Sunday, January 6, 2013

On lossless formats

So I'm curious, what does it matter if I convert a file in .shn or .flac to .mp3?  I'm not redistributing the files in .mp3, but instead putting them in a format that my iPhone can play.

Here's where the question comes from.

I download Dave Matthews shows.  Yes the band allows, and actually encourages the taping of their performances.  It's a nice change for a band to allow this as it's a nice way to remember the shows you've been to, as well as to experience ones you missed.

Either way, many of the shows have dire statements saying "DO NOT ENCODE INTO LOSSY FORMATS".

Honestly, who cares.  I don't upload the mp3's.  Even if my iPhone could play flac I would encode them simply for the size.  Also, unless you are listening on a professional sound system with some crazy speakers/headphones, you're not going to hear the difference.

It's a live recording folks.  Made with microphones...  You're probably listening on your PC or in your car.  On crappy computer speakers, or cheap headphones.

Granted in today's world, where HDD's are cheap, well based on this, it's not unreasonable to store your music in lossless formats, but it's a pain in the ass to convert to put on a portable player...

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