jaxzo:manicm:jaxzo:peter8171:
I've just downloaded some FLAC files to see what difference I can hear between them and the same Apple Lossless files downloaded fromthe B&W website. What software (preferably free) would people recommend for me to use to hear these files.?
Cheers
You will hear no difference at all between FLAC and Apple Lossless as they are both lossless audio codecs. Any difference you could possibly ever hear would be due to the source being damaged or badly ripped, not the codec.
Winamp, MediaMonkey and foobar all play FLAC though.
I'm not the only one who believes Apple Lossless sounds dullest of lossless formats, all things being equal etc.
An argument isn't needed over this, but have you done an ABX test to verify your theory? If you can tell the difference between lossless formats through listening alone you deserve a medal.
If there was any audible difference between the lossless formats, they wouldn't be lossless as there would clearly be something lost from the original source.
This dullness is purely a placebo effect.
Maybe but I trust my ears, and I'm not the only one - there was one massive argument (go google) where someone believed AIFFs sounded better than Apple Lossless, although ultimately he did some adjusting to his system to improve things.
And you can level the same accusation to Wadia, albeit in a slightly different context, where they firmly believe in loading the iPod with WAVs instead of AL for their 170i. I think it's something in the decoding process.