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Originally Posted by hevusa
Data compression and audio compression are not the same. Zipping and unzipping would not affect the quality of the audio.
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That's the point (excluding the fact that audio on a pc/hd
is data, bits are bits no matter what the file "becomes" once "opened") .
Mp3s compress stuff, and the stuff
stays compressed.there's data loss, no way to restore it etc etc...
Flac codecs work like zippin' things, the compressed file is actually decompressed by the cpu-software when you listen to it.All the information is there.
And the fully decompressed file is a bit per bit copy of the original.
Bits are the smallest existing "bit" (ahahha) of digital information, it's either 0 or 1.
A file which is bit per bit compatible with the source is
exactly like the source, as there are no things as "this bit is similar to 1, but not quite exactly like 1", either it is, or it isn't, no inbetweens.
There's nothing more sure than that in "computer science".
And the definition of lossless in the "digital realm" is that no info/data is lost, and the only way to prove that is a bit per bit comparison...
I know people say they can hear differences between flacs and wavs, but the only "reasonable reason" (assuming "computer science" is not bullshit at its very fondamentals) is that something in the chain between the encoded flac and the decoded output (wether its run through spectographs, oscilloscopes, a PA, etc) is not working how it's supposed to.
What it may be, I dunno (software not developed correctly, some undetectable playback issue due to the cpu cycles used for decompressing flacs, wathever), but thinking that a bit per bit copy of a file is different from the source is like doubting that a wav file you listen to twice is different the second time around because "something somehow changed in it" for no apparent nor proven reason.
Which would make the work of a lot of people pointless, coz they could never be sure that the thing they are working on is the same they just listened to.
Bottom line: you can say you hear differences between wavs and flacs, and it can be true somehow, but you can't say it's "flac's fault".
That said, everyone is entitled to their opinions..this thread is a big mess already...I don't mean to start flames, and this post is not "aimed" at anyone in particular, but I do have a question for TP:
how can you be sure the wavs you send to your clients are "the same" you actually worked on?
p.s. remember english is not my mother tongue and it's late and I drank a bit, if there are awfully formulated sentences, please, forgive me and try to understand what I meant.