Hydrogenaudio Knowledgebase - User contributions [en]

Free Lossless Audio Codec

2014-11-15T21:48:56Z

84.26.114.21: /* Car stereo */ added Citroen

{{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 ====
* JVC [http://mobile.jvc.com/product.jsp?pathId=139 KD-X "Digital Media Receivers" series] (almost all)
* Kenwood [http://www.kenwood.com/cs/ce/audiofile/index.php?model=KMM KMM series]
* Soundstream [http://soundstream.com/store/car-video/source-units.html Source Units]
* Tesla Model S
* Citroën DS5

==== 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+
* [[Pono|Pono Player]]

=== 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]]

Lossless comparison

2014-04-06T17:12:14Z

84.26.114.21: Removed LA from list

The '''lossless comparison page''' aims to gather information about lossless codecs available so users can make an informed decision as to what lossless codec to choose for their needs.

== Introduction ==
Given the enormous amount of [[lossless]] audio compressor choices available, it is a very difficult task to choose the one most suited for each person's needs. Some people only take into consideration compression performance when choosing a codec, but as the following table and article shows, there are several other features worth taking into consideration when making a choice.

For example, users wanting good multiplatform compatibility and robustness (e.g., people sharing live recordings) would favour [[WavPack]] or [[FLAC]]. Another user, looking for the very highest compression available, would go with [[OptimFROG]]. Someone wanting portable support would use [[FLAC]] or [[ALAC]], and so on. En fin, this is not a matter worth getting too worked up about. If you later find out the codec you chose isn't the best for your needs, you can just transcompress to another format, without risk of losing quality.

'''Note:''' for latest comparison of lossless compression, scroll down to the [[Lossless comparison#External links|Links section of this page]].

== Comparison Table ==


{| cellspacing="2" style="text-align:center; border:1px solid blue;"
|width="120px"|'''Features'''
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | FLAC
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | WavPack
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | TAK
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | ALAC
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | Monkey's
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | WMA
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | OptimFROG
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Encoding speed{{ref label|speed|A|A}}
| style="background: #00FF00" | very fast
| style="background: #00FF00" | very fast
| style="background: #00FF00" | very fast
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | fast
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | fast
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | fast
| style="background: #FF9900" | slow
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Decoding speed{{ref label|speed|A|A}}
| style="background: #00FF00" | very fast
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | fast
| style="background: #00FF00" | very fast
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | fast
| style="background: #FF9900" | slow
| style="background: #FFFFFF" | average
| style="background: #FF9900" | very slow
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Compression{{ref label|speed|A|A}}
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | 57.0%
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | 57.1%
| style="background: #00FF00" | 56.0%
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | 57.8%
| style="background: #00FF00" | 55.1%
| style="background: #FF9900" | 58.4%
| style="background: #00FF00" | 54.6%
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Flexibility{{ref label|flex|B|B}}
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #FF9900" | bad
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #FF9900" | bad
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
|-
|style="background: #FFFFFF" |  
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Error handling{{ref label|error|C|C}}
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Seeking
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Tagging
| style="background: #00FF00" | Vorbis tags
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | ID3/APEv2
| style="background: #00FF00" | APEv2
| style="background: #00FF00" | iTunes
| style="background: #00FF00" | APEv2
| style="background: #00FF00" | ASF
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | ID3/APEv2
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Hardware support
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #FF9900" | limited
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | good
| style="background: #FF9900" | limited
| style="background: #FF9900" | limited
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Software support
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | good
| style="background: #FFFFFF" | average
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | good
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | good
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | good
| style="background: #FFFFFF" | average
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Hybrid/lossy
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | LossyWAV
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | LossyWAV
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | LossyWAV
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | ReplayGain
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | propriet.
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | RIFF chunks
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FFFFFF" | ?
| style="background: #FFFFFF" | ?
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Streaming
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Pipe support
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Open source
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Multichannel
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | High resolution
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | OS support
| style="background: #00FF00" | All
| style="background: #00FF00" | All
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | Win/Linux Wine
| style="background: #00FF00" | All
| style="background: #00FF00" | All
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | Win/Mac
| style="background: #00FF00" | Win/Mac/Linux
|}

{|
|-
|{{note label|speed|A|A}} The Compression ratio is calculated with the division of compressed size by uncompressed size * 100. So, lower is better. Encoding speed, Decoding speed and Compression ratio are based on each encoder's default settings and are taken from the most recent lossless codec comparison mentioned at the [[Lossless_comparison#Other_lossless_compressions_comparisons|links section of this page]]. Encoding speed is very fast if > 150x, fast if >75x, average if >40x, slow if >20x, very slow if <20x. Decoding speed is similar but thresholds are doubled, i.e., very fast if >300x, fast if >150x etc. Thresholds for compression are at 56% and 58%
|-
|{{note label|flex|B|B}} Flexibility refers to the amount of encoding choices offered to the users (Fast/low compression, Slow/high compression and everything inbetween)
|-
|{{note label|error|C|C}} Error handling means that a codec can detect a corruption in a file and warn the user about it, but still decode most of the file, only leaving a small gap of silence where the error was detected. Corruption in this sense means bits that are flipped, not removed
|}

== Codecs ==

These are the most popular lossless codecs, in alphabetical order:

=== Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) ===
http://www.apple.com/itunes/import.html

[[ALAC]] is a codec developed by Apple for usage in [[Apple iPod|iPod]] and AirPort Express.

