What audio format has the highest quality?

[Crescent13]

File size is not a concern, I just want to know what the highest quality audio format is. Some people tell me it is WAV, others say WMA Lossless, what is really the best?

 

[akubi]

wav i guess

 

[Darien]

You have various options for lossless. Monkey's Audio and FLAC have been used for a while now. Apple's lossless technology is fairly new compared to the two others I mentioned.

Lossless -> Mathematically perfect copy. mp3 and such are lossy. That is, it is not a perfect copy of the master it's derived from.

Monkey's audio (which uses the ape extension) is quite popular, but isn't supported on any mp3 player AFAIK. FLAC, however, is.

Lossless comparison: http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Lossless_comparison

 

[Crescent13]

Yeah but isn't lossless still compressed? Because my WAV files are about 1500 kbps, and my wma lossless files are around 1000 kbps.

 

[dighn]

Originally posted by: Crescent13
Yeah but isn't lossless still compressed? Because my WAV files are about 1500 kbps, and my wma lossless files are around 1000 kbps.

keyword: "lossless". the data is not degraded. it's like zip files. if you zip up a text file, it's smaller. but if you decompress it, no character is dropped or changed.

 

[beer]

Originally posted by: Crescent13
Yeah but isn't lossless still compressed? Because my WAV files are about 1500 kbps, and my wma lossless files are around 1000 kbps.

It is an exact copy. For a basic overview of the theory, google 'entropy compression.' In a nutshell that is a mathematically correct, if simplistic, introduction.

 

[Crescent13]

Ok, so I think I get it now, lossless audio is just the same quality of WAV, but just compressed. Right?

 

[Evander]

Correct. In fact, the sound quality of a 44.1khz 16-bit .wav file is the same as CD quality

 

[itachi]

best lossless compression scheme is mlp.. used for compressing dd and dts on dvds.. but it's proprietary and costs an arm and a leg.. other than that, i use wavpack.. gets a much better compression ratio than flac. haven't tried any other ones.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I have about 1,000 CDs ripped to FLAC on my music server using Exact Audio Copy. I use foobar2000 for the player but there are plugins for other players.

With FLAC you also can always use a program like dbPowerAmp to mass convert to another format like MP3 to use with a portable, and the quality of the MP3s will be just as good as if you ripped from CD to MP3.

 

[timswim78]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
I have about 1,000 CDs ripped to FLAC on my music server using Exact Audio Copy. I use foobar2000 for the player but there are plugins for other players.

With FLAC you also can always use a program like dbPowerAmp to mass convert to another format like MP3 to use with a portable, and the quality of the MP3s will be just as good as if you ripped from CD to MP3.

Yep, Flac and foobar2000 are a great combo. Plus, you can use Nero to burn Flac files to Audio CD's.