FLAC is the go-to format for selling non-DSD high-resolution downloads. It's also often used for CD 
resolution download sales. Apple still stubbornly won't support FLAC as standard to iTunes, so 
sellers of high-resolution must also offer ALAC versions (mainly a sale-backend PITA, not really a 
PITA to convert WAV to yet another lossless format).

Having used FLAC files for years, both creating them and purchasing them, I cannot hear any 
difference from WAV. One of the audiophile magazines, I think Absolute Sound, presented some 
subjective listening opinions claiming to hear the difference between FLAC and WAV played with one 
of the non-free playback programs. I cannot hear any difference using Foobar 2000 on Windows XP and 
Windows 7 platforms, Same for using the Logitech Squeezebox Touch music streamer, digital output 
going to my Benchmark DAC/preamp. I have most of my CD's ripped to a FLAC archive, mostly listened 
to across the network, either via the Squeezebox in the main system or streaming to various other 
devices via ethernet or wifi.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard L. Hess" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2015 4:40 PM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Is it time to rethink FLAC ?


> Hello, all,
>
> Peter Kurilecz posted this following article to the Society of American Archivists listserve:
>
> http://bit.ly/1DZo1Yn
>
> It is about Harvard using forensic techniques to image obsolete media and then extract the data.
>
> One interesting piece of software was mentioned: XENA from the National Archives of Australia. The 
> Wikipedia article states:
>
>     MP3, WAV, AIFF, and OGG formats are converted to FLAC files.
>                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xena_%28software%29
>
> Hence the subject of this post. When did FLAC files become the go-to standard? It appears that the 
> XENA Wiki confirms this:
> http://sourceforge.net/p/xena/wiki/Setting_up_the_audio_plugin/
>
> At one point (many years ago, DSpace software (or at least the Univ of Toronto implementation 
> thereof) converted audio to MP3. I hope they have changed their practice.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Richard
> -- 
> Richard L. Hess                   email: [log in to unmask]
> Aurora, Ontario, Canada                             647 479 2800
> http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
> Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.
>
>