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Topic: Flac 1.3.1 compression settings (Read 4344 times) previous topic - next topic
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Flac 1.3.1 compression settings

Hello,

1) when using FLAC, it is safe/recommended to use innovated -6 to -8 compression options even for playback on portable devices like Sansa or Fiio (where decoding power is limited)? Will the decoding be done without any problems?

In documentation to the latest version the settings are described

-6: -l 8 -b 4096 -m -r 6 -A tukey(0.5);partial_tukey(2)
-8: -l 12 -b 4096 -m -r 6 -A tukey(0.5);partial_tukey(2);punchout_tukey(3)

2) when using FLAC, sometimes when re-encoding files the messages like lower appear. Do they mean just that the new compression is worse than the old file,  ensuring keeping the audio data safe/transparent?

FAILURE: Compression failed (ratio 1,001, should be < 1.0).
This happens for some files for one or more of the following reasons:
 * Recompressing an existing FLAC from a higher to a lower compression setting.
 * Insufficient input data  (eg, very short files, < 10000 frames).
 * The audio data is not compressable (eg a full range white noise signal).

Thanks,

Jan

Re: Flac 1.3.1 compression settings

Reply #1 –
Quote from: jumpingjackflash5 on
when using FLAC, it is safe/recommended to use innovated -6 to -8 compression options even for playback on portable devices like Sansa or Fiio (where decoding power is limited)? Will the decoding be done without any problems?
Yes, it is safe. Even "-8 -e -p" is safe. Problematic files can be created if --lax is used.

Re: Flac 1.3.1 compression settings

Reply #2 –
Quote from: Rollin on
Quote from: jumpingjackflash5 on
when using FLAC, it is safe/recommended to use innovated -6 to -8 compression options even for playback on portable devices like Sansa or Fiio (where decoding power is limited)? Will the decoding be done without any problems?
Yes, it is safe. Even "-8 -e -p" is safe. Problematic files can be created if --lax is used.

Thank you. I asked also because some people were claiming playback problems https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,107878.msg886508.html#msg886508 but this does not need to be related to compression strictly.

Re: Flac 1.3.1 compression settings

Reply #3 –
The FLAC encoder is not going to create non-compliant FLAC files unless you really try to make it do so.  The developers do not hate their users nearly that much.

Re: Flac 1.3.1 compression settings

Reply #4 –
1) New -6 preset should be as fast as the old -6 (w.r.t decoding) and new -7 and -8 should be as fast as the old -8.

2) Yes, it means that the new file is bigger than the old one ("ratio 1,001").

Re: Flac 1.3.1 compression settings

Reply #5 –
Thanks for the advices. From what you write seems clear that the decoding is not compromised by utilizing -6 or -8. One more question: when using -5 (e.g. default - space gain is small with -6), will the cpu usage when decoding be smaller?

BTW, what settings do you use ?

Re: Flac 1.3.1 compression settings

Reply #6 –
CPU usage is almost identical between settings. I tested about 9 MHz on arm vs 10 for highest settings if I remember correctly.

Re: Flac 1.3.1 compression settings

Reply #7 –
Alright, thank you. To sum up, full transparency, minimal difference in cpu playback usage, much slower encoding and very small space gain is the characteristics of -8 mode vs -5 mode. Seems reasonable that -5 is the default.

Re: Flac 1.3.1 compression settings

Reply #11 –
Lossy? :D :D :D
"I hear it when I see it."

Re: Flac 1.3.1 compression settings

Reply #13 –
Sorry, I did not want to initiate any misunderstanding, just I was making sure that using any of the FLAC compression options (e.g. -5,-8 even after changes in 1.3.1 etc.) does not change the playback on various devices and audio contained. This was answered well and I got the information I asked for.

Not needed to insert here problems from another thread and trying to deduct from abbreviations!

Re: Flac 1.3.1 compression settings

Reply #15 –
Yes, I have read that. I was asking here mainly because I saw in the changelog for 1.3.1 the following info.

New apodization functions partial_tukey and punchout_tukey for improved compression (Martijn van Beurden).
Retuned compression presets to incorporate new apodization functions (Martijn van Beurden).

Re: Flac 1.3.1 compression settings

Reply #16 –
Quote from: jumpingjackflash5 on
Yes, I have read that. I was asking here mainly because I saw in the changelog for 1.3.1 the following info.

New apodization functions partial_tukey and punchout_tukey for improved compression (Martijn van Beurden).
Retuned compression presets to incorporate new apodization functions (Martijn van Beurden).

Changing the encoder does not retroactively change existing decoders.  That is the idea behind an audio format:  the output of the encoder is standardized in such a way that a decoder will be compatible with it even if the encoder's processing or algorithms change. 

Re: Flac 1.3.1 compression settings

Reply #17 –
Quote from: saratoga on
Quote from: jumpingjackflash5 on
Yes, I have read that. I was asking here mainly because I saw in the changelog for 1.3.1 the following info.

New apodization functions partial_tukey and punchout_tukey for improved compression (Martijn van Beurden).
Retuned compression presets to incorporate new apodization functions (Martijn van Beurden).

Changing the encoder does not retroactively change existing decoders.  That is the idea behind an audio format:  the output of the encoder is standardized in such a way that a decoder will be compatible with it even if the encoder's processing or algorithms change. 

Very good then.

Re: Flac 1.3.1 compression settings

Reply #18 –
First a sunday evening, HA jjf5 *huggle*

One of our admins and dbpoweramp developer even invented "Uncompressed flac" in his product to satisfy even the most sceptical.
Is troll-adiposity coming from feederism?
With 24bit music you can listen to silence much louder!