2. pc-audio
  3. 1311547069

FLAC On A Mac

Forgive me if this subject has been discussed on this forum before, but I don't do much PC Audio and I get very confused.
I have downloaded some High Res content from HDTracks to my Macbook. These are all FLAC files. I tried transferring them to a flash drive to be played in two devices that are supposed to be FLAC compatible (most recently, the Marantz NA 7004 Network Music Player). These files won't play on either device.
They also won't play using the MacBook as the source, although I anticipated that.
Do I need some sort of a music management player to play these files? When I surf the net looking for conversion programs, most of them aim to change flac to mp3, which would defeat the purpose of trying to get a High Res file.
richardfinegold

Showing 3 responses by ranperry

ranperry
13 posts
 
The application that plays the FLAC file needs to "extract" chunks of it into memory when playing. If the application is poorly written, the extraction process may use resource that will degrade the streaming output. A good example is trying to play a 1080p file on a weak CPU with slow graphics card. It is not the file but the way it is executed.

I suggest you try comparing FLAC Vs WAV with various operating systems while using different players.
ranperry
13 posts
 
Depends on your operating system. I did the same coparison with my Linux music server and no audible difference were heard between FLAC Vs WAV.

If you have enough CPU power and a good decoder, there is no reason to hear any difference. The only issue that may come to mind is a very poor implementation of the audio streaming that have the decoder and the streaming interface fighting for CPU cycles, resources or interrupts.

Saying that WAV is better than FLAC is a wrong blanket statement.

Have fun testing!
ranperry
13 posts
 
@ Audioengr

I am not arguing that you and others heard a difference, I am just speculating that is was not the format but the application / OS that was used.
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