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At least, the TRUTH about AUDIO ! Audio TIPS Part 2. Keeping original CD songs in PCM (wav) format takes a lot of space. Converting to a lossy format like mp3 reduces quality. So, if you want to keep this high definition recording in the smallest size possible without losing a single bit of data, the solution is to use a LOSSLESS format. But which one ? |
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What is the best lossless format ? Compression wise they are all about the same, give or less a few percents in compression size. As compression speed is only of interest once, lossless converters should be judge solely by their demand on processor power when playing back. Here we got 3, very closely matched, contenders: TTA, WavPack and FLAC. TTA has, by far, the smallest footprint of all. It also seems to be the fastest and the less demanding on your processor. That's why it is the only format having the encoder included as standard in ALPHA 2 free version (Converter). It is also the easiest to use as there are no settings at all. WavPack deserve a special mention as its hybrid mode produces 2 files: a lossy (small) file for casual playing and a second file that, when kept in the same folder as the lossy one, will make your playback lossless. The size of the 2 files is equivalent to a lossless single file conversion so there is no reason for not using it. FLAC has, for the time being, the most hardware/portable support. The lossless ones that do not make it Monkeys Audio (mac, ape) may have been the first lossless format but seems to have been bettered by the others. May be it is now what its name indicate, a format for monkeys ... OptimFrog ? like monkeys audio, giving a animal name to your format does not seems good for the future ... WMA lossless ? ALAC (aac) ? Who, with a sane mind, would put his head in a tiger mouth ? |
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