Hydrogenaudio Knowledgebase - User contributions [en]

Free Lossless Audio Codec

2014-04-12T14:47:42Z

80.42.199.167: /* Other tools */ re-edit other tools links

{{Codec Infobox
| name = FLAC
| logo = [[Image:FLAC logo.gif]]
| type = lossless
| purpose = Popular open source patent free lossless compression scheme.
| maintainer = Josh Coalson, Xiph Community
| recommended_encoder = FLAC encoder
| recommended_text = FLAC v1.3.0 (28-05-2013)
| website = http://xiph.org/flac/
}}
'''Free Lossless Audio Codec''' ('''FLAC''') is a codec for lossless audio compression.
Grossly oversimplified, FLAC is similar to [[MP3]], but [[lossless]], meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. This is similar to how Zip works, except with FLAC you will get much better compression because it is designed specifically for audio, and you can play back compressed FLAC files in your favorite player (or your car or home stereo, if supported) just like you would an MP3 file.

== General aspects of the format ==
FLAC is freely available and supported on most operating systems, including Windows, UNIX (Linux, *BSD, Solaris, OS X, IRIX), BeOS, OS/2, and Amiga. There are build systems for autotools, MSVC, Watcom C, and Project Builder.

The FLAC project consists of:
* the stream format
* reference encoders and decoders in library form
* flac, a command-line program to encode and decode FLAC files
* metaflac, a command-line metadata editor for FLAC files
* input plugins for various music players

When it's said that FLAC is ''free'', it means more than just that it is available at no cost. It means that the specification of the format is fully open to the public to be used for any purpose, although the FLAC project reserves the right to set the FLAC specification and certify compliance. It also means that neither the FLAC format nor any of the implemented encoding/decoding methods are covered by any known patent. And it means that all the source code is available under open-source licenses. It is the first truly open and free lossless audio format.

== Features ==
* '''Lossless:''' The encoding of audio (PCM) data incurs no loss of information, and the decoded audio is bit-for-bit identical to what went into the encoder. Each frame contains a 16-bit CRC of the frame data for detecting transmission errors. The integrity of the audio data is further insured by storing an MD5 signature of the original unencoded audio data in the file header, which can be compared against later during decoding or testing.
* '''Fast:''' FLAC is asymmetric in favor of decode speed. Decoding requires only integer arithmetic, and is much less compute-intensive than for most perceptual codecs. Real-time decode performance is easily achievable on even modest hardware.
* '''Hardware support:''' Because of FLAC's free reference implementation, low decoding complexity and popularity, FLAC has relatively widespread hardware support compared to other lossless formats.
* '''Streamable:''' Each FLAC frame contains enough data to decode that frame. FLAC does not even rely on previous or following frames. FLAC uses sync codes and CRCs (similar to MPEG and other formats), which, along with framing, allow decoders to pick up in the middle of a stream with a minimum of delay.
* '''Seekable:''' FLAC supports fast sample-accurate seeking. Not only is this useful for playback, it makes FLAC files suitable for use in editing applications.
* '''Flexible metadata:''' New metadata blocks can be defined and implemented in future versions of FLAC without breaking older streams or decoders. Currently there are metadata types for tags, cue sheets, and seek tables. Applications can write their own APPLICATION metadata once they register an ID.
* '''Suitable for archiving:''' FLAC is an open format, and there is no generation loss if you need to convert your data to another format in the future. In addition to the frame CRCs and MD5 signature, flac has a verify option that decodes the encoded stream in parallel with the encoding process and compares the result to the original, aborting with an error if there is a mismatch.
* '''Convenient CD archiving:''' FLAC has a ''cue sheet'' metadata block for storing a CD table of contents and all track and index points. For instance, you can rip a CD to a single file, then import the CD's extracted cue sheet while encoding to yield a single file representation of the entire CD. If your original CD is damaged, the cue sheet can be exported later in order to burn an exact copy.
* '''Error resistant:''' Because of FLAC's framing, stream errors limit the damage to the frame in which the error occurred, typically a small fraction of a second worth of data. Contrast this with some other lossless codecs, in which a single error destroys the remainder of the stream.

== Pros ==
* Portable to many systems
* Open source and freely licensed
* Hardware support (PhatBox, Kenwood MusicKeg, Rio Karma, etc. See below)
* Streaming support
* Extremely fast decoding
* Supports multichannel and high resolution streams
* Supports [[ReplayGain]]
* Supports cue-sheet (with some limitations)
* Gaining wide use as successor to [[Shorten]]

== Cons ==
* Compresses less efficiently than other popular modern compressors ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[OptimFROG]])
* Higher compression modes slow, for little gain over the default setting.

== Hardware and software that support FLAC ==
For a more comprehensive list see the [http://xiph.org/flac/links.html FLAC links page].

=== Hardware ===
==== Car stereo ====
* Kenwood [http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entertainment/In-Dash_CD_Receivers/1-DIN_CD_Receiver/KMM-100U KMM-100U] & KMM-357SD (euro)
* Soundstream [http://soundstream.com/store/car-video/source-units.html Source Units]

==== Home stereo ====
* Olive's [http://www.olive.us/ Symphony] wireless digital music center
* [http://www.numark.com/ Numark]'s DJ equipment (HDX and CDX turntables, HDMIX mixer)
* [http://www.sonos.com/ Sonos Digital Music System]
* Slim Devices' [http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_squeezebox.html Squeezebox] networked audio players

==== Portable ====
* [[Apple iPod]] with [[Rockbox]] firmware
* [[iAudio M3]], M5 and X5
* [[iRiver]] iHP-120/iHP-140 with [[Rockbox]] firmware
* [[Iwod G10]]
* [[Rio Karma]]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SanDisk_Sansa SanDisk Sansa]
* TrekStor's [http://www.trekstor.de/en/products/detail_mp3.php?pid=66 Vibez]
* Devices running Android 3.1+

=== Software ===
==== Players ====

'''Windows'''
* [[foobar2000]]
* [[MediaMonkey]]
* [[Winamp]]
*[http://mplayerwin.sourceforge.net/ Mplayer] Console player
* [http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd-ultra/features_en_US.html?&r=1 PowerDVD]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]
* [http://www.un4seen.com/ XMplay]

'''Mac'''
* [http://cogx.org/ Cog]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]

'''Linux'''
* [http://www.clementine-player.org/ Clementine]
* [http://www.mplayerhq.hu/ MPlayer]
* [http://www.mythtv.org/ MythTV]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]
* [[XMMS]]

==== Frontends (Windows) ====
* FLAC frontend - [http://sourceforge.net/projects/flacfrontend/ download] / [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Download_page discussion] (ktf)
* Custom [http://members.home.nl/w.speek/flac.htm Windows Frontend] (by Speek)

==== Frontends (Mac) ====
* [http://www.sbooth.org/Max/ Max]

==== Converters ====
* [http://www.dbpoweramp.com/ dBpowerAMP] Music Converter / Audio Player / CD Writer
* [http://www.mediamonkey.com/ MediaMonkey] Music Manager / Audio Player / CD Writer

==== Editors ====
*[http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Audacity]
* [[Adobe Audition]]
* [http://www.goldwave.com/ GoldWave]

==== CD writers/rippers ====
* [http://www.nero.com/eng/ Nero]
* [http://arson.sourceforge.net/ Arson]
* [http://www.burrrn.net Burrrn] Audio CD burner
* [[Exact Audio Copy]] CD Ripper
* [http://cdexos.sourceforge.net CDex] CD ripper
* [http://www.cdwave.com/ CD Wave]
* [http://cdburnerxp.se/ CDburner XP] CD writer
* [http://www.mediamonkey.com/ MediaMonkey] - CD ripper/writer

==== Taggers ====
* [http://www.mp3tag.de/en/index.html Mp3tag] - Universal Tag Editor
* [http://www.jtclipper.eu/thegodfather/ The GodFather] - Tagger / Music manager
* [http://sbooth.org/Tag/ Tag] - for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)

* [http://www.synthetic-soul.co.uk/tag/ Case's Tag] - Command line tagger
* [https://xiph.org/flac/documentation_tools_metaflac.html metaflac] - for general metadata (including Vorbis comments) maintenance
* [[MediaMonkey]] - Tagger / Music manager (Including multiple and linked album art support)

==== Other tools ====
* [http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/ mkvtoolnix] - tool to multiplex FLAC streams inside the Matroska container
* [https://xiph.org/flac/documentation_tools_metaflac.html metaflac] - for general metadata (including Vorbis comments) maintenance, also to calculate [[ReplayGain]] values for FLAC files lacking such

for a more comprehensive list use the '''External Links''' bottom of this page to visit flac's download and link page.

== Frequently asked questions ==
''Question:'' Does the compression level affect decompression speed?

''Short Answer'': No.

''Long Answer'': In truth, the compression level does affect the decompression speed, but the difference between the various compress levels can barely be measured and is too small to be noticed, even on low-end machines.

''Question:'' What is the best compression level for encoding my music?

''Short Answer'': The default setting, 5.

''Long Answer'': Encoding at the default setting will give the best balance between compression and encoding speed. Encoding at 8 can more than quadruple the encoding time, while having an insignificant effect on compression.

== See also ==
* [[Lossless]]
* [[Lossless comparison]]
* Flac 1.3.0 discussion [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=101082 here]

== Externals links ==
* [http://xiph.org/flac/ FLAC Homepage] | [http://xiph.org/flac/format.html format description] | [http://xiph.org/flac/documentation.html documentation] | [http://xiph.org/flac/faq.html FAQ] | [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Download_page#Encoders.2C_Decoders.2C_Etc. download]

* Omion's FLAC "[http://web.archive.org/web/20091108104748/http://people.ucsc.edu/~rswilson/flactest File Size vs. Decoding Speed"] Test. - a very thorough test on the influence of the chosen encoding level on the decoding speed of FLAC, the only one so far to have covered FLAC's --super-secret-totally-impractical-compression-level to this extent as well.

[[Category:Lossless]]
[[Category:Encoder/Decoder]]

Free Lossless Audio Codec

2014-04-12T14:33:30Z

80.42.199.167: /* Externals links */ re-edits on Externals links

{{Codec Infobox
| name = FLAC
| logo = [[Image:FLAC logo.gif]]
| type = lossless
| purpose = Popular open source patent free lossless compression scheme.
| maintainer = Josh Coalson, Xiph Community
| recommended_encoder = FLAC encoder
| recommended_text = FLAC v1.3.0 (28-05-2013)
| website = http://xiph.org/flac/
}}
'''Free Lossless Audio Codec''' ('''FLAC''') is a codec for lossless audio compression.
Grossly oversimplified, FLAC is similar to [[MP3]], but [[lossless]], meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. This is similar to how Zip works, except with FLAC you will get much better compression because it is designed specifically for audio, and you can play back compressed FLAC files in your favorite player (or your car or home stereo, if supported) just like you would an MP3 file.

