First off, as a clarification, FLAC compression is somewhat more complex than simple RLE (the "6 zeros" approach mentioned earlier), but the basic concept is the same. Find a way of describing the signal which takes less space than simply writing it out in full. A more accurate model would be something like "it's a sine wave of amplitude x and frequency y with a couple of other bits stuck on". Not scientific but you get the idea! The format is specified here: http://flac.sourceforge.net/format.html.
Second, on the discussion of accuracy. The theory of FLAC is correct - it is lossless when implemented properly, it just has to be - it's mathmatically provable. So the only risk of loss is if there's a bug in the implementation of the encoder or decoder. This is perfectly possible, however I personally consider it unlikely. Why? * The FLAC reference encoder and decoder are open source and thus freely examinable by anyone who cares to look. * Audio fans are a picky bunch. If there was an audible problem someone would notice. * Proving or disproving a problem is trivial - just compare the original wav and output from flac. I have done so, it takes less than a minute. If anyone ever said they could hear a difference I'd immediatly compare the files. You may even want to add it as an automated step in your ripping process if you're really concerned. -- radish ------------------------------------------------------------------------ radish's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=77 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21700 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
