 64 GB for other music I listen to in different occasions. My DAP is a Fiio X1. I have no problem with the playback of any of my files, whether they are WAV, FLAC, AAC, MP3 or otherwise. My music library consists of roughly 2700 lossless files and 5000 lossy files. Of course, I get lossless if I can.

 

[Music Alchemist]

+1! I also vote for keeping your lossless files as they are and just making a lossy copy of your collection for portable use.

 

[D Rob]

FWIW I have had issues seeking during playback of FLAC on my old Macbook Pro. The cause is what I ripped them in. I figured out that the software I used for all albums/tracks with issues were ripped by a different program than what I previously had used.

 

[Ladyfingers]

I rip to FLAC from CD, and then immediately transcode to MP3 for all non-critical devices. You'll never hear the difference between FLAC and MP3 in your car or on portable headphones on the move. FLAC is for the big home system and my office desktop, where storage is no issue.

 

[tomb]

FLAC is a world-wide accepted lossless compression format.  It's also - on average - 1/2 the size of wav files.  Since you lose nothing in quality between the wav and the FLAC file, it's the clear choice.  The FLAC format is also fully compatible with high-resolution formats, too, which you can't say for wav.
 
As for your issue with seeking, look to your media player.  It may not be able to handle FLAC itself very well, which is pretty much an anomaly these days.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  The FLAC format is also fully compatible with high-resolution formats, too, which you can't say for wav.

 
As far as I know, WAV supports any resolution you want aside from DSD, obviously.

 

[tomb]

 

  The FLAC format is also fully compatible with high-resolution formats, too, which you can't say for wav.

 
As far as I know, WAV supports any resolution you want aside from DSD, obviously.

WAV doesn't support file tagging.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  WAV doesn't support file tagging.

 
Yes it does. Use dBpoweramp. Most of my files are WAV and they're fully tagged and have artwork. It's not universally compatible with all devices and programs, but neither is MP3.
 
And what about your statement of it not being fully compatible with hi-rez? You still didn't explain that.

 

[tomb]

 

  WAV doesn't support file tagging.

 
Yes it does. Use dBpoweramp. Most of my files are WAV and they're fully tagged and have artwork. It's not universally compatible with all devices and programs, but neither is MP3.
 
And what about your statement of it not being fully compatible with hi-rez? You still didn't explain that.

The reason the tagging is not universally compatible is because the tagging is not done in the WAV file itself.
 
I probably was in error implying that it was focused on high-resolution.  It's just that high-resolution files are outside the norm anyway, so the file support structure, or lack of it, becomes even more important.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  The reason the tagging is not universally compatible is because the tagging is not done in the WAV file itself.
 
I probably was in error implying that it was focused on high-resolution.  It's just that high-resolution files are outside the norm anyway, so the file support structure, or lack of it, becomes even more important.

 
The tags are in the file. You can see that by examining it. The reason some programs (like iTunes) don't read the tags is because of the program, not the file. foobar2000 reads the tags just fine. With dBpoweramp, you can convert to and from WAV with all tags and artwork intact.
 
https://www.dbpoweramp.com/Help/dmc/wave.html

 

[tomb]

 

  The reason the tagging is not universally compatible is because the tagging is not done in the WAV file itself.
 
I probably was in error implying that it was focused on high-resolution.  It's just that high-resolution files are outside the norm anyway, so the file support structure, or lack of it, becomes even more important.

 
The tags are in the file. You can see that by examining it. The reason some programs (like iTunes) don't read the tags is because of the program, not the file. foobar2000 reads the tags just fine. With dBpoweramp, you can convert to and from WAV with all tags and artwork intact.
 
https://www.dbpoweramp.com/Help/dmc/wave.html

 
My understanding is that Windows Media Player doesn't read them. Yet, WMP/Windows created the file standard.  So, it may write to the files, but the files are - strictly speaking - no longer fully compatible WAV files.  dBpoweramp is simply creating a new kind of WAV file that it can read (and perhaps a few others).
 
This is quite a digression.  I only intended to state that there are issues with WAV that don't exist with FLAC.  Maybe we should leave it at that.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  My understanding is that Windows Media Player doesn't read them. Yet, WMP/Windows created the file standard.  So, it may write to the files, but the files are - strictly speaking - no longer fully compatible WAV files.  dBpoweramp is simply creating a new kind of WAV file that it can read (and perhaps a few others).
 
This is quite a digression.  I only intended to state that there are issues with WAV that don't exist with FLAC.  Maybe we should leave it at that.

 
Just tested it. Windows Media Player plays and reads the tags of WAV files just fine. You can read and write tags to WAV files with many other programs, including foobar2000. Any compatibility issues are due to the device or program not being compatible with it in the first place, not there being any issues with the file tags.

 

[tomb]

 

  My understanding is that Windows Media Player doesn't read them. Yet, WMP/Windows created the file standard.  So, it may write to the files, but the files are - strictly speaking - no longer fully compatible WAV files.  dBpoweramp is simply creating a new kind of WAV file that it can read (and perhaps a few others).
 
This is quite a digression.  I only intended to state that there are issues with WAV that don't exist with FLAC.  Maybe we should leave it at that.

 
Just tested it. Windows Media Player plays and reads the tags of WAV files just fine. You can read and write tags to WAV files with many other programs, including foobar2000. Any compatibility issues are due to the device or program not being compatible with it in the first place, not there being any issues with the file tags.

 
Here is a quote from Hydrogen Audio:

While Audacity and dbPoweramp "claim" to write ID3v2 and INFO tags, none of them are recognized by Windows Media Player.  Once you add a wav file to WMP library and update the information in the library, it will show up in the player but that is ONLY because the info is now a part of the wmp database - NOT in the wav file itself.  Transfer the wav file to another machine, and the tag information that you thought was there is gone.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Here is a quote from Hydrogen Audio:

 
Okay, but I can transfer WAV files between computers and all the tags and artwork are still there in foobar2000 and so on.
 
Also, that quote was from over six years ago.