== General aspects of the format ==
FLAC is freely available and supported on most operating systems, including Windows, UNIX (Linux, *BSD, Solaris, OS X, IRIX), BeOS, OS/2, and Amiga. There are build systems for autotools, MSVC, Watcom C, and Project Builder.

The FLAC project consists of:
* the stream format
* reference encoders and decoders in library form
* flac, a command-line program to encode and decode FLAC files
* metaflac, a command-line metadata editor for FLAC files
* input plugins for various music players

When it's said that FLAC is ''free'', it means more than just that it is available at no cost. It means that the specification of the format is fully open to the public to be used for any purpose, although the FLAC project reserves the right to set the FLAC specification and certify compliance. It also means that neither the FLAC format nor any of the implemented encoding/decoding methods are covered by any known patent. And it means that all the source code is available under open-source licenses. It is the first truly open and free lossless audio format.

== Features ==
* '''Lossless:''' The encoding of audio (PCM) data incurs no loss of information, and the decoded audio is bit-for-bit identical to what went into the encoder. Each frame contains a 16-bit CRC of the frame data for detecting transmission errors. The integrity of the audio data is further insured by storing an MD5 signature of the original unencoded audio data in the file header, which can be compared against later during decoding or testing.
* '''Fast:''' FLAC is asymmetric in favor of decode speed. Decoding requires only integer arithmetic, and is much less compute-intensive than for most perceptual codecs. Real-time decode performance is easily achievable on even modest hardware.
* '''Hardware support:''' Because of FLAC's free reference implementation, low decoding complexity and popularity, FLAC has relatively widespread hardware support compared to other lossless formats.
* '''Streamable:''' Each FLAC frame contains enough data to decode that frame. FLAC does not even rely on previous or following frames. FLAC uses sync codes and CRCs (similar to MPEG and other formats), which, along with framing, allow decoders to pick up in the middle of a stream with a minimum of delay.
* '''Seekable:''' FLAC supports fast sample-accurate seeking. Not only is this useful for playback, it makes FLAC files suitable for use in editing applications.
* '''Flexible metadata:''' New metadata blocks can be defined and implemented in future versions of FLAC without breaking older streams or decoders. Currently there are metadata types for tags, cue sheets, and seek tables. Applications can write their own APPLICATION metadata once they register an ID.
* '''Suitable for archiving:''' FLAC is an open format, and there is no generation loss if you need to convert your data to another format in the future. In addition to the frame CRCs and MD5 signature, flac has a verify option that decodes the encoded stream in parallel with the encoding process and compares the result to the original, aborting with an error if there is a mismatch.
* '''Convenient CD archiving:''' FLAC has a ''cue sheet'' metadata block for storing a CD table of contents and all track and index points. For instance, you can rip a CD to a single file, then import the CD's extracted cue sheet while encoding to yield a single file representation of the entire CD. If your original CD is damaged, the cue sheet can be exported later in order to burn an exact copy.
* '''Error resistant:''' Because of FLAC's framing, stream errors limit the damage to the frame in which the error occurred, typically a small fraction of a second worth of data. Contrast this with some other lossless codecs, in which a single error destroys the remainder of the stream.

== Pros ==
* Portable to many systems
* Open source and freely licensed
* Hardware support (PhatBox, Kenwood MusicKeg, Rio Karma, etc. See below)
* Streaming support
* Extremely fast decoding
* Supports multichannel and high resolution streams
* Supports [[ReplayGain]]
* Supports cue-sheet (with some limitations)
* Gaining wide use as successor to [[Shorten]]

== Cons ==
* Compresses less efficiently than other popular modern compressors ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[OptimFROG]])
* Higher compression modes slow, for little gain over the default setting.

== Hardware and software that support FLAC ==
For a more comprehensive list see the [http://xiph.org/flac/links.html FLAC links page].

=== Hardware ===
==== Car stereo ====
* Kenwood [http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entertainment/In-Dash_CD_Receivers/1-DIN_CD_Receiver/KMM-100U KMM-100U] & KMM-357SD (euro)
* Soundstream [http://soundstream.com/store/car-video/source-units.html Source Units]

==== Home stereo ====
* Olive's [http://www.olive.us/ Symphony] wireless digital music center
* [http://www.numark.com/ Numark]'s DJ equipment (HDX and CDX turntables, HDMIX mixer)
* [http://www.sonos.com/ Sonos Digital Music System]
* Slim Devices' [http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_squeezebox.html Squeezebox] networked audio players

==== Portable ====
* [[Apple iPod]] with [[Rockbox]] firmware
* [[iAudio M3]], M5 and X5
* [[iRiver]] iHP-120/iHP-140 with [[Rockbox]] firmware
* [[Iwod G10]]
* [[Rio Karma]]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SanDisk_Sansa SanDisk Sansa]
* TrekStor's [http://www.trekstor.de/en/products/detail_mp3.php?pid=66 Vibez]
* Devices running Android 3.1+

=== Software ===
==== Players ====

'''Windows'''
* [[foobar2000]]
* [[MediaMonkey]]
* [[Winamp]]
*[http://mplayerwin.sourceforge.net/ Mplayer] Console player
* [http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd-ultra/features_en_US.html?&r=1 PowerDVD]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]
* [http://www.un4seen.com/ XMplay]

'''Mac'''
* [http://cogx.org/ Cog]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]

'''Linux'''
* [http://www.clementine-player.org/ Clementine]
* [http://www.mplayerhq.hu/ MPlayer]
* [http://www.mythtv.org/ MythTV]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]
* [[XMMS]]

==== Frontends (Windows) ====
* FLAC frontend - [http://sourceforge.net/projects/flacfrontend/ download] / [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Download_page discussion] (ktf)
* Custom [http://members.home.nl/w.speek/flac.htm Windows Frontend] (by Speek)

==== Frontends (Mac) ====
* [http://www.sbooth.org/Max/ Max]

==== Converters ====
* [http://www.dbpoweramp.com/ dBpowerAMP] Music Converter / Audio Player / CD Writer
* [http://www.mediamonkey.com/ MediaMonkey] Music Manager / Audio Player / CD Writer

==== Editors ====
*[http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Audacity]
* [[Adobe Audition]]
* [http://www.goldwave.com/ GoldWave]

==== CD writers/rippers ====
* [http://www.nero.com/eng/ Nero]
* [http://arson.sourceforge.net/ Arson]
* [http://www.burrrn.net Burrrn] Audio CD burner
* [[Exact Audio Copy]] CD Ripper
* [http://cdexos.sourceforge.net CDex] CD ripper
* [http://www.cdwave.com/ CD Wave]
* [http://cdburnerxp.se/ CDburner XP] CD writer
* [http://www.mediamonkey.com/ MediaMonkey] - CD ripper/writer

==== Taggers ====
* [http://www.mp3tag.de/en/index.html Mp3tag] - Universal Tag Editor
* [http://www.jtclipper.eu/thegodfather/ The GodFather] - Tagger / Music manager
* [http://sbooth.org/Tag/ Tag] - for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)

* [http://www.synthetic-soul.co.uk/tag/ Case's Tag] - Command line tagger
* [https://xiph.org/flac/documentation_tools_metaflac.html metaflac] - for general metadata (including Vorbis comments) maintenance
* [[MediaMonkey]] - Tagger / Music manager (Including multiple and linked album art support)

==== Other tools ====
* [http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/ mkvtoolnix] - tool to multiplex FLAC streams inside the Matroska container
* [https://xiph.org/flac/documentation_tools_metaflac.html metaflac] - for general metadata (including Vorbis comments) maintenance, also to calculate [[ReplayGain]] values for FLAC files lacking such

...and many more; see the [http://flac.sourceforge.net/links.html#software FLAC software section] and [http://flac.sourceforge.net/download.html#extras download section] for a more comprehensive list.

== Frequently asked questions ==
''Question:'' Does the compression level affect decompression speed?

''Short Answer'': No.

''Long Answer'': In truth, the compression level does affect the decompression speed, but the difference between the various compress levels can barely be measured and is too small to be noticed, even on low-end machines.

''Question:'' What is the best compression level for encoding my music?

''Short Answer'': The default setting, 5.

''Long Answer'': Encoding at the default setting will give the best balance between compression and encoding speed. Encoding at 8 can more than quadruple the encoding time, while having an insignificant effect on compression.

== See also ==
* [[Lossless]]
* [[Lossless comparison]]
* Flac 1.3.0 discussion [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=101082 here]

== Externals links ==
* [http://xiph.org/flac/ FLAC Homepage] | [http://xiph.org/flac/format.html format description] | [http://xiph.org/flac/documentation.html documentation] | [http://xiph.org/flac/faq.html FAQ] | [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Download_page#Encoders.2C_Decoders.2C_Etc. download]

* Omion's FLAC "[http://web.archive.org/web/20091108104748/http://people.ucsc.edu/~rswilson/flactest File Size vs. Decoding Speed"] Test. - a very thorough test on the influence of the chosen encoding level on the decoding speed of FLAC, the only one so far to have covered FLAC's --super-secret-totally-impractical-compression-level to this extent as well.

[[Category:Lossless]]
[[Category:Encoder/Decoder]]

WavPack

2014-04-11T21:22:09Z

80.42.199.167: broken links

'''WavPack''' is a free, open source [[lossless]] audio compression format developed by David Bryant.

== Description ==
WavPack (pronounced "wave-pack") allows users to compress (and restore) all [[PCM]] audio formats including 8, 16, and 24-bit ints; 32-bit floats; [[mono]], [[stereo]], and [[multichannel]]; [[sampling rate]]s from 6 to 192 kHz. Like other lossless compression schemes the data reduction varies with the source, but it is generally between 25 % and 50 % for typical popular music and somewhat better than that for classical music and other sources with greater dynamic range.

WavPack also incorporates a unique "hybrid" mode that provides all the advantages of lossless compression with an additional bonus. Instead of creating a single file, this mode creates both a relatively small, high-quality lossy file that can be used all by itself, and a "correction" file that (when combined with the lossy file) provides full lossless restoration. For some users this means never having to choose between lossless and lossy compression!

== Feature Summary ==
* Fast and efficient encoding and decoding
* [[Open source]], released under a BSDish license
* Multiplatform
* Hardware support
* Error robustness
* Streaming support
* Supports multichannel audio and high resolutions
* Hybrid/lossy mode
* Tagging support ([[ID3v1]], [[APE]])
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* Supports embedded CUE sheets
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking
* Ability to create self extracting files for Win32 platform
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible

== History ==
David Bryant started development on WavPack in mid-1998, with the release of version 1.0. This first version compressed and decompressed audio losslessly, nothing else, but by then it already featured one of the best efficiency versus speed ratio among lossless encoders.

