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MC30 Issue

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cshl:
Hello HaWi
--- Quote from: HaWi on October 15, 2022, 10:18:14 am ---Brian, I hope you don't mind if I chime in

I am not very familiar with .wav but I remember that they have very few tags inside files which is why I switched to FLAC

--- End quote ---

Here is some info about wav files
WAV file formats use containers to contain the audio in raw and typically uncompressed “chunks” using the Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF). This is a common method Windows uses for storing audio and video files— like AVI— but can be used for arbitrary data as well.

WAV files are generally going to be much larger than other popular audio file types, like MP3, due to the fact they are typically uncompressed (compression is supported, though). Because of this, they’re mainly used in the professional music recording industry to retain the maximum quality of audio.

blgentry:

--- Quote from: cshl on October 18, 2022, 12:11:56 am ---Because of this, they’re mainly used in the professional music recording industry to retain the maximum quality of audio.

--- End quote ---

WAV files have this weird reputation among audiophiles as being "more correct" or "higher resolution" than FLAC or MonkeysAudio.  I'm guessing this is an artifact from when there were only a few choices and almost everything other than WAV was LOSSY compressed and therefor measurably inferior.

But today, with FLAC, and MonkeysAudio and ALAC (and others I'm not remembering right this moment), there's essentially no reason for a consumer to ever use WAV.  WAV files are an anacronysm.  They are old, outdated, and technically inferior.  Not SONICALLY inferior.  Technically inferior. 

WAV files have very poor tagging support and compression is not standardized.  So they have essentially no tags and are the largest size they could possibly be for the data they hold. 

FLAC, on the other hand, has nearly unlimited tag support, which includes storing Cover Art inside the file.  They also have good lossless compression.  So they take up less disk space, yet have no sonic compromise.  The compression is fully reversible on playback and produces data that is identical to the data stored in the WAV file.  ALAC and Monkeys are similar.  (Fun note, MonkeysAudio was invented by the principle author of JRiver MC.  Our own Matt!)

Most people reading this probably know all of this.  I write this on the off chance that someone reading is still clinging to the idea that WAV is the only "pure" format available.  It is not.  It's a poor format in a modern world.

Brian.

Matt:
For people convinced that somehow decoding APE or FLAC makes the sound quality worse than WAV, MC has a memory playback feature that loads the entire file decoded into memory as playback starts.  This means the data in memory will be identical between WAV and APE.  So there being any difference is simply impossible.

JimH:

--- Quote from: Matt on October 18, 2022, 08:35:36 am ---For people convinced that somehow decoding APE or FLAC makes the sound quality worse than WAV, ...

--- End quote ---
Which it doesn't.

JRiver's position is this:

Any lossless format is better than any lossy format.

FLAC or APE or ALAC are better than WAV.  They are smaller and support better tagging.

If you must use WAV, it is fully supported in MC, including internal tags.

We don't ever recommend beating a dead horse.

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