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Hi Nathan,
too be honest I wasn’t aware of the FLAC format until you mentioned it. In fact I had to wikipedia it. Supposing you have the audio CD would you will be able to rip a FLAC file from it? If this is the case I suggest the best opportunity to get best audio is to get the CD and rip using which ever coded you desire.

Yes, you can rip the CD to FLAC very easily - if you’d have any problems, I can help.

But if you buy an album on iTunes or something similar, do you have an option to download the files in a lossless format? Maybe that’s what Nathan was asking about.

I’m no expert on this but isn’t mp3 by it’s very nature a loss format.

Yes, mp3 is a lossy format. When compressed with Lame at v2, it’s almost transparent, but still lossy and some people can hear the difference, especialy on good equipment.

As far as I know, iTunes sells music in AAC format, which can be either lossy, like mp3, or lossless, like FLAC. I have no idea though, if all albums can be downloaded in both formats or are those sold seperately. Most likely, an artist or the label decides on the formats available.

But I never used iTunes, so I may be talking BS ;)

Metso - Jan 26, 2009 12:40am

Hi Nathan,
too be honest I wasn’t aware of the FLAC format until you mentioned it. In fact I had to wikipedia it. Supposing you have the audio CD would you will be able to rip a FLAC file from it? If this is the case I suggest the best opportunity to get best audio is to get the CD and rip using which ever coded you desire.

I should have specified if it would be possible to purchase FLAC files (either on itunes or directly from you guys)that you have made directly from the master tapes as opposed to ripping and encoding a file from the CD ‘s. If “direct from the master tape FLAC files” are available, that would be cool to be able to buy. The less middle-men (in this case, the CD’s), the better. If not, I’m totally happy with what I have. Just curious is all. Thanks for your quick response Metso.