'''ALAC pros'''
* Fast encoding
* Fast decoding
* [[Open source]] (encoding and decoding via FFmpeg and [[CueTools|CUETools]], decoding only via [http://craz.net/programs/itunes/alac.html a standalone decoder])
* Hardware support ([[Apple iPod|iPod]], AirPort Express)
* Software support (iTunes, Quicktime)
* Streaming support
* Tagging support (QT tags)
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* Used by a few online stores

''' ALAC cons '''
* Limited software support
* No error detection/robustness
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* Not very efficient

''' ALAC Other features '''
* Fits in the [[MP4]] container

=== Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) ===
https://xiph.org/flac/

[[FLAC]] is a lossless codec developed by Josh Coalson. It's part of the Xiph multimedia portfolio, along with [[Ogg]], [[Vorbis]], [[Speex]] and [[Theora]].

''' FLAC pros '''
* [[Open source]]
* Very fast decoding
* Very fast encoding
* Very good hardware support (Android, Marantz, Sonos, [http://xiph.org/flac/links.html many others])
* Very good software support
* Error robustness
* Streaming support
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* Tagging support (FLAC tags)
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* Pipe support
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible
* Used by a few [http://xiph.org/flac/links.html#music online stores]

''' FLAC cons '''
* No hybrid/lossy mode

''' FLAC Other features '''
* Supports embedded CUE sheets (with [http://flac.sourceforge.net/faq.html#general__no_cuesheet_tags limitations])
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking as standard
* Fits the [[Ogg]] and [[Matroska]] containers

'''''It's important to mention that the LA foobar plugin is buggy and doesn't produce lossless streams!'''''

=== Monkey's Audio (APE) ===
http://www.monkeysaudio.com/

[[Monkey's Audio]] is a very efficient lossless compressor developed by Matt Ashland.

''' APE pros '''
* High compression
* Fast encoding
* Good software support
* Simple and user friendly. Official GUI provided.
* Java version (multiplatform)
* Tagging support ([[ID3v1]], [[APE tags]])
* [[High resolution]] audio support
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks (only in the GUI encoder)
* Pipe support (only in a [http://www.etree.org/shnutils/shntool/ special] version)

''' APE cons '''
* Problematic license (source provided, no modification or redistribution rights)
* Slow decoding
* No [[multichannel]] support
* No error robustness
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* Limited hardware support (Rockbox, some Cowon players); poor battery life due to complicated decoding (see [http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/SoundCodecMonkeysAudio MP3 player benchmarks])
* Higher compression levels are extremely CPU intensive
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

''' APE Other features '''
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking
* Supports APL image link files (similar to CUE sheets)

=== OptimFROG (OFR) ===
http://www.losslessaudio.org/

[[OptimFROG]] is a lossless format developed by Florin Ghido to become the champion in audio compression.

''' OFR pros '''
* Very high compression
* Good software support
* Error robustness
* Streaming support
* Supports [[high resolution]]s
* Hybrid/lossy mode
* Tagging support ([[ID3]], [[APE tags]])
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible

''' OFR cons '''
* Closed source
* No [[multichannel]] audio support
* No hardware support
* Very slow decoding
* Slow encoding
* No updates since 2011 (last non-Windows release in 2006)
* More than one tagging method allowed (ambiguity possible)

''' OFR Other features '''
* Supports 32bit float streams
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking

=== Tom's verlustfreier Audiokompressor (TAK) ===
http://www.thbeck.de/Tak/Tak.html

[[TAK]] is a lossless codec developed by TBeck.

''' TAK pros '''
* Very fast decoding
* Very fast encoding
* Very high efficiency
* Error robust
* Supports multichannel audio and high resolutions
* Tagging support
* ReplayGain compatible
* Supports RIFF chunks
* Pipe support
* Streamable

''' TAK cons '''
* Closed source
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* No hardware support
* Average software support
* Doesn't support Unicode (yet)

''' TAK Other features '''
* Optional MD5 checksum

=== WavPack (WV) ===
http://www.wavpack.com/

[[WavPack]] is a fast and featureful lossless codec developed by David Bryant.

''' WV pros '''
* [[Open source]]
* Fast decoding
* Very fast encoding
* Good efficiency
* Error robustness
* Streaming support
* Hardware support ([http://www.rockbox.org/ RockBox])
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* Hybrid/lossy mode
* Tagging support ([[ID3v1]], [[APE tags]])
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* Ability to create self extracting files for Win32 platform
* Pipe support
* Good software support
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible

''' WV cons '''
* Limited hardware player support
* More than one tagging method allowed (ambiguity possible)

''' WV Other features '''
* Supports 32bit float streams
* Supports embedded CUE sheets
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking
* Can encode in both symmetrical and asymmetrical modes.
* Fits the [[Matroska]] container

=== Windows Media Audio Lossless (WMAL) ===
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/codecs/audio.aspx

WMA Lossless is the lossless codec developed by Microsoft to be featured in their Windows Media codec portfolio.

''' WMAL pros '''
* Streaming support
* Very good software support
* Hardware support (Microsoft Zune, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabeat Gigabeat V and S line from Toshiba])
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s.
* Tagging support (proprietary)
* Pipe support

''' WMAL cons '''
* Rather low efficiency
* Closed source
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* Doesn't support [[RIFF]] chunks
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

''' WMAL Other features '''
* Fits the [[ASF]] container

=== Other Formats ===
Aside from the formats mentioned above, there are in fact quite a lot of other lossless formats. To keep the table and list brief and readable, a few formats have not been mentioned.

====LA====
LA features an extremely high compression (on par with OptimFrog highest modes, but a bit faster), but it hasn't been updated for more than 10 years. Furthermore, backward compatibility is not guaranteed, so using it for archiving might pose a few problems. It isn't able to cope with file corruption either, software support is very limited and isn't open source.