Very soon after the release of version 1.0, Bryant released v. 2.0, which featured lossy encoding (using only quantization for data reduction – no psychoacoustic process was applied to the stream).

In 1999, the developer released version 3.0, which featured novelties such as a fast mode (with reduced compression ratio), compression of RAW files and error detection using CRC checksums.

WavPack development is still going on, and a major feature added in late 3.x versions is the hybrid mode, where the encoder generates a lossy file + a correction file, so that both can be decompressed back to the original PCM stream.

WavPack 4 has been recently released. It included important changes, such as fast seeking, multichannel support, high resolution audio support, etc. turning it into one of the most full featured and modern lossless audio compressors.

== Software support ==
=== Players ===
* NullSoft [[Winamp]] (plugin with ReplayGain & Media Library support) and Winamp-compatible players
* [[foobar2000]] Advanced Audio Player (official encoding/decoding addon, with ReplayGain & Cuesheets support)
* [http://www.vuplayer.com/vuplayer.htm VUPlayer] (official plugin, supports encoding)
* [[Windows Media Player]] and other directshow-based players (MPC, TCMP, RadLight) (with [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=103693 CoreWavPack] directshow filter)
* <s>[http:// Apollo]</S> Audio Player (plugin with ReplayGain support)
* [http://www.un4seen.com/xmplay.html XMplay] (official plugin)
* [http://cogosx.sourceforge.net/ Cog] Audio player for MacOS X.
* [[XMMS]] (with Kuniklo's plugin)
* [http://fondriest.frederic.free.fr/realisations/lamip/ LAMIP] (official plugin)
* [http://mpxplay.sourceforge.net/ MPXplay] for DOS!
* [http://aqualung.sourceforge.net/ Aqualung] for GNU/Linux
* [http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html VLC Player]
* Cowon [http://www.jetaudio.com/ JetAudio Player]

=== Frontends ===
* Custom [http://members.home.nl/w.speek/wavpack.htm Windows Frontend] (by Speek)

=== Converters ===
'''Note:''' ''Several players, like Cowon JetAudio, foobar2000 and VUplayer, can also convert from other formats to WavPack)''

* [http://www.dbpoweramp.com/ dBpowerAMP] Music Converter / Audio Player / CD Writer (official addon)
* Cowon [http://www.jetaudio.com/ JetAudio Player]

=== Editors ===
* [[Adobe Audition]] and Cool Edit (filter with 32-bit floats & extra info save support)

=== CD writers/rippers ===
* [http://www.nero.com/eng/ Nero]
* [http://www.burrrn.net Burrrn] Audio CD burner
* [[Exact Audio Copy]] CD Ripper
* [http://cdexos.sourceforge.net CDex] CD ripper
* Cowon [http://www.jetaudio.com/ JetAudio Player]

=== Taggers ===
* [http://www.mp3tag.de/en/index.html Mp3tag] Universal Tag Editor
* [http://www.jtclipper.eu/thegodfather/ The GodFather] Tagger / Music manager
* [[Tag.exe|Case's Tag]] command line tagger

=== Other tools ===
* [http://www.burrrn.net/?page_id=5 Mr. QuestionMan]
* [http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/ mkvtoolnix] – tool to multiplex WavPack streams inside the Matroska container
''It's worth mentioning the [[Matroska]] guys decided to concentrate on WavPack as the lossless compressor of choice for their container. Quite an honor... :-)''

== Hardware Support ==
* iRiver iHP-120/iHP-140 with the open source [http://www.rockbox.org Rockbox firmware]
* [http://www.rokulabs.com/products/photobridge/features.php Roku PhotoBridge HD] (with [http://www.wavpack.com/downloads.html plugin])

== Technology description ==
To ensure high-speed operation, WavPack uses a very simple predictor that is implemented entirely in integer math. In its "fast" mode the prediction is simply the arithmetic extrapolation of the previous two samples. For example, if the previous two samples were -10 and 20, then the prediction would be 50. For the default mode a simple adaptive factor is added to weigh the influence of the earlier sample on the prediction. In our example the resulting prediction could then vary between 20 for no influence to 50 for full influence. This weight factor is constantly updated based on the audio data's changing spectral characteristics, which is why it is called "adaptive".

The prediction generated is then subtracted from the actual sample to be encoded to generate the error value. In mono mode this value is sent directly to the coder. However, stereo signals tend to have some correlation between the two channels that can be further exploited. Therefore, two error values are calculated that represent the difference and average of the left and right error values. In the "fast" mode of operation these two new values are simply sent to the coder instead of the left and right values. In the default mode, the difference value is always sent to the coder along with one of the other three values (average, left, or right). An adaptive algorithm continuously determines the most efficient of the three to send based on the changing balance of the channels.

The developer has developed a unique data encoder for WavPack that he believes is better than Rice coding in two different areas. It is impossible to encode more efficiently than Rice coding because it represents the optimal bit coding (sometimes known as the Huffman code) for this type of data. WavPack's encoder is slightly less efficient than this, but only by about 0.15 bits/sample (or less than 1% for 16-bit data). The first advantage of WavPack's coder is that it does not require the data to be buffered ahead of encoding, instead it converts each sample directly to bitcodes. This is more computationally efficient and it is better in some applications where coding delay is critical. The second advantage is that it is easily adaptable to lossy encoding because all significant bits (except the implied "one" MSB) are transmitted directly. In this way it is possible to only transmit, for example, the 3 most significant bits (with sign) of each sample. In fact, it is possible to transmit only the sign and implied MSB for each sample with an average of only 3.65 bits/sample.

This coding scheme is used to implement the "lossy" mode of WavPack. In the "fast" mode the output of the non-adaptive decorrelator is simply rounded to the nearest codable value for the specified number of bits. In the default mode the adaptive decorrelator is used (which reduces the average noise about 1 dB) and also both the current and the next sample are considered in choosing the better of the two available codes (which reduces noise another 1 dB).

The developer has decided to not use any floating-point arithmetic in WavPack's data path because he believes that integer operations are less susceptible to subtle chip to chip variations that could corrupt the lossless nature of the compression, the Pentium floating point bug being a blatant example of this. It is possible that a lossless compressor that used floating-point math could generate different output when running on that faulty Pentium. Even disregarding actual bugs, floating-point math is complicated enough that there could be subtle differences between "correct" implementations that could cause trouble for this type of application. To further ensure confidence in the integrity of WavPack's compression, the encoder includes a 32-bit error detection code to the generated streams.

WavPack source code is very portable. It has been compiled on several Unices (Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, Compaq Tru64, HP-UX...) as well as Windows, DOS and OpenVMS. It works on architectures such as x86, ARM, PowerPC, SPARC, DEC Alpha, PA-RISC, MIPS, Motorola 68k...

== External links ==
* [http://www.wavpack.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.rarewares.org/lossless.html Unofficial multiplatform versions] at RareWares
* [[Lossless_comparison|Lossless Codec Comparison]]
* [[EAC_and_WavPack | Configuring EAC and Wavpack]]

[[Category:Codecs]]
[[Category:Lossless]]

Free Lossless Audio Codec

2014-04-11T21:01:25Z

80.42.199.167: /* Externals links */ link (web Archive)

{{Codec Infobox
| name = FLAC
| logo = [[Image:FLAC logo.gif]]
| type = lossless
| purpose = Popular open source patent free lossless compression scheme.
| maintainer = Josh Coalson, Xiph Community
| recommended_encoder = FLAC encoder
| recommended_text = FLAC v1.3.0 (28-05-2013)
| website = http://xiph.org/flac/
}}
'''Free Lossless Audio Codec''' ('''FLAC''') is a codec for lossless audio compression.
Grossly oversimplified, FLAC is similar to [[MP3]], but [[lossless]], meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. This is similar to how Zip works, except with FLAC you will get much better compression because it is designed specifically for audio, and you can play back compressed FLAC files in your favorite player (or your car or home stereo, if supported) just like you would an MP3 file.

== General aspects of the format ==
FLAC is freely available and supported on most operating systems, including Windows, UNIX (Linux, *BSD, Solaris, OS X, IRIX), BeOS, OS/2, and Amiga. There are build systems for autotools, MSVC, Watcom C, and Project Builder.

The FLAC project consists of:
* the stream format
* reference encoders and decoders in library form
* flac, a command-line program to encode and decode FLAC files
* metaflac, a command-line metadata editor for FLAC files
* input plugins for various music players

When it's said that FLAC is ''free'', it means more than just that it is available at no cost. It means that the specification of the format is fully open to the public to be used for any purpose, although the FLAC project reserves the right to set the FLAC specification and certify compliance. It also means that neither the FLAC format nor any of the implemented encoding/decoding methods are covered by any known patent. And it means that all the source code is available under open-source licenses. It is the first truly open and free lossless audio format.

== Features ==
* '''Lossless:''' The encoding of audio (PCM) data incurs no loss of information, and the decoded audio is bit-for-bit identical to what went into the encoder. Each frame contains a 16-bit CRC of the frame data for detecting transmission errors. The integrity of the audio data is further insured by storing an MD5 signature of the original unencoded audio data in the file header, which can be compared against later during decoding or testing.
* '''Fast:''' FLAC is asymmetric in favor of decode speed. Decoding requires only integer arithmetic, and is much less compute-intensive than for most perceptual codecs. Real-time decode performance is easily achievable on even modest hardware.
* '''Hardware support:''' Because of FLAC's free reference implementation, low decoding complexity and popularity, FLAC has relatively widespread hardware support compared to other lossless formats.
* '''Streamable:''' Each FLAC frame contains enough data to decode that frame. FLAC does not even rely on previous or following frames. FLAC uses sync codes and CRCs (similar to MPEG and other formats), which, along with framing, allow decoders to pick up in the middle of a stream with a minimum of delay.
* '''Seekable:''' FLAC supports fast sample-accurate seeking. Not only is this useful for playback, it makes FLAC files suitable for use in editing applications.
* '''Flexible metadata:''' New metadata blocks can be defined and implemented in future versions of FLAC without breaking older streams or decoders. Currently there are metadata types for tags, cue sheets, and seek tables. Applications can write their own APPLICATION metadata once they register an ID.
* '''Suitable for archiving:''' FLAC is an open format, and there is no generation loss if you need to convert your data to another format in the future. In addition to the frame CRCs and MD5 signature, flac has a verify option that decodes the encoded stream in parallel with the encoding process and compares the result to the original, aborting with an error if there is a mismatch.
* '''Convenient CD archiving:''' FLAC has a ''cue sheet'' metadata block for storing a CD table of contents and all track and index points. For instance, you can rip a CD to a single file, then import the CD's extracted cue sheet while encoding to yield a single file representation of the entire CD. If your original CD is damaged, the cue sheet can be exported later in order to burn an exact copy.
* '''Error resistant:''' Because of FLAC's framing, stream errors limit the damage to the frame in which the error occurred, typically a small fraction of a second worth of data. Contrast this with some other lossless codecs, in which a single error destroys the remainder of the stream.

