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Compressed formats [message #14386] Thu, 24 May 2007 10:50 Go to next message
Barry S is currently offline  Barry S
Messages: 15
Registered: May 2009
Chancellor
After hearing Skip's Squeezebox at the audio festival it got me wondering about moving cds onto a computer. Storing the music on hard drives would open up an amazing amount of space in my listening room.

What sort of file formats provide some level of compression without degrading the sound?

Re: Compressed formats [message #14390 is a reply to message #14386] Sun, 27 May 2007 11:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18670
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

A high-quality MP3 file is a pretty good way to go. While MP3 is a lossy compression system, MP3 files of various quality levels can be made. There are other compression/decompression (codec) systems available too. See the references below:



Thanks! NT [message #14391 is a reply to message #14390] Tue, 29 May 2007 07:37 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Barry S is currently offline  Barry S
Messages: 15
Registered: May 2009
Chancellor
nt

Re: Compressed formats [message #14394 is a reply to message #14386] Tue, 29 May 2007 22:05 Go to previous messageGo to next message
akhilesh is currently offline  akhilesh
Messages: 1275
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
HI Barry,
If you don't want to degrade the sound, then you need a lossless compression format. I use FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec). It usually compresses the matieral quite well, on average to about 40% of the size, but with no loss (i Can recreate the .wav file if I want to).

A lossy scheme like MP3 cannot allow one to recreate the .wav file if one wants to.

Hope this helps.
-akhilesh

Re: Compressed formats [message #14395 is a reply to message #14386] Thu, 31 May 2007 07:39 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Bob Brines is currently offline  Bob Brines
Messages: 186
Registered: May 2009
Location: Hot Springs Village, AR
Master
Barry,

If you will remember, I ran my demos off of a laptop computer. Worked amazingly well. The sound could have been better, since I was using a USB Sound Blaster as a DAC. I am not about to drop kilobucks on a high end DAC, all of which seem to perceive a need for a tube sage. I'm looking for something more modest that is all SS but still addresses the clocking problems inherent with USB audio. But I digress.

Disk space it so cheap that it is pure folly to store your files in anything except a lossless format. TERAbite external drivers are now only a couple of hundred bucks. (Warning -- buy two and make two copies of your library. That hard driver WILL fail some day.)

I am about to launch out on the process of ripping my entire library. I intend to use EAC and convert to FLAC on the fly. I would prefer to leave the files in WAV, but I think that I need the extra tagging available in FLAC to catalog things. My library is mostly classical, ant the standard file naming and tagging doesn't work.

Perhaps Akhilesh has a hint or two for me? BTW Akhilesh, what are you using for playback?

Bob


Re: Compressed formats [message #14396 is a reply to message #14394] Thu, 31 May 2007 16:17 Go to previous messageGo to next message
akhilesh is currently offline  akhilesh
Messages: 1275
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
Here's an article in the NY times that talks about tis, and how the average consumer is realizing this now.
Lossless is better. Flac is a great CODEC, and it;s free. Winamp player plasy it great. It's also free.
-akhilesh

Re: Compressed formats [message #14397 is a reply to message #14395] Thu, 31 May 2007 16:23 Go to previous messageGo to next message
akhilesh is currently offline  akhilesh
Messages: 1275
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
HI Bob,
I have been using EaC with the FLAC plugin (same ting you are proposing), and rip CDs to FLAC with EAC. EAC does a great job, of course. If I ever need to make a copy of the CD (that I legally bought of course), I use FLAC frontend ( a free FLAC to WAV converter software) to decode the FLAC file into the WAV, and then use EAC to burn it onto a CD-R. Works great.

I bought the iaudio X5: an IPOD like device that in my opinion, has
-better sound quality than the Ipod
-Functions as a pure USB memory device on any operating system (windows, MAc OS or linux) so no need for itunes or any othe rsoftaware, just drag your files and copy
-Has FM radio (great recveption)
-has a builtin in ADC that allows one to convert an analog input in 320 KBPS MP3 if you ever want to record analog
-has a built in equalizer (which I don;t use)
-does not scratch like the Ipod
-MOST IMPORTANT: It plays FLAC files natively!
-costs less than the IPod

This is the Iaudio X5 by COWON. I have the 60 gb version.

For my laptop, I use Winamp player: it is free and excellent.
Hope this helps, buddy.
-akhilesh

Re: Compressed formats [message #14398 is a reply to message #14397] Thu, 31 May 2007 21:06 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Bob Brines is currently offline  Bob Brines
Messages: 186
Registered: May 2009
Location: Hot Springs Village, AR
Master
Thanks for the info.

If I understand correctly, the Iaudio is for stand-along headphone listening. If so, I have little interest here.

I will download a copy of Winamp and look at it. I had heard that it was becoming bloated with features and tends to run slow. Foobar is a bear to learn, but it does have a native half octave equalizer which I am looking forward to for room equalization. However, as long a Winamp sound OK through my amp and speakers AND I can find stuff in my library, I'll go with it. Some library systems support artist-album-song only making classical stuff impossible to find. Example -- try to fine a particular classical album on Amazon. Nearly impossible.

Bob

Re: Compressed formats [message #14399 is a reply to message #14398] Thu, 31 May 2007 23:23 Go to previous messageGo to next message
akhilesh is currently offline  akhilesh
Messages: 1275
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
"Iaudio is for stand-along headphone listening"

It has a 1/8 inch standard stereo analog output. YOu can connect a headphone or whatever to it. I actually connect a home made amplifier to it (burr brown OP amp) that gives it a 25 db or so fixed gain and really mellows out the tone like a tube amp) and then play it either on headphones or through a regular power ampifier/home setup. I can also play it in my car, which is cool. and also in my office. And everywhere i go.

I don't use winamp for anything but playback. My library is organized as such: artist-album-song. I suppose you could organize it otherwise, but it's adequate for my needs...however my file structure has nothng to do with winamp. Winamp plays m3u files, if that helps you any.
I've never tried foobar (perhaps the name scared me away? )
-akhilesh

Re: Compressed formats (and STORAGE?!?) [message #14400 is a reply to message #14395] Fri, 01 June 2007 07:53 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Barry S is currently offline  Barry S
Messages: 15
Registered: May 2009
Chancellor
Thanks for all the ideas. It has been a great help sorting through the endless formats.

I'm a Linux fan and it looks like its pretty easy to extract cd's to flac format with the tools provided. The software seems to automatically handle all the tagging (and album cover) issues on the jazz, rock and pop discs, too. So most of this project will just be putting the discs in the computer and hitting the extract button. My job has me in front of a computer all day so it'll just be a matter of feeding the discs into the computer.

Bob, thanks for the tip on the library backup.

Figuring out where to store the cd's will be a harder task. They can't go in the attic (heat) or the basement (humidity) and they'll need to be accessible from time to time. Anyone have any tips on how to store the physical discs without eating wallspace?

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