====MPEG-4 ALS====
MPEG-4 ALS is the successor to LPAC, which it was based on. It has been as a ISO standard and there is a reference encoder/decoder, but like TTA, it does not have features that make it stand out from other codecs, nor backing by a large organisation, so it hasn't much software and no hardware support.

====MPEG-4 SLS====
MPEG-4 SLS is a special codec, having a AAC core track and a 'correction file'. Also known as HD-AAC, SLS stands for Scalable to Lossless. However, there is to date still no affordable software to play, encode or decode (the lossless part of) SLS files.

====Shorten====
Shorten was one of the first widely-used lossless formats, and it still occasionally found on the internet, especially in archives, for example etree.org. It is quite fast in both encoding and decoding, but doesn't compress very much. Furthermore, seeking has a troubled past as well as tagging. It is considered obsolete.

====Real Lossless====
Part of the Real codec suite, Real Lossless too hasn't any very special features that make it stand out. Just like WMA Lossless and Apple Lossless, it was created to fit in a codec suite, but unlike WMA Lossless and Apple Lossless, there is no hardware support and software support is limited. Compression is on par with most other codecs, but it is rather slow to encode.

====TTA====
TTA is a lossless codec which has been developed by a team of russian programmers. While it's compression and speed is on par with WavPack and FLAC, there are no features that make it stand out from other codecs, which is probably the reason for it being largely ignored these days.

====Oddball formats====
There are a few archaic formats of which encoders and decoders are hard to get by. Most of those would have disappeared by now, but some of them are being preserved for posterity at [[User:Rjamorim|rjamorim]]'s

* Advanced Digital Audio (ADA)
* Bonk
* Marian's a-Pac
* AudioZip
* Dakx WAV
* Entis Lab MIO
* LiteWave
* LPAC
* Pegasus SPS
* RK Audio (RKAU)
* Ogg Squish
* Sonarc
* VocPack
* WavArc
* WaveZip/MUSICompress

== See also ==
* [[Lossless]]

== External links ==
''' Other lossless compressions comparisons '''
''Sorted based on last '''update''' date.''

* [http://www.icer.nl/losslesstest/ Martijn van Beurden's comparison] - tries to compare all codecs and settings with a balanced pool of music (last updated 2013-08-10)
* [http://synthetic-soul.co.uk/comparison/lossless/ Synthetic Soul's comparison] (last update 2007-07-28)
* <s>Johan De Bock's speed oriented comparison</s> - best choices speedwise are indicated in green, mostly electronic music (last updated 2006-07-22)
* <s>Hans Heijden's</s> -- used as reference to build the table (last updated 2006-07-07)
* [http://synthetic-soul.co.uk/comparison/josef/ Josef Pohm's comparison, hosted by Synthetic Soul] (last update 2006-05-29)
* [http://www.bobulous.org.uk/misc/lossless_audio_2006.html Bobulous' lossless audio comparison] — a look at six lossless formats in terms of speed and file size (last updated 2006-05-22)
* <s>Jhan De Bock's size oriented comparison</s> - aimed only at the maximum compression setting for each codec (based on a somewhat limited set of samples, however) (last updated 2006-05-19)
* <s>Gruboolez'</s> -- comparing only classical music (last updated 2005-02-27)
* [http://members.home.nl/w.speek/comparison.htm Speek's] (last updated 2005-02-07)

''' More on lossless compressions '''
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20080731103800/http://www.losslessaudioblog.com/ The Lossless Audio Blog], retrieved from archive.org - by windmiller, is a reliable and complete source of news about lossless compression.
* Go to the [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=33226 Hydrogenaudio thread] to discuss this article.

[[Category:Guides]]

Lossless comparison

2014-04-06T13:24:14Z

84.26.114.21: Added more than one tagging scheme allowed to OFR and WV cons

The '''lossless comparison page''' aims to gather information about lossless codecs available so users can make an informed decision as to what lossless codec to choose for their needs.

== Introduction ==
Given the enormous amount of [[lossless]] audio compressor choices available, it is a very difficult task to choose the one most suited for each person's needs. Some people only take into consideration compression performance when choosing a codec, but as the following table and article shows, there are several other features worth taking into consideration when making a choice.

For example, users wanting good multiplatform compatibility and robustness (e.g., people sharing live recordings) would favour [[WavPack]] or [[FLAC]]. Another user, looking for the very highest compression available, would go with [[OptimFROG]]. Someone wanting portable support would use [[FLAC]] or [[ALAC]], and so on. En fin, this is not a matter worth getting too worked up about. If you later find out the codec you chose isn't the best for your needs, you can just transcompress to another format, without risk of losing quality.

'''Note:''' for latest comparison of lossless compression, scroll down to the [[Lossless comparison#External links|Links section of this page]].