== Pros ==
* Portable to many systems
* Open source and freely licensed
* Hardware support (PhatBox, Kenwood MusicKeg, Rio Karma, etc. See below)
* Streaming support
* Extremely fast decoding
* Supports multichannel and high resolution streams
* Supports [[ReplayGain]]
* Supports cue-sheet (with some limitations)
* Gaining wide use as successor to [[Shorten]]

== Cons ==
* Compresses less efficiently than other popular modern compressors ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[OptimFROG]])
* Higher compression modes slow, for little gain over the default setting.

== Hardware and software that support FLAC ==
For a more comprehensive list see the [http://xiph.org/flac/links.html FLAC links page].

=== Hardware ===
==== Car stereo ====
* Kenwood [http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entertainment/In-Dash_CD_Receivers/1-DIN_CD_Receiver/KMM-100U KMM-100U] & KMM-357SD (euro)
* Soundstream [http://soundstream.com/store/car-video/source-units.html Source Units]

==== Home stereo ====
* Olive's [http://www.olive.us/ Symphony] wireless digital music center
* [http://www.numark.com/ Numark]'s DJ equipment (HDX and CDX turntables, HDMIX mixer)
* [http://www.sonos.com/ Sonos Digital Music System]
* Slim Devices' [http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_squeezebox.html Squeezebox] networked audio players

==== Portable ====
* [[Apple iPod]] with [[Rockbox]] firmware
* [[iAudio M3]], M5 and X5
* [[iRiver]] iHP-120/iHP-140 with [[Rockbox]] firmware
* [[Iwod G10]]
* [[Rio Karma]]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SanDisk_Sansa SanDisk Sansa]
* TrekStor's [http://www.trekstor.de/en/products/detail_mp3.php?pid=66 Vibez]
* Devices running Android 3.1+

=== Software ===
==== Players ====

'''Windows'''
* [[foobar2000]]
* [[MediaMonkey]]
* [[Winamp]]
*[http://mplayerwin.sourceforge.net/ Mplayer] Console player
* [http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd-ultra/features_en_US.html?&r=1 PowerDVD]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]
* [http://www.un4seen.com/ XMplay]

'''Mac'''
* [http://cogx.org/ Cog]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]

'''Linux'''
* [http://www.clementine-player.org/ Clementine]
* [http://www.mplayerhq.hu/ MPlayer]
* [http://www.mythtv.org/ MythTV]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]
* [[XMMS]]

==== Frontends (Windows) ====
* FLAC frontend - [http://sourceforge.net/projects/flacfrontend/ download] / [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Download_page discussion] (ktf)
* Custom [http://members.home.nl/w.speek/flac.htm Windows Frontend] (by Speek)

==== Frontends (Mac) ====
* [http://www.sbooth.org/Max/ Max]

==== Converters ====
* [http://www.dbpoweramp.com/ dBpowerAMP] Music Converter / Audio Player / CD Writer
* [http://www.mediamonkey.com/ MediaMonkey] Music Manager / Audio Player / CD Writer

==== Editors ====
*[http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Audacity]
* [[Adobe Audition]]
* [http://www.goldwave.com/ GoldWave]

==== CD writers/rippers ====
* [http://www.nero.com/eng/ Nero]
* [http://arson.sourceforge.net/ Arson]
* [http://www.burrrn.net Burrrn] Audio CD burner
* [[Exact Audio Copy]] CD Ripper
* [http://cdexos.sourceforge.net CDex] CD ripper
* [http://www.cdwave.com/ CD Wave]
* [http://cdburnerxp.se/ CDburner XP] CD writer
* [http://www.mediamonkey.com/ MediaMonkey] - CD ripper/writer

==== Taggers ====
* [http://www.mp3tag.de/en/index.html Mp3tag] - Universal Tag Editor
* [http://www.jtclipper.eu/thegodfather/ The GodFather] - Tagger / Music manager
* [http://sbooth.org/Tag/ Tag] - for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)

* [http://www.synthetic-soul.co.uk/tag/ Case's Tag] - Command line tagger
* [https://xiph.org/flac/documentation_tools_metaflac.html metaflac] - for general metadata (including Vorbis comments) maintenance
* [[MediaMonkey]] - Tagger / Music manager (Including multiple and linked album art support)

==== Other tools ====
* [http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/ mkvtoolnix] - tool to multiplex FLAC streams inside the Matroska container
* [https://xiph.org/flac/documentation_tools_metaflac.html metaflac] - for general metadata (including Vorbis comments) maintenance, also to calculate [[ReplayGain]] values for FLAC files lacking such

...and many more; see the [http://flac.sourceforge.net/links.html#software FLAC software section] and [http://flac.sourceforge.net/download.html#extras download section] for a more comprehensive list.

== Frequently asked questions ==
''Question:'' Does the compression level affect decompression speed?

''Short Answer'': No.

''Long Answer'': In truth, the compression level does affect the decompression speed, but the difference between the various compress levels can barely be measured and is too small to be noticed, even on low-end machines.

''Question:'' What is the best compression level for encoding my music?

''Short Answer'': The default setting, 5.

''Long Answer'': Encoding at the default setting will give the best balance between compression and encoding speed. Encoding at 8 can more than quadruple the encoding time, while having an insignificant effect on compression.

== See also ==
* [[Lossless]]
* [[Lossless comparison]]
* Flac 1.3.0 discussion [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=101082 here]

== Externals links ==
* [http://xiph.org/flac/ FLAC website]
* [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Download_page#Encoders.2C_Decoders.2C_Etc. FLAC download]
* [http://xiph.org/flac/format.html Detailed description of the FLAC format]
* [http://xiph.org/flac/documentation.html FLAC documentation]
* [http://xiph.org/flac/faq.html FLAC FAQ]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20091108104748/http://people.ucsc.edu/~rswilson/flactest Omion's FLAC "File Size vs. Decoding Speed" test]- a very thorough test on [[Free Lossless Audio Codec#Frequently Asked Questions|the influence of the chosen encoding level on the decoding speed of FLAC]]; the only one so far to have covered FLAC's --super-secret-totally-impractical-compression-level to this extent as well.

[[Category:Lossless]]
[[Category:Encoder/Decoder]]

Free Lossless Audio Codec

2014-04-11T20:54:36Z

80.42.199.167: /* Taggers */ Taggers edits

{{Codec Infobox
| name = FLAC
| logo = [[Image:FLAC logo.gif]]
| type = lossless
| purpose = Popular open source patent free lossless compression scheme.
| maintainer = Josh Coalson, Xiph Community
| recommended_encoder = FLAC encoder
| recommended_text = FLAC v1.3.0 (28-05-2013)
| website = http://xiph.org/flac/
}}
'''Free Lossless Audio Codec''' ('''FLAC''') is a codec for lossless audio compression.
Grossly oversimplified, FLAC is similar to [[MP3]], but [[lossless]], meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. This is similar to how Zip works, except with FLAC you will get much better compression because it is designed specifically for audio, and you can play back compressed FLAC files in your favorite player (or your car or home stereo, if supported) just like you would an MP3 file.

== General aspects of the format ==
FLAC is freely available and supported on most operating systems, including Windows, UNIX (Linux, *BSD, Solaris, OS X, IRIX), BeOS, OS/2, and Amiga. There are build systems for autotools, MSVC, Watcom C, and Project Builder.

The FLAC project consists of:
* the stream format
* reference encoders and decoders in library form
* flac, a command-line program to encode and decode FLAC files
* metaflac, a command-line metadata editor for FLAC files
* input plugins for various music players

When it's said that FLAC is ''free'', it means more than just that it is available at no cost. It means that the specification of the format is fully open to the public to be used for any purpose, although the FLAC project reserves the right to set the FLAC specification and certify compliance. It also means that neither the FLAC format nor any of the implemented encoding/decoding methods are covered by any known patent. And it means that all the source code is available under open-source licenses. It is the first truly open and free lossless audio format.

== Features ==
* '''Lossless:''' The encoding of audio (PCM) data incurs no loss of information, and the decoded audio is bit-for-bit identical to what went into the encoder. Each frame contains a 16-bit CRC of the frame data for detecting transmission errors. The integrity of the audio data is further insured by storing an MD5 signature of the original unencoded audio data in the file header, which can be compared against later during decoding or testing.
* '''Fast:''' FLAC is asymmetric in favor of decode speed. Decoding requires only integer arithmetic, and is much less compute-intensive than for most perceptual codecs. Real-time decode performance is easily achievable on even modest hardware.
* '''Hardware support:''' Because of FLAC's free reference implementation, low decoding complexity and popularity, FLAC has relatively widespread hardware support compared to other lossless formats.
* '''Streamable:''' Each FLAC frame contains enough data to decode that frame. FLAC does not even rely on previous or following frames. FLAC uses sync codes and CRCs (similar to MPEG and other formats), which, along with framing, allow decoders to pick up in the middle of a stream with a minimum of delay.
* '''Seekable:''' FLAC supports fast sample-accurate seeking. Not only is this useful for playback, it makes FLAC files suitable for use in editing applications.
* '''Flexible metadata:''' New metadata blocks can be defined and implemented in future versions of FLAC without breaking older streams or decoders. Currently there are metadata types for tags, cue sheets, and seek tables. Applications can write their own APPLICATION metadata once they register an ID.
* '''Suitable for archiving:''' FLAC is an open format, and there is no generation loss if you need to convert your data to another format in the future. In addition to the frame CRCs and MD5 signature, flac has a verify option that decodes the encoded stream in parallel with the encoding process and compares the result to the original, aborting with an error if there is a mismatch.
* '''Convenient CD archiving:''' FLAC has a ''cue sheet'' metadata block for storing a CD table of contents and all track and index points. For instance, you can rip a CD to a single file, then import the CD's extracted cue sheet while encoding to yield a single file representation of the entire CD. If your original CD is damaged, the cue sheet can be exported later in order to burn an exact copy.
* '''Error resistant:''' Because of FLAC's framing, stream errors limit the damage to the frame in which the error occurred, typically a small fraction of a second worth of data. Contrast this with some other lossless codecs, in which a single error destroys the remainder of the stream.

