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[tunetyme]

I've been noticing that FLAC is gaining wider acceptance as the loss-less option that many companies are now offering.  Most audio software packages are compatible with WAV and MP3 only which has given MC a real marketing edge.  I have been using monkey audio for years because of its' speed, bit perfect reproduction, tagging, and compression.  It appears that FLAC is winning in market acceptance.  Is their some technical advantage that I am not aware of?

As a result, I am considering converting all my files to FLAC.  I have some questions regarding FLAC.

If I convert and replace the files using MC and I set fix broken links is there anything lost such as playlist and tag info?

Does FLAC have comparable tagging capabilities?

Those who are using FLAC, What are your experiences with it?

Thanks!
Tunetyme

[JimH]

Matt's not gonna like this....

[AoXoMoXoA]

Matt's not gonna like this....

I have been using FLAC exclusively for lossless and have had very little in the way of problems that I can recall.  I like it because my old RiO Karma plays Flac files   

sorry Matt.

btw, he is much cuter that I expected 

[Alexx]

Matt's not gonna like this....

LMAO!!!!!

[pank2002]

I guess it is mainly 'politics'. I do not know if it it right but somehow I think of flac as being a more 'open' and portable format kind of like mp3 vs. wma. To be honest I really don't know what kind monkey license Matt brew together.

I think I would use the monkey if I were to rip my cds in a lossless format.

[JimH]

I guess it is mainly 'politics'. I do not know if it it right but somehow I think of flac as being a more 'open' and portable format kind of like mp3 vs. wma. To be honest I really don't know what kind monkey license Matt brew together.

I think I would use the monkey if I were to rip my cds in a lossless format.

Neither MP3 nor WMA is "open".  Not even close.

FLAC and APE are both available in source.  Matt's license allows him to refuse a commercial use, but I don't think he has ever done so.

I think the only reason FLAC is available on more devices is that Matt put his considerable energy and talent into JRiver Media Center -- luckily for all of us.  Thanks, Matt.

[Alex B]

It really doesn't matter. Lossless is lossless and can always be converted to another lossless format without a generation loss (assuming the converter is not buggy). MC handles APE and FLAC equally well including tagging.

APE compresses a bit better. On the other hand FLAC is faster to decode. If you have a HW device that supports FLAC you may want to convert the files. Otherwise it might just be waste of CPU cycles.

[pank2002]

Neither MP3 nor WMA is "open".  Not even close.

Put the pressure on portable if you must

FLAC and APE are both available in source.  Matt's license allows him to refuse a commercial use, but I don't think he has ever done so.

Monkey’s Audio's drawbacks are that it is proprietary software, and has limited support on software platforms other than Windows. There are alternatives such as FLAC and WavPack that may offer more options for some users.
...
Monkey’s Audio is freeware. It has a peculiarly ambiguous non-free software license so that most Linux distributions and other operating systems that rely on free software alone do not include it

I think the only reason FLAC is available on more devices is that Matt put his considerable energy and talent into JRiver Media Center -- luckily for all of us.  Thanks, Matt.

Call me stupid but I think the 'freer nature' of flac combined with cheap space and easier decoding of flac (read: more sophisticated ape algorithm :-) might be the cause.

That said I agree 100 pct. with you; we are lucky to have Matt here.

Out of curiosity are there any 'formal' relationship between monkey's audio and JRiver?

Cheers,
Rasmus

[JimH]

We h

Out of curiosity are there any 'formal' relationship between monkey's audio and JRiver?

We have an Open Banana policy in place.  It's a slight variation on the MABD Doctrine.

[tunetyme]

It looks like I'm in for a little FLAC from Matt...Pun intended. 

If I convert and replace the files using MC and I set fix broken links is there anything lost such as playlist and tag info?

Has anybody tried this?  Should I convert and stay in the same directory?

Matt, are you going to weigh in on this topic?

[tunetyme]

I was just on the Monkey Audio site.  I now appreciate the 800 lb gorilla. 

The application I am looking at uses Java.  Are their any Monkey Audio Java libraries available?

[Doof]

You can just tell MC to replace the original file and it will replace it everywhere. No need to fix any broken links.

[ogurgey]

You can just tell MC to replace the original file and it will replace it everywhere. No need to fix any broken links.

Be careful about this.  If your original works with cue files (one big rip, indexes stored in the cue file), then the suggestion above will destroy the original rip, replaces with the first track.

The safe way is always leave the originals. After the conversion if everything worked out, you could delete the files, preferably from within MC so the database would not leave any broken links.  If you would delete it from OS, then MC has no way of knowing, that the files pointed to don't exist.

[Doof]

Be careful about this.  If your original works with cue files (one big rip, indexes stored in the cue file), then the suggestion above will destroy the original rip, replaces with the first track.

The safe way is always leave the originals. After the conversion if everything worked out, you could delete the files, preferably from within MC so the database would not leave any broken links.  If you would delete it from OS, then MC has no way of knowing, that the files pointed to don't exist.

Yes, thank you for that clarification. I only ever used APL files, so I never run into this.