== Comparison Table ==


{| cellspacing="2" style="text-align:center; border:1px solid blue;"
|width="120px"|'''Features'''
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | FLAC
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | WavPack
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | TAK
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | ALAC
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | Monkey's
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | WMA
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | OptimFROG
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Encoding speed{{ref label|speed|A|A}}
| style="background: #00FF00" | very fast
| style="background: #00FF00" | very fast
| style="background: #00FF00" | very fast
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | fast
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | fast
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | fast
| style="background: #FF9900" | slow
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Decoding speed{{ref label|speed|A|A}}
| style="background: #00FF00" | very fast
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | fast
| style="background: #00FF00" | very fast
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | fast
| style="background: #FF9900" | slow
| style="background: #FFFFFF" | average
| style="background: #FF9900" | very slow
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Compression{{ref label|speed|A|A}}
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | 57.0%
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | 57.1%
| style="background: #00FF00" | 56.0%
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | 57.8%
| style="background: #00FF00" | 55.1%
| style="background: #FF9900" | 58.4%
| style="background: #00FF00" | 54.6%
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Flexibility{{ref label|flex|B|B}}
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #FF9900" | bad
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #FF9900" | bad
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
|-
|style="background: #FFFFFF" |  
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Error handling{{ref label|error|C|C}}
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Seeking
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Tagging
| style="background: #00FF00" | Vorbis tags
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | ID3/APEv2
| style="background: #00FF00" | APEv2
| style="background: #00FF00" | iTunes
| style="background: #00FF00" | APEv2
| style="background: #00FF00" | ASF
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | ID3/APEv2
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Hardware support
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #FF9900" | limited
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | good
| style="background: #FF9900" | limited
| style="background: #FF9900" | limited
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Software support
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | good
| style="background: #FFFFFF" | average
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | good
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | good
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | good
| style="background: #FFFFFF" | average
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Hybrid/lossy
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | LossyWAV
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | LossyWAV
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | LossyWAV
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | ReplayGain
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | propriet.
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | RIFF chunks
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FFFFFF" | ?
| style="background: #FFFFFF" | ?
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Streaming
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Pipe support
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Open source
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Multichannel
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | High resolution
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | OS support
| style="background: #00FF00" | All
| style="background: #00FF00" | All
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | Win/Linux Wine
| style="background: #00FF00" | All
| style="background: #00FF00" | All
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | Win/Mac
| style="background: #00FF00" | Win/Mac/Linux
|}

{|
|-
|{{note label|speed|A|A}} The Compression ratio is calculated with the division of compressed size by uncompressed size * 100. So, lower is better. Encoding speed, Decoding speed and Compression ratio are based on each encoder's default settings and are taken from the most recent lossless codec comparison mentioned at the [[Lossless_comparison#Other_lossless_compressions_comparisons|links section of this page]]. Encoding speed is very fast if > 150x, fast if >75x, average if >40x, slow if >20x, very slow if <20x. Decoding speed is similar but thresholds are doubled, i.e., very fast if >300x, fast if >150x etc. Thresholds for compression are at 56% and 58%
|-
|{{note label|flex|B|B}} Flexibility refers to the amount of encoding choices offered to the users (Fast/low compression, Slow/high compression and everything inbetween)
|-
|{{note label|error|C|C}} Error handling means that a codec can detect a corruption in a file and warn the user about it, but still decode most of the file, only leaving a small gap of silence where the error was detected. Corruption in this sense means bits that are flipped, not removed
|}

== Codecs ==

These are the most popular lossless codecs, in alphabetical order:

=== Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) ===
http://www.apple.com/itunes/import.html

[[ALAC]] is a codec developed by Apple for usage in [[Apple iPod|iPod]] and AirPort Express.

'''ALAC pros'''
* Fast encoding
* Fast decoding
* [[Open source]] (encoding and decoding via FFmpeg and [[CueTools|CUETools]], decoding only via [http://craz.net/programs/itunes/alac.html a standalone decoder])
* Hardware support ([[Apple iPod|iPod]], AirPort Express)
* Software support (iTunes, Quicktime)
* Streaming support
* Tagging support (QT tags)
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* Used by a few online stores

''' ALAC cons '''
* Limited software support
* No error detection/robustness
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* Not very efficient

''' ALAC Other features '''
* Fits in the [[MP4]] container

=== Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) ===
https://xiph.org/flac/

[[FLAC]] is a lossless codec developed by Josh Coalson. It's part of the Xiph multimedia portfolio, along with [[Ogg]], [[Vorbis]], [[Speex]] and [[Theora]].

''' FLAC pros '''
* [[Open source]]
* Very fast decoding
* Very fast encoding
* Very good hardware support (Android, Marantz, Sonos, [http://xiph.org/flac/links.html many others])
* Very good software support
* Error robustness
* Streaming support
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* Tagging support (FLAC tags)
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* Pipe support
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible
* Used by a few [http://xiph.org/flac/links.html#music online stores]

''' FLAC cons '''
* No hybrid/lossy mode

''' FLAC Other features '''
* Supports embedded CUE sheets (with [http://flac.sourceforge.net/faq.html#general__no_cuesheet_tags limitations])
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking as standard
* Fits the [[Ogg]] and [[Matroska]] containers

=== LosslessAudio (LA) ===
http://www.lossless-audio.com/

[[LA]] is a lossless codec developed by Michael Bevin.

''' LA pros '''
* Very high compression
* Tagging support ([[ID3v1]])
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* Pipe support

''' LA cons '''
* Closed source
* Very slow encoding and decoding
* Doesn't support [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* No hardware support
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* Bad software support
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]
* No updates since 2004

'''''It's important to mention that the LA foobar plugin is buggy and doesn't produce lossless streams!'''''

=== Monkey's Audio (APE) ===
http://www.monkeysaudio.com/

[[Monkey's Audio]] is a very efficient lossless compressor developed by Matt Ashland.