== Pros ==
* Portable to many systems
* Open source and freely licensed
* Hardware support (PhatBox, Kenwood MusicKeg, Rio Karma, etc. See below)
* Streaming support
* Extremely fast decoding
* Supports multichannel and high resolution streams
* Supports [[ReplayGain]]
* Supports cue-sheet (with some limitations)
* Gaining wide use as successor to [[Shorten]]

== Cons ==
* Compresses less efficiently than other popular modern compressors ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[OptimFROG]])
* Higher compression modes slow, for little gain over the default setting.

== Hardware and software that support FLAC ==
For a more comprehensive list see the [http://xiph.org/flac/links.html FLAC links page].

=== Hardware ===
==== Car stereo ====
* Kenwood [http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entertainment/In-Dash_CD_Receivers/1-DIN_CD_Receiver/KMM-100U KMM-100U] & KMM-357SD (euro)
* Soundstream [http://soundstream.com/store/car-video/source-units.html Source Units]

==== Home stereo ====
* Olive's [http://www.olive.us/ Symphony] wireless digital music center
* [http://www.numark.com/ Numark]'s DJ equipment (HDX and CDX turntables, HDMIX mixer)
* [http://www.sonos.com/ Sonos Digital Music System]
* Slim Devices' [http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_squeezebox.html Squeezebox] networked audio players

==== Portable ====
* [[Apple iPod]] with [[Rockbox]] firmware
* [[iAudio M3]], M5 and X5
* [[iRiver]] iHP-120/iHP-140 with [[Rockbox]] firmware
* [[Iwod G10]]
* [[Rio Karma]]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SanDisk_Sansa SanDisk Sansa]
* TrekStor's [http://www.trekstor.de/en/products/detail_mp3.php?pid=66 Vibez]
* Devices running Android 3.1+

=== Software ===
==== Players ====

'''Windows'''
* [[foobar2000]]
* [[MediaMonkey]]
* [[Winamp]]
*[http://mplayerwin.sourceforge.net/ Mplayer] Console player
* [http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd-ultra/features_en_US.html?&r=1 PowerDVD]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]
* [http://www.un4seen.com/ XMplay]

'''Mac'''
* [http://cogx.org/ Cog]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]

'''Linux'''
* [http://www.clementine-player.org/ Clementine]
* [http://www.mplayerhq.hu/ MPlayer]
* [http://www.mythtv.org/ MythTV]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]
* [[XMMS]]

==== Frontends (Windows) ====
* FLAC frontend - [http://sourceforge.net/projects/flacfrontend/ download] / [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Download_page discussion] (ktf)
* Custom [http://members.home.nl/w.speek/flac.htm Windows Frontend] (by Speek)

==== Frontends (Mac) ====
* [http://www.sbooth.org/Max/ Max]

==== Converters ====
* [http://www.dbpoweramp.com/ dBpowerAMP] Music Converter / Audio Player / CD Writer
* [http://www.mediamonkey.com/ MediaMonkey] Music Manager / Audio Player / CD Writer

==== Editors ====
*[http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Audacity]
* [[Adobe Audition]]
* [http://www.goldwave.com/ GoldWave]

==== CD writers/rippers ====
* [http://www.nero.com/eng/ Nero]
* [http://arson.sourceforge.net/ Arson]
* [http://www.burrrn.net Burrrn] Audio CD burner
* [[Exact Audio Copy]] CD Ripper
* [http://cdexos.sourceforge.net CDex] CD ripper
* [http://www.cdwave.com/ CD Wave]
* [http://cdburnerxp.se/ CDburner XP] CD writer
* [http://www.mediamonkey.com/ MediaMonkey] - CD ripper/writer

==== Taggers ====
* [http://www.mp3tag.de/en/index.html Mp3tag] - Universal Tag Editor
* [http://www.jtclipper.eu/thegodfather/ The GodFather] - Tagger / Music manager
* [http://sbooth.org/Tag/ Tag] - for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)

* [http://www.synthetic-soul.co.uk/tag/ Case's Tag] - Command line tagger
* [https://xiph.org/flac/documentation_tools_metaflac.html metaflac] - for general metadata (including Vorbis comments) maintenance
* [[MediaMonkey]] - Tagger / Music manager (Including multiple and linked album art support)

==== Other tools ====
* [http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/ mkvtoolnix] - tool to multiplex FLAC streams inside the Matroska container
* [https://xiph.org/flac/documentation_tools_metaflac.html metaflac] - for general metadata (including Vorbis comments) maintenance, also to calculate [[ReplayGain]] values for FLAC files lacking such

...and many more; see the [http://flac.sourceforge.net/links.html#software FLAC software section] and [http://flac.sourceforge.net/download.html#extras download section] for a more comprehensive list.

== Frequently asked questions ==
''Question:'' Does the compression level affect decompression speed?

''Short Answer'': No.

''Long Answer'': In truth, the compression level does affect the decompression speed, but the difference between the various compress levels can barely be measured and is too small to be noticed, even on low-end machines.

''Question:'' What is the best compression level for encoding my music?

''Short Answer'': The default setting, 5.

''Long Answer'': Encoding at the default setting will give the best balance between compression and encoding speed. Encoding at 8 can more than quadruple the encoding time, while having an insignificant effect on compression.

== See also ==
* [[Lossless]]
* [[Lossless comparison]]
* Flac 1.3.0 discussion [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=101082 here]

== Externals links ==
* [http://xiph.org/flac/ FLAC website]
* [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Download_page#Encoders.2C_Decoders.2C_Etc. FLAC download]
* [http://xiph.org/flac/format.html Detailed description of the FLAC format]
* [http://xiph.org/flac/documentation.html FLAC documentation]
* [http://xiph.org/flac/faq.html FLAC FAQ]
* <s> Omion's FLAC "File Size vs. Decoding Speed" test</s> - a very thorough test on [[Free Lossless Audio Codec#Frequently Asked Questions|the influence of the chosen encoding level on the decoding speed of FLAC]]; the only one so far to have covered FLAC's --super-secret-totally-impractical-compression-level to this extent as well.

[[Category:Lossless]]
[[Category:Encoder/Decoder]]

Free Lossless Audio Codec

2014-04-11T20:46:50Z

80.42.199.167: correction on audio compression

{{Codec Infobox
| name = FLAC
| logo = [[Image:FLAC logo.gif]]
| type = lossless
| purpose = Popular open source patent free lossless compression scheme.
| maintainer = Josh Coalson, Xiph Community
| recommended_encoder = FLAC encoder
| recommended_text = FLAC v1.3.0 (28-05-2013)
| website = http://xiph.org/flac/
}}
'''Free Lossless Audio Codec''' ('''FLAC''') is a codec for lossless audio compression.
Grossly oversimplified, FLAC is similar to [[MP3]], but [[lossless]], meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. This is similar to how Zip works, except with FLAC you will get much better compression because it is designed specifically for audio, and you can play back compressed FLAC files in your favorite player (or your car or home stereo, if supported) just like you would an MP3 file.

== General aspects of the format ==
FLAC is freely available and supported on most operating systems, including Windows, UNIX (Linux, *BSD, Solaris, OS X, IRIX), BeOS, OS/2, and Amiga. There are build systems for autotools, MSVC, Watcom C, and Project Builder.

The FLAC project consists of:
* the stream format
* reference encoders and decoders in library form
* flac, a command-line program to encode and decode FLAC files
* metaflac, a command-line metadata editor for FLAC files
* input plugins for various music players

When it's said that FLAC is ''free'', it means more than just that it is available at no cost. It means that the specification of the format is fully open to the public to be used for any purpose, although the FLAC project reserves the right to set the FLAC specification and certify compliance. It also means that neither the FLAC format nor any of the implemented encoding/decoding methods are covered by any known patent. And it means that all the source code is available under open-source licenses. It is the first truly open and free lossless audio format.

== Features ==
* '''Lossless:''' The encoding of audio (PCM) data incurs no loss of information, and the decoded audio is bit-for-bit identical to what went into the encoder. Each frame contains a 16-bit CRC of the frame data for detecting transmission errors. The integrity of the audio data is further insured by storing an MD5 signature of the original unencoded audio data in the file header, which can be compared against later during decoding or testing.
* '''Fast:''' FLAC is asymmetric in favor of decode speed. Decoding requires only integer arithmetic, and is much less compute-intensive than for most perceptual codecs. Real-time decode performance is easily achievable on even modest hardware.
* '''Hardware support:''' Because of FLAC's free reference implementation, low decoding complexity and popularity, FLAC has relatively widespread hardware support compared to other lossless formats.
* '''Streamable:''' Each FLAC frame contains enough data to decode that frame. FLAC does not even rely on previous or following frames. FLAC uses sync codes and CRCs (similar to MPEG and other formats), which, along with framing, allow decoders to pick up in the middle of a stream with a minimum of delay.
* '''Seekable:''' FLAC supports fast sample-accurate seeking. Not only is this useful for playback, it makes FLAC files suitable for use in editing applications.
* '''Flexible metadata:''' New metadata blocks can be defined and implemented in future versions of FLAC without breaking older streams or decoders. Currently there are metadata types for tags, cue sheets, and seek tables. Applications can write their own APPLICATION metadata once they register an ID.
* '''Suitable for archiving:''' FLAC is an open format, and there is no generation loss if you need to convert your data to another format in the future. In addition to the frame CRCs and MD5 signature, flac has a verify option that decodes the encoded stream in parallel with the encoding process and compares the result to the original, aborting with an error if there is a mismatch.
* '''Convenient CD archiving:''' FLAC has a ''cue sheet'' metadata block for storing a CD table of contents and all track and index points. For instance, you can rip a CD to a single file, then import the CD's extracted cue sheet while encoding to yield a single file representation of the entire CD. If your original CD is damaged, the cue sheet can be exported later in order to burn an exact copy.
* '''Error resistant:''' Because of FLAC's framing, stream errors limit the damage to the frame in which the error occurred, typically a small fraction of a second worth of data. Contrast this with some other lossless codecs, in which a single error destroys the remainder of the stream.

== Pros ==
* Portable to many systems
* Open source and freely licensed
* Hardware support (PhatBox, Kenwood MusicKeg, Rio Karma, etc. See below)
* Streaming support
* Extremely fast decoding
* Supports multichannel and high resolution streams
* Supports [[ReplayGain]]
* Supports cue-sheet (with some limitations)
* Gaining wide use as successor to [[Shorten]]

== Cons ==
* Compresses less efficiently than other popular modern compressors ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[OptimFROG]])
* Higher compression modes slow, for little gain over the default setting.

== Hardware and software that support FLAC ==
For a more comprehensive list see the [http://xiph.org/flac/links.html FLAC links page].

