Why’s FLAC ‘the’ lossless codec? Is it future-proof(able)? Comparisons
Reply #22 –
@ Greynol: you don't seem to get the point. I didn't claim – nor did I want to imply that it would be crucial – that FLAC would be unbeatable on each parameter (of the two I would guess were the key ones). Rather, I was saying that there was nothing that would beat it on one without having to sacrifice on another (suppose it were, there would be harder to explain FLAC's relative success). It's a partial ordering) issue.
@ eahm: I do agree with you that 8 channels might not be enough in [fill in number] years. For all that I know, someone might at some point want to deliver the multitrack recordings, 'one track per instrument' style, in a format which specifies the mix but allows for the user to add effects to each. Just to take an example that none of the 'consumer-oriented' lossless formats (to my knowledge) offer. I would guess that the 'next' such format would be a container format which also supports e.g. video, and which would be able to store multiple discrete streams of a certain codec (want 24 channel ALAC? Store three 8-channel streams.).
I don't see anybody talking about speed issues and FLAC. Not even closer.
Not even on portable devices? Even when the CPU can decode in realtime (a must!), then higher effort means lower battery time.