''' APE pros '''
* High compression
* Fast encoding
* Good software support
* Simple and user friendly. Official GUI provided.
* Java version (multiplatform)
* Tagging support ([[ID3v1]], [[APE tags]])
* [[High resolution]] audio support
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks (only in the GUI encoder)
* Pipe support (only in a [http://www.etree.org/shnutils/shntool/ special] version)

''' APE cons '''
* Problematic license (source provided, no modification or redistribution rights)
* Slow decoding
* No [[multichannel]] support
* No error robustness
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* Limited hardware support (Rockbox, some Cowon players); poor battery life due to complicated decoding (see [http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/SoundCodecMonkeysAudio MP3 player benchmarks])
* Higher compression levels are extremely CPU intensive
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

''' APE Other features '''
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking
* Supports APL image link files (similar to CUE sheets)

=== OptimFROG (OFR) ===
http://www.losslessaudio.org/

[[OptimFROG]] is a lossless format developed by Florin Ghido to become the champion in audio compression.

''' OFR pros '''
* Very high compression
* Good software support
* Error robustness
* Streaming support
* Supports [[high resolution]]s
* Hybrid/lossy mode
* Tagging support ([[ID3]], [[APE tags]])
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible

''' OFR cons '''
* Closed source
* No [[multichannel]] audio support
* No hardware support
* Very slow decoding
* Slow encoding
* No updates since 2011 (last non-Windows release in 2006)
* More than one tagging method allowed (ambiguity possible)

''' OFR Other features '''
* Supports 32bit float streams
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking

=== Tom's verlustfreier Audiokompressor (TAK) ===
http://www.thbeck.de/Tak/Tak.html

[[TAK]] is a lossless codec developed by TBeck.

''' TAK pros '''
* Very fast decoding
* Very fast encoding
* Very high efficiency
* Error robust
* Supports multichannel audio and high resolutions
* Tagging support
* ReplayGain compatible
* Supports RIFF chunks
* Pipe support
* Streamable

''' TAK cons '''
* Closed source
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* No hardware support
* Average software support
* Doesn't support Unicode (yet)

''' TAK Other features '''
* Optional MD5 checksum

=== WavPack (WV) ===
http://www.wavpack.com/

[[WavPack]] is a fast and featureful lossless codec developed by David Bryant.

''' WV pros '''
* [[Open source]]
* Fast decoding
* Very fast encoding
* Good efficiency
* Error robustness
* Streaming support
* Hardware support ([http://www.rockbox.org/ RockBox])
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* Hybrid/lossy mode
* Tagging support ([[ID3v1]], [[APE tags]])
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* Ability to create self extracting files for Win32 platform
* Pipe support
* Good software support
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible

''' WV cons '''
* Limited hardware player support
* More than one tagging method allowed (ambiguity possible)

''' WV Other features '''
* Supports 32bit float streams
* Supports embedded CUE sheets
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking
* Can encode in both symmetrical and asymmetrical modes.
* Fits the [[Matroska]] container

=== Windows Media Audio Lossless (WMAL) ===
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/codecs/audio.aspx

WMA Lossless is the lossless codec developed by Microsoft to be featured in their Windows Media codec portfolio.

''' WMAL pros '''
* Streaming support
* Very good software support
* Hardware support (Microsoft Zune, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabeat Gigabeat V and S line from Toshiba])
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s.
* Tagging support (proprietary)
* Pipe support

''' WMAL cons '''
* Rather low efficiency
* Closed source
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* Doesn't support [[RIFF]] chunks
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

''' WMAL Other features '''
* Fits the [[ASF]] container

=== Other Formats ===
Aside from the formats mentioned above, there are in fact quite a lot of other lossless formats. To keep the table and list brief and readable, a few formats have not been mentioned.

====LA====
LA features an extremely high compression (on par with OptimFrog highest modes, but a bit faster), but it hasn't been updated for more than 10 years. Furthermore, backward compatibility is not guaranteed, so using it for archiving might pose a few problems. It isn't able to cope with file corruption either, software support is very limited and isn't open source.

====MPEG-4 ALS====
MPEG-4 ALS is the successor to LPAC, which it was based on. It has been as a ISO standard and there is a reference encoder/decoder, but like TTA, it does not have features that make it stand out from other codecs, nor backing by a large organisation, so it hasn't much software and no hardware support.

====MPEG-4 SLS====
MPEG-4 SLS is a special codec, having a AAC core track and a 'correction file'. Also known as HD-AAC, SLS stands for Scalable to Lossless. However, there is to date still no affordable software to play, encode or decode (the lossless part of) SLS files.

====Shorten====
Shorten was one of the first widely-used lossless formats, and it still occasionally found on the internet, especially in archives, for example etree.org. It is quite fast in both encoding and decoding, but doesn't compress very much. Furthermore, seeking has a troubled past as well as tagging. It is considered obsolete.

====Real Lossless====
Part of the Real codec suite, Real Lossless too hasn't any very special features that make it stand out. Just like WMA Lossless and Apple Lossless, it was created to fit in a codec suite, but unlike WMA Lossless and Apple Lossless, there is no hardware support and software support is limited. Compression is on par with most other codecs, but it is rather slow to encode.

====TTA====
TTA is a lossless codec which has been developed by a team of russian programmers. While it's compression and speed is on par with WavPack and FLAC, there are no features that make it stand out from other codecs, which is probably the reason for it being largely ignored these days.

====Oddball formats====
There are a few archaic formats of which encoders and decoders are hard to get by. Most of those would have disappeared by now, but some of them are being preserved for posterity at [[User:Rjamorim|rjamorim]]'s

* Advanced Digital Audio (ADA)
* Bonk
* Marian's a-Pac
* AudioZip
* Dakx WAV
* Entis Lab MIO
* LiteWave
* LPAC
* Pegasus SPS
* RK Audio (RKAU)
* Ogg Squish
* Sonarc
* VocPack
* WavArc
* WaveZip/MUSICompress

== See also ==
* [[Lossless]]

== External links ==
''' Other lossless compressions comparisons '''
''Sorted based on last '''update''' date.''