=== Hardware ===
==== Car stereo ====
* Kenwood [http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entertainment/In-Dash_CD_Receivers/1-DIN_CD_Receiver/KMM-100U KMM-100U] & KMM-357SD (euro)
* Soundstream [http://soundstream.com/store/car-video/source-units.html Source Units]

==== Home stereo ====
* Olive's [http://www.olive.us/ Symphony] wireless digital music center
* [http://www.numark.com/ Numark]'s DJ equipment (HDX and CDX turntables, HDMIX mixer)
* [http://www.sonos.com/ Sonos Digital Music System]
* Slim Devices' [http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_squeezebox.html Squeezebox] networked audio players

==== Portable ====
* [[Apple iPod]] with [[Rockbox]] firmware
* [[iAudio M3]], M5 and X5
* [[iRiver]] iHP-120/iHP-140 with [[Rockbox]] firmware
* [[Iwod G10]]
* [[Rio Karma]]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SanDisk_Sansa SanDisk Sansa]
* TrekStor's [http://www.trekstor.de/en/products/detail_mp3.php?pid=66 Vibez]
* Devices running Android 3.1+

=== Software ===
==== Players ====

'''Windows'''
* [[foobar2000]]
* [[MediaMonkey]]
* [[Winamp]]
*[http://mplayerwin.sourceforge.net/ Mplayer] Console player
* [http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd-ultra/features_en_US.html?&r=1 PowerDVD]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]
* [http://www.un4seen.com/ XMplay]

'''Mac'''
* [http://cogx.org/ Cog]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]

'''Linux'''
* [http://www.clementine-player.org/ Clementine]
* [http://www.mplayerhq.hu/ MPlayer]
* [http://www.mythtv.org/ MythTV]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]
* [[XMMS]]

==== Frontends (Windows) ====
* FLAC frontend - [http://sourceforge.net/projects/flacfrontend/ download] / [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Download_page discussion] (ktf)
* Custom [http://members.home.nl/w.speek/flac.htm Windows Frontend] (by Speek)

==== Frontends (Mac) ====
* [http://www.sbooth.org/Max/ Max]

==== Converters ====
* [http://www.dbpoweramp.com/ dBpowerAMP] Music Converter / Audio Player / CD Writer
* [http://www.mediamonkey.com/ MediaMonkey] Music Manager / Audio Player / CD Writer

==== Editors ====
*[http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Audacity]
* [[Adobe Audition]]
* [http://www.goldwave.com/ GoldWave]

==== CD writers/rippers ====
* [http://www.nero.com/eng/ Nero]
* [http://arson.sourceforge.net/ Arson]
* [http://www.burrrn.net Burrrn] Audio CD burner
* [[Exact Audio Copy]] CD Ripper
* [http://cdexos.sourceforge.net CDex] CD ripper
* [http://www.cdwave.com/ CD Wave]
* [http://cdburnerxp.se/ CDburner XP] CD writer
* [http://www.mediamonkey.com/ MediaMonkey] - CD ripper/writer

==== Taggers ====
* [http://www.synthetic-soul.co.uk/tag/ Case's Tag] command line tagger
* [http://www.jtclipper.eu/thegodfather/ The GodFather] Tagger / Music manager
* [http://www.mp3tag.de/en/index.html Mp3tag] Universal Tag Editor
* [http://sbooth.org/Tag/ Tag] — for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
* [https://xiph.org/flac/documentation_tools_metaflac.html metaflac] - for general metadata (including Vorbis comments) maintenance
* [http://www.mediamonkey.com MediaMonkey] - [[MediaMonkey]] Tagger / Music manager (Including Multiple and Linked Album Art support)

==== Other tools ====
* [http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/ mkvtoolnix] - tool to multiplex FLAC streams inside the Matroska container
* [https://xiph.org/flac/documentation_tools_metaflac.html metaflac] - for general metadata (including Vorbis comments) maintenance, also to calculate [[ReplayGain]] values for FLAC files lacking such

...and many more; see the [http://flac.sourceforge.net/links.html#software FLAC software section] and [http://flac.sourceforge.net/download.html#extras download section] for a more comprehensive list.

== Frequently asked questions ==
''Question:'' Does the compression level affect decompression speed?

''Short Answer'': No.

''Long Answer'': In truth, the compression level does affect the decompression speed, but the difference between the various compress levels can barely be measured and is too small to be noticed, even on low-end machines.

''Question:'' What is the best compression level for encoding my music?

''Short Answer'': The default setting, 5.

''Long Answer'': Encoding at the default setting will give the best balance between compression and encoding speed. Encoding at 8 can more than quadruple the encoding time, while having an insignificant effect on compression.

== See also ==
* [[Lossless]]
* [[Lossless comparison]]
* Flac 1.3.0 discussion [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=101082 here]

== Externals links ==
* [http://xiph.org/flac/ FLAC website]
* [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Download_page#Encoders.2C_Decoders.2C_Etc. FLAC download]
* [http://xiph.org/flac/format.html Detailed description of the FLAC format]
* [http://xiph.org/flac/documentation.html FLAC documentation]
* [http://xiph.org/flac/faq.html FLAC FAQ]
* <s> Omion's FLAC "File Size vs. Decoding Speed" test</s> - a very thorough test on [[Free Lossless Audio Codec#Frequently Asked Questions|the influence of the chosen encoding level on the decoding speed of FLAC]]; the only one so far to have covered FLAC's --super-secret-totally-impractical-compression-level to this extent as well.

[[Category:Lossless]]
[[Category:Encoder/Decoder]]

Free Lossless Audio Codec

2014-04-11T20:34:46Z

80.42.199.167: metaflac link, & re-edit on Editors

{{Codec Infobox
| name = FLAC
| logo = [[Image:FLAC logo.gif]]
| type = lossless
| purpose = Popular open source patent free lossless compression scheme.
| maintainer = Josh Coalson, Xiph Community
| recommended_encoder = FLAC encoder
| recommended_text = FLAC v1.3.0 (28-05-2013)
| website = http://xiph.org/flac/
}}
'''Free Lossless Audio Codec''' ('''FLAC''') is a codec for lossless audiocompression.
Grossly oversimplified, FLAC is similar to [[MP3]], but [[lossless]], meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. This is similar to how Zip works, except with FLAC you will get much better compression because it is designed specifically for audio, and you can play back compressed FLAC files in your favorite player (or your car or home stereo, if supported) just like you would an MP3 file.

== General aspects of the format ==
FLAC is freely available and supported on most operating systems, including Windows, UNIX (Linux, *BSD, Solaris, OS X, IRIX), BeOS, OS/2, and Amiga. There are build systems for autotools, MSVC, Watcom C, and Project Builder.

The FLAC project consists of:
* the stream format
* reference encoders and decoders in library form
* flac, a command-line program to encode and decode FLAC files
* metaflac, a command-line metadata editor for FLAC files
* input plugins for various music players

When it's said that FLAC is ''free'', it means more than just that it is available at no cost. It means that the specification of the format is fully open to the public to be used for any purpose, although the FLAC project reserves the right to set the FLAC specification and certify compliance. It also means that neither the FLAC format nor any of the implemented encoding/decoding methods are covered by any known patent. And it means that all the source code is available under open-source licenses. It is the first truly open and free lossless audio format.

== Features ==
* '''Lossless:''' The encoding of audio (PCM) data incurs no loss of information, and the decoded audio is bit-for-bit identical to what went into the encoder. Each frame contains a 16-bit CRC of the frame data for detecting transmission errors. The integrity of the audio data is further insured by storing an MD5 signature of the original unencoded audio data in the file header, which can be compared against later during decoding or testing.
* '''Fast:''' FLAC is asymmetric in favor of decode speed. Decoding requires only integer arithmetic, and is much less compute-intensive than for most perceptual codecs. Real-time decode performance is easily achievable on even modest hardware.
* '''Hardware support:''' Because of FLAC's free reference implementation, low decoding complexity and popularity, FLAC has relatively widespread hardware support compared to other lossless formats.
* '''Streamable:''' Each FLAC frame contains enough data to decode that frame. FLAC does not even rely on previous or following frames. FLAC uses sync codes and CRCs (similar to MPEG and other formats), which, along with framing, allow decoders to pick up in the middle of a stream with a minimum of delay.
* '''Seekable:''' FLAC supports fast sample-accurate seeking. Not only is this useful for playback, it makes FLAC files suitable for use in editing applications.
* '''Flexible metadata:''' New metadata blocks can be defined and implemented in future versions of FLAC without breaking older streams or decoders. Currently there are metadata types for tags, cue sheets, and seek tables. Applications can write their own APPLICATION metadata once they register an ID.
* '''Suitable for archiving:''' FLAC is an open format, and there is no generation loss if you need to convert your data to another format in the future. In addition to the frame CRCs and MD5 signature, flac has a verify option that decodes the encoded stream in parallel with the encoding process and compares the result to the original, aborting with an error if there is a mismatch.
* '''Convenient CD archiving:''' FLAC has a ''cue sheet'' metadata block for storing a CD table of contents and all track and index points. For instance, you can rip a CD to a single file, then import the CD's extracted cue sheet while encoding to yield a single file representation of the entire CD. If your original CD is damaged, the cue sheet can be exported later in order to burn an exact copy.
* '''Error resistant:''' Because of FLAC's framing, stream errors limit the damage to the frame in which the error occurred, typically a small fraction of a second worth of data. Contrast this with some other lossless codecs, in which a single error destroys the remainder of the stream.

== Pros ==
* Portable to many systems
* Open source and freely licensed
* Hardware support (PhatBox, Kenwood MusicKeg, Rio Karma, etc. See below)
* Streaming support
* Extremely fast decoding
* Supports multichannel and high resolution streams
* Supports [[ReplayGain]]
* Supports cue-sheet (with some limitations)
* Gaining wide use as successor to [[Shorten]]

== Cons ==
* Compresses less efficiently than other popular modern compressors ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[OptimFROG]])
* Higher compression modes slow, for little gain over the default setting.

== Hardware and software that support FLAC ==
For a more comprehensive list see the [http://xiph.org/flac/links.html FLAC links page].

