FLAC or ALAC

[olds]

Will not be using iTunes. Which is the best audio quality?

 

[Ken g6]

They're both lossless. So the resulting sound should be identical.

 

[lxskllr]

Flac supports higher bitrates if your source files are better than cd. Otherwise, they're about the same. I'd choose flac cause fuck apple.

 

[olds]

Buying from HD Tracks or is there a better source?

EDIT
Over 50 years, I have a hodge podge of albums, cassettes, CDs, laser discs and mp3s. I want to get an audiophile quality collection of the music I like.

 

[LikeLinus]

FLAC.

 

[lxskllr]

Buying from HD Tracks or is there a better source?

EDIT
Over 50 years, I have a hodge podge of albums, cassettes, CDs, laser discs and mp3s. I want to get an audiophile quality collection of the music I like.

Bluray, and some specialty releases, but if you're mostly getting old stuff, hdtracks should be about as good as it gets. This stuff really isn't in my wheelhouse. I've standardized on q8 vorbis. It sounds perfect on my gear, and is about half the size of flac. I'm not an audiophile, and don't want to be one.

 

[olds]

Ya, some of the stuff will be from the 70s.

 

[whm1974]

Bluray, and some specialty releases, but if you're mostly getting old stuff, hdtracks should be about as good as it gets. This stuff really isn't in my wheelhouse. I've standardized on q8 vorbis. It sounds perfect on my gear, and is about half the size of flac. I'm not an audiophile, and don't want to be one.

I don't blame you, I've seen the prices of the equipment that Audiophiles typically buy, including their own Utility Pole.

 

[IronWing]

Buy FLAC and convert to ALAC if needed. dbPoweramp is your friend. I even bought my copy.

 

[brianmanahan]

WAV

 

[olds]

WAV

https://imgur.com/jOEWZZk

 

[mrblotto]

I am disappoint

use BOTH

 

[Ken g6]

I am disappoint

use BOTH

That's a terrible plan. It sounds like a duck being tortured!

 

[darkswordsman17]

Damnit, now I want to make an audio encoder that converts all audio into Gilbert Gottfried duck speak. Would probably still sound better than AutoTune.

OP, if you have Apple stuff and care about compatibility there, then ALAC, otherwise FLAC. Or if whatever stuff you're using has better support for one over the other. There's players that will support FLAC on iOS, and I'm sure there's stuff that supports ALAC elsewhere. If nothing else you could convert it although it might be a bit of a pain.

 

[Ken g6]

Say, you know what would provide better audio quality than either of these? If Apple came up with an AI system to enhance the quality of their audio files. They could call it... Smart ALAC.

 

[rchunter]

Yeah Flac and then get dbpoweramp. Makes it super easy to batch convert down to mp3 and add them on your phone or whatever.

 

[Gew]

FLAC, as a matter of principle.
Simply put, I don't like Apple stuff.