* [http://www.icer.nl/losslesstest/ Martijn van Beurden's comparison] - tries to compare all codecs and settings with a balanced pool of music (last updated 2013-08-10)
* [http://synthetic-soul.co.uk/comparison/lossless/ Synthetic Soul's comparison] (last update 2007-07-28)
* <s>Johan De Bock's speed oriented comparison</s> - best choices speedwise are indicated in green, mostly electronic music (last updated 2006-07-22)
* <s>Hans Heijden's</s> -- used as reference to build the table (last updated 2006-07-07)
* [http://synthetic-soul.co.uk/comparison/josef/ Josef Pohm's comparison, hosted by Synthetic Soul] (last update 2006-05-29)
* [http://www.bobulous.org.uk/misc/lossless_audio_2006.html Bobulous' lossless audio comparison] — a look at six lossless formats in terms of speed and file size (last updated 2006-05-22)
* <s>Jhan De Bock's size oriented comparison</s> - aimed only at the maximum compression setting for each codec (based on a somewhat limited set of samples, however) (last updated 2006-05-19)
* <s>Gruboolez'</s> -- comparing only classical music (last updated 2005-02-27)
* [http://members.home.nl/w.speek/comparison.htm Speek's] (last updated 2005-02-07)

''' More on lossless compressions '''
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20080731103800/http://www.losslessaudioblog.com/ The Lossless Audio Blog], retrieved from archive.org - by windmiller, is a reliable and complete source of news about lossless compression.
* Go to the [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=33226 Hydrogenaudio thread] to discuss this article.

[[Category:Guides]]

Lossless comparison

2014-04-06T13:20:30Z

84.26.114.21: Stripped table from and shortened text about Shorten, LA, TTA, ALS, SLS and Real Lossless

The '''lossless comparison page''' aims to gather information about lossless codecs available so users can make an informed decision as to what lossless codec to choose for their needs.

== Introduction ==
Given the enormous amount of [[lossless]] audio compressor choices available, it is a very difficult task to choose the one most suited for each person's needs. Some people only take into consideration compression performance when choosing a codec, but as the following table and article shows, there are several other features worth taking into consideration when making a choice.

For example, users wanting good multiplatform compatibility and robustness (e.g., people sharing live recordings) would favour [[WavPack]] or [[FLAC]]. Another user, looking for the very highest compression available, would go with [[OptimFROG]]. Someone wanting portable support would use [[FLAC]] or [[ALAC]], and so on. En fin, this is not a matter worth getting too worked up about. If you later find out the codec you chose isn't the best for your needs, you can just transcompress to another format, without risk of losing quality.

'''Note:''' for latest comparison of lossless compression, scroll down to the [[Lossless comparison#External links|Links section of this page]].

== Comparison Table ==


{| cellspacing="2" style="text-align:center; border:1px solid blue;"
|width="120px"|'''Features'''
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | FLAC
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | WavPack
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | TAK
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | ALAC
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | Monkey's
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | WMA
| width="90px" style="background: #00FFFF" | OptimFROG
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Encoding speed{{ref label|speed|A|A}}
| style="background: #00FF00" | very fast
| style="background: #00FF00" | very fast
| style="background: #00FF00" | very fast
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | fast
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | fast
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | fast
| style="background: #FF9900" | slow
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Decoding speed{{ref label|speed|A|A}}
| style="background: #00FF00" | very fast
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | fast
| style="background: #00FF00" | very fast
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | fast
| style="background: #FF9900" | slow
| style="background: #FFFFFF" | average
| style="background: #FF9900" | very slow
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Compression{{ref label|speed|A|A}}
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | 57.0%
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | 57.1%
| style="background: #00FF00" | 56.0%
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | 57.8%
| style="background: #00FF00" | 55.1%
| style="background: #FF9900" | 58.4%
| style="background: #00FF00" | 54.6%
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Flexibility{{ref label|flex|B|B}}
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #FF9900" | bad
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #FF9900" | bad
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
|-
|style="background: #FFFFFF" |  
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Error handling{{ref label|error|C|C}}
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Seeking
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
|align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Tagging
| style="background: #00FF00" | Vorbis tags
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | ID3/APEv2
| style="background: #00FF00" | APEv2
| style="background: #00FF00" | iTunes
| style="background: #00FF00" | APEv2
| style="background: #00FF00" | ASF
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | ID3/APEv2
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Hardware support
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #FF9900" | limited
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | good
| style="background: #FF9900" | limited
| style="background: #FF9900" | limited
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Software support
| style="background: #00FF00" | very good
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | good
| style="background: #FFFFFF" | average
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | good
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | good
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | good
| style="background: #FFFFFF" | average
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Hybrid/lossy
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | LossyWAV
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | LossyWAV
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | LossyWAV
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | ReplayGain
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | propriet.
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | RIFF chunks
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FFFFFF" | ?
| style="background: #FFFFFF" | ?
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Streaming
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Pipe support
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Open source
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | Multichannel
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #FF9900" | no
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | High resolution
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
| style="background: #00FF00" | yes
|-
| align="left" style="background: #FFFF99" | OS support
| style="background: #00FF00" | All
| style="background: #00FF00" | All
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | Win/Linux Wine
| style="background: #00FF00" | All
| style="background: #00FF00" | All
| style="background: #CCFFCC" | Win/Mac
| style="background: #00FF00" | Win/Mac/Linux
|}

