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[Gregory Braun]

Can I reliably convert a FLAC or WMA (Lossless) file originally ripped with Media Center "back" to a WAV file and get exactly what I would have gotten if I had ripped the .cda file to .wav in the first place?

I have over 1500 CDs that I've ripped to FLAC and WMA. I ran an experiment and ripped a few CDs to WAV format instead and found that they sound much better than the FLAC or WMA versions. I suspect my network player has trouble unpacking and playing tracks due to CPU limitations, while it has an easier time just playing the .wav file instead.

I really don't want to go though the process of re-ripping my CD collection collection from cda to wav if I can help it. I'd like to use Media Center to convert my collection instead if possible.

[swiv3d]

Since the lossless files are basically Wave files in a container they should convert back to wav files just like the originals. If you are worried about the outcomes I would suggest you convert them to be saved in a different folder structure so that you keep the flacs and wmvs as a backup.

[JimH]

Since the lossless files are basically Wave files in a container they should convert back to wav files just like the originals. If you are worried about the outcomes I would suggest you convert them to be saved in a different folder structure so that you keep the flacs and wmvs as a backup.

Lossless and WAV are different.  Lossless is compressed and is roughly half the size.  But the original WAV file can be restored.  Nothing is lost.

[JimH]

Can I reliably convert a FLAC or WMA (Lossless) file originally ripped with Media Center "back" to a WAV file and get exactly what I would have gotten if I had ripped the .cda file to .wav in the first place?

The FLAC file, when played, is identical to a WAV file or the CD's file, by the time it gets to your DAC.

There is no advantage to converting FLAC to WAV and there are disadvantages.

[Goatshade]

The FLAC file, when played, is identical to a WAV file or the CD's file, by the time it gets to your DAC.

There is no advantage to converting FLAC to WAV and there are disadvantages.

Well, there is one: Decompression/decoding. FLAC is one of the faster ones but I don't think anything beats WAV or raw PCM. Those work very well if your hardware struggles with the decoding process. It's why I have my phone's remote (MO 4Media) set to convert everything to PCM 24-bit, especially through the cloud.

Quality-wise, though, no, there are no benefits.

[JimH]

Decoding a FLAC file should just take 2 or 3 seconds.  You'd never notice the difference from WAV unless your hardware is really really old.

[Awesome Donkey]

Of course, the level of compression used will decide how quickly it's decoded. If you're using FLAC at compression level 8 it takes the longest time to decode versus FLAC compression level 0 or 1.

I never notice a difference, even when using FLAC files at compression level 6. Decoding/playback is nearly instantaneous for me.

[dtc]

Decoding of flac takes pretty much the same time for all levels of decompression. It does take a lot longer to compress to higher levels, with a big increase starting around level 5 or 6.  Compression needs to look for patterns in the data. Decompression is simply looking for markers.