=== Hardware ===
==== Car stereo ====
* Kenwood [http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entertainment/In-Dash_CD_Receivers/1-DIN_CD_Receiver/KMM-100U KMM-100U] & KMM-357SD (euro)
* Soundstream [http://soundstream.com/store/car-video/source-units.html Source Units]

==== Home stereo ====
* Olive's [http://www.olive.us/ Symphony] wireless digital music center
* [http://www.numark.com/ Numark]'s DJ equipment (HDX and CDX turntables, HDMIX mixer)
* [http://www.sonos.com/ Sonos Digital Music System]
* Slim Devices' [http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_squeezebox.html Squeezebox] networked audio players

==== Portable ====
* [[Apple iPod]] with [[Rockbox]] firmware
* [[iAudio M3]], M5 and X5
* [[iRiver]] iHP-120/iHP-140 with [[Rockbox]] firmware
* [[Iwod G10]]
* [[Rio Karma]]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SanDisk_Sansa SanDisk Sansa]
* TrekStor's [http://www.trekstor.de/en/products/detail_mp3.php?pid=66 Vibez]
* Devices running Android 3.1+

=== Software ===
==== Players ====

'''Windows'''
* [[foobar2000]]
* [[MediaMonkey]]
* [[Winamp]]
*[http://mplayerwin.sourceforge.net/ Mplayer] Console player
* [http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd-ultra/features_en_US.html?&r=1 PowerDVD]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]
* [http://www.un4seen.com/ XMplay]

'''Mac'''
* [http://cogx.org/ Cog]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]

'''Linux'''
* [http://www.clementine-player.org/ Clementine]
* [http://www.mplayerhq.hu/ MPlayer]
* [http://www.mythtv.org/ MythTV]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]
* [[XMMS]]

==== Frontends (Windows) ====
* FLAC frontend - [http://sourceforge.net/projects/flacfrontend/ download] / [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Download_page discussion] (ktf)
* Custom [http://members.home.nl/w.speek/flac.htm Windows Frontend] (by Speek)

==== Frontends (Mac) ====
* [http://www.sbooth.org/Max/ Max]

==== Converters ====
* [http://www.dbpoweramp.com/ dBpowerAMP] Music Converter / Audio Player / CD Writer
* [http://www.mediamonkey.com/ MediaMonkey] Music Manager / Audio Player / CD Writer

==== Editors ====
*[http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Audacity]
* [[Adobe Audition]]
* [http://www.goldwave.com/ GoldWave]

==== CD writers/rippers ====
* [http://www.nero.com/eng/ Nero]
* [http://arson.sourceforge.net/ Arson]
* [http://www.burrrn.net Burrrn] Audio CD burner
* [[Exact Audio Copy]] CD Ripper
* [http://cdexos.sourceforge.net CDex] CD ripper
* [http://www.cdwave.com/ CD Wave]
* [http://cdburnerxp.se/ CDburner XP] CD writer
* [http://www.mediamonkey.com/ MediaMonkey] - CD ripper/writer

==== Taggers ====
* [http://www.synthetic-soul.co.uk/tag/ Case's Tag] command line tagger
* [http://www.jtclipper.eu/thegodfather/ The GodFather] Tagger / Music manager
* [http://www.mp3tag.de/en/index.html Mp3tag] Universal Tag Editor
* [http://sbooth.org/Tag/ Tag] — for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
* [https://xiph.org/flac/documentation_tools_metaflac.html metaflac] - for general metadata (including Vorbis comments) maintenance
* [http://www.mediamonkey.com MediaMonkey] - [[MediaMonkey]] Tagger / Music manager (Including Multiple and Linked Album Art support)

==== Other tools ====
* [http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/ mkvtoolnix] - tool to multiplex FLAC streams inside the Matroska container
* [https://xiph.org/flac/documentation_tools_metaflac.html metaflac] - for general metadata (including Vorbis comments) maintenance, also to calculate [[ReplayGain]] values for FLAC files lacking such

...and many more; see the [http://flac.sourceforge.net/links.html#software FLAC software section] and [http://flac.sourceforge.net/download.html#extras download section] for a more comprehensive list.

== Frequently asked questions ==
''Question:'' Does the compression level affect decompression speed?

''Short Answer'': No.

''Long Answer'': In truth, the compression level does affect the decompression speed, but the difference between the various compress levels can barely be measured and is too small to be noticed, even on low-end machines.

''Question:'' What is the best compression level for encoding my music?

''Short Answer'': The default setting, 5.

''Long Answer'': Encoding at the default setting will give the best balance between compression and encoding speed. Encoding at 8 can more than quadruple the encoding time, while having an insignificant effect on compression.

== See also ==
* [[Lossless]]
* [[Lossless comparison]]
* Flac 1.3.0 discussion [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=101082 here]

== Externals links ==
* [http://xiph.org/flac/ FLAC website]
* [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Download_page#Encoders.2C_Decoders.2C_Etc. FLAC download]
* [http://xiph.org/flac/format.html Detailed description of the FLAC format]
* [http://xiph.org/flac/documentation.html FLAC documentation]
* [http://xiph.org/flac/faq.html FLAC FAQ]
* <s> Omion's FLAC "File Size vs. Decoding Speed" test</s> - a very thorough test on [[Free Lossless Audio Codec#Frequently Asked Questions|the influence of the chosen encoding level on the decoding speed of FLAC]]; the only one so far to have covered FLAC's --super-secret-totally-impractical-compression-level to this extent as well.

[[Category:Lossless]]
[[Category:Encoder/Decoder]]

Free Lossless Audio Codec

2014-04-11T20:28:14Z

80.42.199.167: /* Players *) layout changes on player

{{Codec Infobox
| name = FLAC
| logo = [[Image:FLAC logo.gif]]
| type = lossless
| purpose = Popular open source patent free lossless compression scheme.
| maintainer = Josh Coalson, Xiph Community
| recommended_encoder = FLAC encoder
| recommended_text = FLAC v1.3.0 (28-05-2013)
| website = http://xiph.org/flac/
}}
'''Free Lossless Audio Codec''' ('''FLAC''') is a codec for lossless audiocompression.
Grossly oversimplified, FLAC is similar to [[MP3]], but [[lossless]], meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. This is similar to how Zip works, except with FLAC you will get much better compression because it is designed specifically for audio, and you can play back compressed FLAC files in your favorite player (or your car or home stereo, if supported) just like you would an MP3 file.

== General aspects of the format ==
FLAC is freely available and supported on most operating systems, including Windows, UNIX (Linux, *BSD, Solaris, OS X, IRIX), BeOS, OS/2, and Amiga. There are build systems for autotools, MSVC, Watcom C, and Project Builder.

The FLAC project consists of:
* the stream format
* reference encoders and decoders in library form
* flac, a command-line program to encode and decode FLAC files
* metaflac, a command-line metadata editor for FLAC files
* input plugins for various music players

When it's said that FLAC is ''free'', it means more than just that it is available at no cost. It means that the specification of the format is fully open to the public to be used for any purpose, although the FLAC project reserves the right to set the FLAC specification and certify compliance. It also means that neither the FLAC format nor any of the implemented encoding/decoding methods are covered by any known patent. And it means that all the source code is available under open-source licenses. It is the first truly open and free lossless audio format.

== Features ==
* '''Lossless:''' The encoding of audio (PCM) data incurs no loss of information, and the decoded audio is bit-for-bit identical to what went into the encoder. Each frame contains a 16-bit CRC of the frame data for detecting transmission errors. The integrity of the audio data is further insured by storing an MD5 signature of the original unencoded audio data in the file header, which can be compared against later during decoding or testing.
* '''Fast:''' FLAC is asymmetric in favor of decode speed. Decoding requires only integer arithmetic, and is much less compute-intensive than for most perceptual codecs. Real-time decode performance is easily achievable on even modest hardware.
* '''Hardware support:''' Because of FLAC's free reference implementation, low decoding complexity and popularity, FLAC has relatively widespread hardware support compared to other lossless formats.
* '''Streamable:''' Each FLAC frame contains enough data to decode that frame. FLAC does not even rely on previous or following frames. FLAC uses sync codes and CRCs (similar to MPEG and other formats), which, along with framing, allow decoders to pick up in the middle of a stream with a minimum of delay.
* '''Seekable:''' FLAC supports fast sample-accurate seeking. Not only is this useful for playback, it makes FLAC files suitable for use in editing applications.
* '''Flexible metadata:''' New metadata blocks can be defined and implemented in future versions of FLAC without breaking older streams or decoders. Currently there are metadata types for tags, cue sheets, and seek tables. Applications can write their own APPLICATION metadata once they register an ID.
* '''Suitable for archiving:''' FLAC is an open format, and there is no generation loss if you need to convert your data to another format in the future. In addition to the frame CRCs and MD5 signature, flac has a verify option that decodes the encoded stream in parallel with the encoding process and compares the result to the original, aborting with an error if there is a mismatch.
* '''Convenient CD archiving:''' FLAC has a ''cue sheet'' metadata block for storing a CD table of contents and all track and index points. For instance, you can rip a CD to a single file, then import the CD's extracted cue sheet while encoding to yield a single file representation of the entire CD. If your original CD is damaged, the cue sheet can be exported later in order to burn an exact copy.
* '''Error resistant:''' Because of FLAC's framing, stream errors limit the damage to the frame in which the error occurred, typically a small fraction of a second worth of data. Contrast this with some other lossless codecs, in which a single error destroys the remainder of the stream.

== Pros ==
* Portable to many systems
* Open source and freely licensed
* Hardware support (PhatBox, Kenwood MusicKeg, Rio Karma, etc. See below)
* Streaming support
* Extremely fast decoding
* Supports multichannel and high resolution streams
* Supports [[ReplayGain]]
* Supports cue-sheet (with some limitations)
* Gaining wide use as successor to [[Shorten]]

== Cons ==
* Compresses less efficiently than other popular modern compressors ([[Monkey's Audio]], [[OptimFROG]])
* Higher compression modes slow, for little gain over the default setting.

== Hardware and software that support FLAC ==
For a more comprehensive list see the [http://xiph.org/flac/links.html FLAC links page].