{|
|-
|{{note label|speed|A|A}} The Compression ratio is calculated with the division of compressed size by uncompressed size * 100. So, lower is better. Encoding speed, Decoding speed and Compression ratio are based on each encoder's default settings and are taken from the most recent lossless codec comparison mentioned at the [[Lossless_comparison#Other_lossless_compressions_comparisons|links section of this page]]. Encoding speed is very fast if > 150x, fast if >75x, average if >40x, slow if >20x, very slow if <20x. Decoding speed is similar but thresholds are doubled, i.e., very fast if >300x, fast if >150x etc. Thresholds for compression are at 56% and 58%
|-
|{{note label|flex|B|B}} Flexibility refers to the amount of encoding choices offered to the users (Fast/low compression, Slow/high compression and everything inbetween)
|-
|{{note label|error|C|C}} Error handling means that a codec can detect a corruption in a file and warn the user about it, but still decode most of the file, only leaving a small gap of silence where the error was detected. Corruption in this sense means bits that are flipped, not removed
|}

== Codecs ==

These are the most popular lossless codecs, in alphabetical order:

=== Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) ===
http://www.apple.com/itunes/import.html

[[ALAC]] is a codec developed by Apple for usage in [[Apple iPod|iPod]] and AirPort Express.

'''ALAC pros'''
* Fast encoding
* Fast decoding
* [[Open source]] (encoding and decoding via FFmpeg and [[CueTools|CUETools]], decoding only via [http://craz.net/programs/itunes/alac.html a standalone decoder])
* Hardware support ([[Apple iPod|iPod]], AirPort Express)
* Software support (iTunes, Quicktime)
* Streaming support
* Tagging support (QT tags)
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* Used by a few online stores

''' ALAC cons '''
* Limited software support
* No error detection/robustness
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* Not very efficient

''' ALAC Other features '''
* Fits in the [[MP4]] container

=== Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) ===
https://xiph.org/flac/

[[FLAC]] is a lossless codec developed by Josh Coalson. It's part of the Xiph multimedia portfolio, along with [[Ogg]], [[Vorbis]], [[Speex]] and [[Theora]].

''' FLAC pros '''
* [[Open source]]
* Very fast decoding
* Very fast encoding
* Very good hardware support (Android, Marantz, Sonos, [http://xiph.org/flac/links.html many others])
* Very good software support
* Error robustness
* Streaming support
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* Tagging support (FLAC tags)
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* Pipe support
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible
* Used by a few [http://xiph.org/flac/links.html#music online stores]

''' FLAC cons '''
* No hybrid/lossy mode

''' FLAC Other features '''
* Supports embedded CUE sheets (with [http://flac.sourceforge.net/faq.html#general__no_cuesheet_tags limitations])
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking as standard
* Fits the [[Ogg]] and [[Matroska]] containers

=== LosslessAudio (LA) ===
http://www.lossless-audio.com/

[[LA]] is a lossless codec developed by Michael Bevin.

''' LA pros '''
* Very high compression
* Tagging support ([[ID3v1]])
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* Pipe support

''' LA cons '''
* Closed source
* Very slow encoding and decoding
* Doesn't support [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* No hardware support
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* Bad software support
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]
* No updates since 2004

'''''It's important to mention that the LA foobar plugin is buggy and doesn't produce lossless streams!'''''

=== Monkey's Audio (APE) ===
http://www.monkeysaudio.com/

[[Monkey's Audio]] is a very efficient lossless compressor developed by Matt Ashland.

''' APE pros '''
* High compression
* Fast encoding
* Good software support
* Simple and user friendly. Official GUI provided.
* Java version (multiplatform)
* Tagging support ([[ID3v1]], [[APE tags]])
* [[High resolution]] audio support
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks (only in the GUI encoder)
* Pipe support (only in a [http://www.etree.org/shnutils/shntool/ special] version)

''' APE cons '''
* Problematic license (source provided, no modification or redistribution rights)
* Slow decoding
* No [[multichannel]] support
* No error robustness
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* Limited hardware support (Rockbox, some Cowon players); poor battery life due to complicated decoding (see [http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/SoundCodecMonkeysAudio MP3 player benchmarks])
* Higher compression levels are extremely CPU intensive
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

''' APE Other features '''
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking
* Supports APL image link files (similar to CUE sheets)

=== OptimFROG (OFR) ===
http://www.losslessaudio.org/

[[OptimFROG]] is a lossless format developed by Florin Ghido to become the champion in audio compression.

''' OFR pros '''
* Very high compression
* Good software support
* Error robustness
* Streaming support
* Supports [[high resolution]]s
* Hybrid/lossy mode
* Tagging support ([[ID3]], [[APE tags]])
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible

''' OFR cons '''
* Closed source
* No [[multichannel]] audio support
* No hardware support
* Very slow decoding
* Slow encoding
* No updates since 2011 (last non-Windows release in 2006)

''' OFR Other features '''
* Supports 32bit float streams
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking

=== Tom's verlustfreier Audiokompressor (TAK) ===
http://www.thbeck.de/Tak/Tak.html

[[TAK]] is a lossless codec developed by TBeck.

''' TAK pros '''
* Very fast decoding
* Very fast encoding
* Very high efficiency
* Error robust
* Supports multichannel audio and high resolutions
* Tagging support
* ReplayGain compatible
* Supports RIFF chunks
* Pipe support
* Streamable

''' TAK cons '''
* Closed source
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* No hardware support
* Average software support
* Doesn't support Unicode (yet)

''' TAK Other features '''
* Optional MD5 checksum

=== WavPack (WV) ===
http://www.wavpack.com/

[[WavPack]] is a fast and featureful lossless codec developed by David Bryant.

