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Topic: Changing compression level of existing FLAC (Read 5034 times) previous topic - next topic
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Changing compression level of existing FLAC

It is possible in Media Monkey to open an album that has been compressed at level 5, 6, etc and convert it to a different compression level, e.g. 1, 2.

If this is done, is there any quality loss versus re-ripping the CD again from scratch at level 0?

Re: Changing compression level of existing FLAC

Reply #1 –
There is no difference, lossless is lossless. Lower levels just have lower compression complexity, resulting in larger files that decode faster.

Of course, you have to ask yourself if it's even worth encoding a lower compression level, when the maximum standard level (8) already decodes at hundreds of times real time on most modern systems.

Reducing decode complexity to eliminate "processing noise" is really not a great idea, as it is really impossible to produce less "processing noise" without simply using a sound device that doesn't suffer from hardware interference from the computer processing whatever. You could totally be doing something besides listening to audio and create the same kind of interference.

Re: Changing compression level of existing FLAC

Reply #2 –
Quote from: kode54 on
There is no difference, lossless is lossless. Lower levels just have lower compression complexity, resulting in larger files that decode faster.

Of course, you have to ask yourself if it's even worth encoding a lower compression level, when the maximum standard level (8) already decodes at hundreds of times real time on most modern systems.

Reducing decode complexity to eliminate "processing noise" is really not a great idea, as it is really impossible to produce less "processing noise" without simply using a sound device that doesn't suffer from hardware interference from the computer processing whatever. You could totally be doing something besides listening to audio and create the same kind of interference.

For me, it's more about corrrecting some anomalies that appear to be occuring over my powerline/ethernet and wi-fi networks, i.e. playback devices falling out step between the FLACs they are playing, and the titles/names of those FLACS displayed on their panels.  Having replaced every component in the chain the only thing I can point at is the FLAC itself or the way it's decoded.  I'm thinking reducing the decoding time might help...?

Re: Changing compression level of existing FLAC

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Spymaster on
I'm thinking reducing the decoding time might help...?

IIRC, FLAC's compression is heavily asymmetric:  encoding can vary based on options, but I'm not sure that there's an appreciable difference in decoding speed, at least for the preset levels.
 

Re: Changing compression level of existing FLAC

Reply #6 –
Quote from: Spymaster on
Quote from: kode54 on
There is no difference, lossless is lossless. Lower levels just have lower compression complexity, resulting in larger files that decode faster.

Of course, you have to ask yourself if it's even worth encoding a lower compression level, when the maximum standard level (8) already decodes at hundreds of times real time on most modern systems.

Reducing decode complexity to eliminate "processing noise" is really not a great idea, as it is really impossible to produce less "processing noise" without simply using a sound device that doesn't suffer from hardware interference from the computer processing whatever. You could totally be doing something besides listening to audio and create the same kind of interference.

For me, it's more about corrrecting some anomalies that appear to be occuring over my powerline/ethernet and wi-fi networks, i.e. playback devices falling out step between the FLACs they are playing, and the titles/names of those FLACS displayed on their panels.  Having replaced every component in the chain the only thing I can point at is the FLAC itself or the way it's decoded.  I'm thinking reducing the decoding time might help...?

had similar problems, for me the problem was network speed. so actually increasing the compression helps (going for higher flac level). you could try if those problems appear if you use mp3 for example (files are a lot smaller).
try a different network protocol like nfs, i get much higher speeds with nfs. or a higher smb version will also increase speed. try forcing smb 3.