=== Hardware ===
==== Car stereo ====
* Kenwood [http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entertainment/In-Dash_CD_Receivers/1-DIN_CD_Receiver/KMM-100U KMM-100U] & KMM-357SD (euro)
* Soundstream [http://soundstream.com/store/car-video/source-units.html Source Units]

==== Home stereo ====
* Olive's [http://www.olive.us/ Symphony] wireless digital music center
* [http://www.numark.com/ Numark]'s DJ equipment (HDX and CDX turntables, HDMIX mixer)
* [http://www.sonos.com/ Sonos Digital Music System]
* Slim Devices' [http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_squeezebox.html Squeezebox] networked audio players

==== Portable ====
* [[Apple iPod]] with [[Rockbox]] firmware
* [[iAudio M3]], M5 and X5
* [[iRiver]] iHP-120/iHP-140 with [[Rockbox]] firmware
* [[Iwod G10]]
* [[Rio Karma]]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SanDisk_Sansa SanDisk Sansa]
* TrekStor's [http://www.trekstor.de/en/products/detail_mp3.php?pid=66 Vibez]
* Devices running Android 3.1+

=== Software ===
==== Players ====

'''Windows'''
* [[foobar2000]]
* [[MediaMonkey]]
* [[Winamp]]
*[http://mplayerwin.sourceforge.net/ Mplayer] Console player
* [http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd-ultra/features_en_US.html?&r=1 PowerDVD]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]
* [http://www.un4seen.com/ XMplay]

'''Mac'''
* [http://cogx.org/ Cog]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]

'''Linux'''
* [http://www.clementine-player.org/ Clementine]
* [http://www.mplayerhq.hu/ MPlayer]
* [http://www.mythtv.org/ MythTV]
* [http://www.videolan.org/ VLC]
* [[XMMS]]

==== Editor ====
*[http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Audacity]

==== Frontends (Windows) ====
* FLAC frontend - [http://sourceforge.net/projects/flacfrontend/ download] / [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Download_page discussion] (ktf)
* Custom [http://members.home.nl/w.speek/flac.htm Windows Frontend] (by Speek)

==== Frontends (Mac) ====
* [http://www.sbooth.org/Max/ Max]

==== Converters ====
* [http://www.dbpoweramp.com/ dBpowerAMP] Music Converter / Audio Player / CD Writer
* [http://www.mediamonkey.com/ MediaMonkey] Music Manager / Audio Player / CD Writer

==== Editors ====
* [[Adobe Audition]]
* [http://www.goldwave.com/ GoldWave]

==== CD writers/rippers ====
* [http://www.nero.com/eng/ Nero]
* [http://arson.sourceforge.net/ Arson]
* [http://www.burrrn.net Burrrn] Audio CD burner
* [[Exact Audio Copy]] CD Ripper
* [http://cdexos.sourceforge.net CDex] CD ripper
* [http://www.cdwave.com/ CD Wave]
* [http://cdburnerxp.se/ CDburner XP] CD writer
* [http://www.mediamonkey.com/ MediaMonkey] - CD ripper/writer

==== Taggers ====
* [http://www.synthetic-soul.co.uk/tag/ Case's Tag] command line tagger
* [http://www.jtclipper.eu/thegodfather/ The GodFather] Tagger / Music manager
* [http://www.mp3tag.de/en/index.html Mp3tag] Universal Tag Editor
* [http://sbooth.org/Tag/ Tag] — for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
* [http://flac.sourceforge.net/documentation.html#metaflac metaflac] - for general metadata (including Vorbis comments) maintenance
* [http://www.mediamonkey.com MediaMonkey] - [[MediaMonkey]] Tagger / Music manager (Including Multiple and Linked Album Art support)

==== Other tools ====
* [http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/ mkvtoolnix] - tool to multiplex FLAC streams inside the Matroska container
* [http://flac.sourceforge.net/documentation.html#metaflac metaflac] - for general metadata (including Vorbis comments) maintenance, also to calculate [[ReplayGain]] values for FLAC files lacking such

...and many more; see the [http://flac.sourceforge.net/links.html#software FLAC software section] and [http://flac.sourceforge.net/download.html#extras download section] for a more comprehensive list.

== Frequently asked questions ==
''Question:'' Does the compression level affect decompression speed?

''Short Answer'': No.

''Long Answer'': In truth, the compression level does affect the decompression speed, but the difference between the various compress levels can barely be measured and is too small to be noticed, even on low-end machines.

''Question:'' What is the best compression level for encoding my music?

''Short Answer'': The default setting, 5.

''Long Answer'': Encoding at the default setting will give the best balance between compression and encoding speed. Encoding at 8 can more than quadruple the encoding time, while having an insignificant effect on compression.

== See also ==
* [[Lossless]]
* [[Lossless comparison]]
* Flac 1.3.0 discussion [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=101082 here]

== Externals links ==
* [http://xiph.org/flac/ FLAC website]
* [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Download_page#Encoders.2C_Decoders.2C_Etc. FLAC download]
* [http://xiph.org/flac/format.html Detailed description of the FLAC format]
* [http://xiph.org/flac/documentation.html FLAC documentation]
* [http://xiph.org/flac/faq.html FLAC FAQ]
* <s> Omion's FLAC "File Size vs. Decoding Speed" test</s> - a very thorough test on [[Free Lossless Audio Codec#Frequently Asked Questions|the influence of the chosen encoding level on the decoding speed of FLAC]]; the only one so far to have covered FLAC's --super-secret-totally-impractical-compression-level to this extent as well.

[[Category:Lossless]]
[[Category:Encoder/Decoder]]

Foobar2000:Foobar2000

2014-04-11T12:52:25Z

80.42.199.167: stable version number updated

{{title|foobar2000}}

{{Software Infobox|
|name = foobar2000
|logo = [[Image:foobar2000 Logo.png|48px]]
|screenshot = [[Image:Foobar2000-1.0-default-ui.png|250px]]
|caption = Screenshot of foobar2000 v1.0 using the default user interface
|maintainer = Peter Pawlowski
|stable_release = 1.3.2
|preview_release = 1.3.1 beta 1
|operating_system = Windows
|use = Media Player
|license = Proprietary, BSD
|website = [http://www.foobar2000.org/ www.foobar2000.org]
}}

'''foobar2000''' is an advanced freeware audio player for the Windows platform. Some of the basic features include full unicode support, ReplayGain support and native support for several popular audio formats.

'''The latest stable version is:''' [http://www.foobar2000.org/download 1.3.2] (2014-04-11)

'''The latest preview version is:''' [http://www.foobar2000.org/download 1.3.1 beta 1] (2013-12-27)

== Platforms ==

foobar2000 has been written specifically for the Windows platform, and there are no plans to port it to any others. However, although not officially supported, it is known to run on [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=54933 Linux] and [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=77261 Mac OS X] through Wine and WineBottler, respectively.

== Features ==
* Powerful open component architecture allowing third-party developers to extend functionality of the player, including the ability to fully replace the user interface.
* Full Unicode support: File names, user interface, tagging, etc.
* [[ReplayGain]] support: Both playback and writing ReplayGain information to file tags.
* [[Gapless playback]].
* Advanced [[tagging]] capabilities - through built-in [[foobar2000:Properties|Properties dialog]] and various optional tagging-related components.
* Built-in [[foobar2000:Preferences:Media Library|Media Library]] functionality.
** Intuitive [[foobar2000:Query syntax|query syntax]] for searching the Media Library.
** [[foobar2000:Autoplaylist|Autoplaylist]] support: Generate dynamically updating playlists based on queries.
* [[foobar2000:Preferences:General:Keyboard Shortcuts|Customizable keyboard shortcuts]].
* Support for transcoding all supported audio formats using the [[Foobar2000:Converter|Converter component]] (requires external command-line encoder executables for different output formats).
* [[Secure_ripping|Secure]] [[foobar2000:Ripping CDs|CD ripping]].
* Streaming support.
* Efficient handling of large playlists.
* [[foobar2000:Components/Default_user_interface_%28foo_ui_std%29|User interface]] with simple configuration to create even complex layouts quickly and easily.
* Highly customizable display of track information using [[foobar2000:Titleformat_Introduction|title formatting scripts]].

==Supported audio formats==
Natively supported ("out-of-the-box"):
* [[MP1]], [[MP2]], [[MP3]], [[MP4]], [[Musepack]], [[AAC]], [[Ogg Vorbis]], [[FLAC]] / Ogg FLAC, [[Speex]], [[WavPack]], [[WAV]], [[AIFF]], [[AU|AU/SND]], [[CDDA]], [[WMA]], [[Matroska]], [[ALAC]], [[MMS]], [[RSTP]], [[Opus]].
Supported through optional components:
* [[TTA]], [[Monkey's Audio]], [[MOD]], [[SPC]], [[Shorten]], [[OptimFROG]], [[AC3]], [[DTS]], [[PSF]], [[NSF]], [[XID]], [[XA]], [[TAK]], [[AMR]], ''etc.''

In addition, foobar2000 can also play audio files within ZIP and RAR archives (typically compressed) directly, ''i.e.'' without requiring the user to extract the files first. More archive formats are supported ''via'' additional components: [http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_unpack_lha LHA/LZH], [http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_unpack_7z 7-Zip], [http://kode54.foobar2000.org/ JMA]

== Using foobar2000 ==

=== Important pages ===
* [http://www.foobar2000.org/FAQ foobar2000 FAQ]
* [[foobar2000:components|foobar2000 Components]]
* [[foobar2000:Encouraged Tag Standards|foobar2000 Encouraged Tag Standards]]
* [[foobar2000:FAQ|foobar2000 FAQ (unofficial)]]
* [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Category:Foobar2000_Guides foobar2000 Guides (category)]
* [http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Category:Foobar2000_Preferences foobar2000 Preferences (category)]

=== Specific guides ===

'''Preferences'''
* [[foobar2000:Preferences|Preferences dialog]]

'''Metadata'''
* [[foobar2000:Properties|Tag editing: the Properties dialog]]
* [[foobar2000:Query syntax|Query Syntax]]: details of Syntax for querying metadata.

'''Title formatting'''
* [[foobar2000:Title Formatting Introduction|Introduction to titleformat scripts]]
* [[foobar2000:Title Formatting Reference|Titleformat Reference]]: reference guide to all fields and functions
* [[foobar2000:Titleformat Examples|Titleformat Examples]]: user-submitted code for various purposes; submit your own!

'''Others'''
* [[foobar2000:File operations|File operations dialog]]: move, copy, rename, and delete files from within foobar2000
* [[foobar2000:Commandline Guide|Commandline usage]]

=== External Guides ===
* [http://www.audiohq.de/viewforum.php?id=27 German-language guides]
* [http://foobar2000.xrea.jp/ fb2k Wiki Page] for Japanese users.
* [http://winamp2foobar.blogspot.com Winamp To Foobar Guide] with information relevant for general users also.

=== Technical information ===
* [[foobar2000:ID3 Tag Mapping|ID3 Tag Mapping]]
* [[foobar2000:Metadata Compatibility|Metadata Compatibility]]: information about compatibility with metadata written by other applications

== Important Links ==
=== Official Site ===
* [http://www.foobar2000.org foobar2000.org: Homepage]
* [http://www.foobar2000.org/download foobar2000.org: Download]
* [http://www.foobar2000.org/components foobar2000.org: Components]

=== Community ===
* Official IRC Channel: #foobar2000 on [http://freenode.net/ freenode]
* [http://forums.foobar2000.org/ Official foobar2000 forum]
* [http://foobar-users.de/ German Support Forum]
* [http://foobar2000.pl/ Polish Support Forum]
* [http://www.fforum.ru/index.php?showforum=59 Russian-language forum]
* [http://www.foobar2000.ru/forum/ Another Russian-language forum]

=== Appearance ===
* [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=61333 Default UI .fth Thread] Fast way to clone another's DUI Configuration.
* [[foobar2000:Preferences:Columns UI/Appearance|Columns UI appearance customization guides]]
* [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=31027 Columns UI configurations]

[[Category:foobar2000]]
[[Category:Media Players|foobar2000]]
[[Category:CD Rippers]]
[[Category:Software]]
[[Category:Tag editors]]