''' WV pros '''
* [[Open source]]
* Fast decoding
* Very fast encoding
* Good efficiency
* Error robustness
* Streaming support
* Hardware support ([http://www.rockbox.org/ RockBox])
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* Hybrid/lossy mode
* Tagging support ([[ID3v1]], [[APE tags]])
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* Ability to create self extracting files for Win32 platform
* Pipe support
* Good software support
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible

''' WV cons '''
* Limited hardware player support

''' WV Other features '''
* Supports 32bit float streams
* Supports embedded CUE sheets
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking
* Can encode in both symmetrical and asymmetrical modes.
* Fits the [[Matroska]] container

=== Windows Media Audio Lossless (WMAL) ===
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/codecs/audio.aspx

WMA Lossless is the lossless codec developed by Microsoft to be featured in their Windows Media codec portfolio.

''' WMAL pros '''
* Streaming support
* Very good software support
* Hardware support (Microsoft Zune, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabeat Gigabeat V and S line from Toshiba])
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s.
* Tagging support (proprietary)
* Pipe support

''' WMAL cons '''
* Rather low efficiency
* Closed source
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* Doesn't support [[RIFF]] chunks
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

''' WMAL Other features '''
* Fits the [[ASF]] container

=== Other Formats ===
Aside from the formats mentioned above, there are in fact quite a lot of other lossless formats. To keep the table and list brief and readable, a few formats have not been mentioned.

'''LA'''
LA features an extremely high compression (on par with OptimFrog highest modes, but a bit faster), but it hasn't been updated for more than 10 years. Furthermore, backward compatibility is not guaranteed, so using it for archiving might pose a few problems. It isn't able to cope with file corruption either, software support is very limited and isn't open source.

'''MPEG-4 ALS'''
MPEG-4 ALS is the successor to LPAC, which it was based on. It has been as a ISO standard and there is a reference encoder/decoder, but like TTA, it does not have features that make it stand out from other codecs, nor backing by a large organisation, so it hasn't much software and no hardware support.

'''MPEG-4 SLS'''
MPEG-4 SLS is a special codec, having a AAC core track and a 'correction file'. Also known as HD-AAC, SLS stands for Scalable to Lossless. However, there is to date still no affordable software to play, encode or decode (the lossless part of) SLS files.

'''Shorten'''
Shorten was one of the first widely-used lossless formats, and it still occasionally found on the internet, especially in archives, for example etree.org. It is quite fast in both encoding and decoding, but doesn't compress very much. Furthermore, seeking has a troubled past as well as tagging. It is considered obsolete.

'''Real Lossless'''
Part of the Real codec suite, Real Lossless too hasn't any very special features that make it stand out. Just like WMA Lossless and Apple Lossless, it was created to fit in a codec suite, but unlike WMA Lossless and Apple Lossless, there is no hardware support and software support is limited. Compression is on par with most other codecs, but it is rather slow to encode.

'''TTA'''
TTA is a lossless codec which has been developed by a team of russian programmers. While it's compression and speed is on par with WavPack and FLAC, there are no features that make it stand out from other codecs, which is probably the reason for it being largely ignored these days.

'''Oddball formats'''
There are a few archaic formats of which encoders and decoders are hard to get by. Most of those would have disappeared by now, but some of them are being preserved for posterity at [[User:Rjamorim|rjamorim]]'s

* Advanced Digital Audio (ADA)
* Bonk
* Marian's a-Pac
* AudioZip
* Dakx WAV
* Entis Lab MIO
* LiteWave
* LPAC
* Pegasus SPS
* RK Audio (RKAU)
* Ogg Squish
* Sonarc
* VocPack
* WavArc
* WaveZip/MUSICompress

== See also ==
* [[Lossless]]

== External links ==
''' Other lossless compressions comparisons '''
''Sorted based on last '''update''' date.''

* [http://www.icer.nl/losslesstest/ Martijn van Beurden's comparison] - tries to compare all codecs and settings with a balanced pool of music (last updated 2013-08-10)
* [http://synthetic-soul.co.uk/comparison/lossless/ Synthetic Soul's comparison] (last update 2007-07-28)
* <s>Johan De Bock's speed oriented comparison</s> - best choices speedwise are indicated in green, mostly electronic music (last updated 2006-07-22)
* <s>Hans Heijden's</s> -- used as reference to build the table (last updated 2006-07-07)
* [http://synthetic-soul.co.uk/comparison/josef/ Josef Pohm's comparison, hosted by Synthetic Soul] (last update 2006-05-29)
* [http://www.bobulous.org.uk/misc/lossless_audio_2006.html Bobulous' lossless audio comparison] — a look at six lossless formats in terms of speed and file size (last updated 2006-05-22)
* <s>Jhan De Bock's size oriented comparison</s> - aimed only at the maximum compression setting for each codec (based on a somewhat limited set of samples, however) (last updated 2006-05-19)
* <s>Gruboolez'</s> -- comparing only classical music (last updated 2005-02-27)
* [http://members.home.nl/w.speek/comparison.htm Speek's] (last updated 2005-02-07)

''' More on lossless compressions '''
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20080731103800/http://www.losslessaudioblog.com/ The Lossless Audio Blog], retrieved from archive.org - by windmiller, is a reliable and complete source of news about lossless compression.
* Go to the [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=33226 Hydrogenaudio thread] to discuss this article.

[[Category:Guides]]