“High resolution” basics. What is the difference between DSD, FLAC, MQA, etc.? Part 4
The number of audio devices that support ALAC has increased in recent years, and some high-resolution distribution sites handle it as well, but FLAC is compatible with more software / hardware, and there is a significant advantage in sound quality over FLAC. . it will eventually restore to the same linear PCM data), so there is no reason to choose it aggressively except for users who are unified with Apple products.
“ALAC”, which is compatible with Apple software / hardware, can also be used for high resolution playback.
Wav
Classification:
PCM compression: no
extension: .wav
It is widely used as a linear PCM container format (it can store various types of data, and the codec can be selected for musical use), and it has been widely adopted by high-resolution distribution sites. Since linear PCM is not compressed, the file size is large, but since no decoding (decoding) processing is required, there are quite a few people who dare to choose WAV from a sound quality point of view.
It is playable on most digital audio software / devices, but tags / metadata such as artist names and album images cannot be expected to display a lot. It is possible to store data, but the format is not officially defined, so it can be displayed in one environment but not another. FLAC and ALAC are more convenient than WAV when using an application like Roon that searches for information, such as related artists, by referencing metadata.
Linear PCM with a sampling frequency of 352.8 kHz (8 times 44.1 kHz) or 384 kHz (8 times 48 kHz) and a quantization bit rate of 24 bits or more is called “DXD” (Digital eXtreme Definition). Originally intended for SACD production (because DSD is not suitable for editing), it is now used as a distribution format as well.
