Upgrading from MP3!

If you're using LAME 3.99 encoded 320 mp3's and not iTunes encoded, I challenge you to hear the difference at your local club. Most club sound systems get harsh in the high end all by themselves. The biggest differences you'll notice between FLAC and AAC or 320 mp3's or even V0 is going to be the dynamic range - and we're talking about electronic music here where there is very minimal dynamic range anyways. Especially if you're playing club music. Club systems are NOT hi-fi systems. Don't make that mistake. I've done the double blind test in this studio http://www.lelabmastering.com/en/studio listening to both electronic music and other genres as well and could only hear differences in empty space and the decay of some highs, and it was very minimal differences. No differences were heard in the low end though.

FLAC will be louder files though, which is why some people will claim to be able to hear such drastic differences in the high and low ends because they don't match the volumes of their two comparison files.

This thread on HeadFi is interesting. Lots of snake oil over there, but this thread is mostly on topic.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/570621/flac-vs-320-mp3

I haven't come across a single properly conducted study that shows an indication that the human ear can discern between a well encoded 320kbps file and the CD source material.

Nor have I come across a large system with audio quality comparable to studio monitors, decent headphones, or a nice home hifi system. Volumes are always way too high to hear the finer points in the sound and there is of course tons of background noise at every venue.

Also, lossless sounds much better on large systems than 320Kbp/s does on large systems.

If you convert a WAV file to 320kbps MP3/AAC, noone will be able to tell the difference on the best of audio gear . And "large systems" almost always have worse sound quality than a decent pair of headphones.

If you're using LAME 3.99 encoded 320 mp3's and not iTunes encoded, I challenge you to hear the difference at your local club. Most club sound systems get harsh in the high end all by themselves. The biggest differences you'll notice between FLAC and AAC or 320 mp3's or even V0 is going to be the dynamic range - and we're talking about electronic music here where there is very minimal dynamic range anyways. Especially if you're playing club music. Club systems are NOT hi-fi systems. Don't make that mistake. I've done the double blind test in this studio http://www.lelabmastering.com/en/studio listening to both electronic music and other genres as well and could only hear differences in empty space and the decay of some highs, and it was very minimal differences. No differences were heard in the low end though.

FLAC will be louder files though, which is why some people will claim to be able to hear such drastic differences in the high and low ends because they don't match the volumes of their two comparison files.

This thread on HeadFi is interesting. Lots of snake oil over there, but this thread is mostly on topic.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/570621/flac-vs-320-mp3

If you can tell the difference between flac and a 320 file on a large system in a club or bar (excluding venues with top notch systems like Stereo) then I'll give you a cookie.

Was the MP3 file tested converted directly from the WAV file being tested?

If you convert a WAV file to 320kbps MP3/AAC, noone will be able to tell the difference on the best of audio gear . And "large systems" almost always have worse sound quality than a decent pair of headphones.

Uhhh... good luck finding ALAC...

I'm really not sure why you want a lossless format. If you aren't producing, there's reallly no need.

Itunes does not, and likely never will support FLAC. Apple has their own lossless format called ALAC which is basically equivalent to FLAC and should work fine in Traktor too.

Itunes can of course easily convert from AIFF/WAV to ALAC.

wat.

Hey all! I have decided to stop buying MP3's and go strictly lossless in my music files.

My question for you all is should I go WAV or AIFF? I know WAV is the standard in like 9/10 applications, but DJ'ing on a Mac I've heard that AIFF is better. I buy from mainly BeatPort and Traxsource both of which sell WAV's, but only BeatPort sells AIFF's which makes me lean toward WAV's again.

Also, when you upgrade your BeatPort buys you can only get AIFF's. If I decided to go with WAV's, what is a good free/cheap batch file converter for AIFF-->WAV for Macs? And if I chose to go AIFF will the same application do WAV-->AIFF?

Thanks in advance!!!

Do those tags carry over correctly to other programs? (Traktor, Serato, iTunes, etc)