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How to normalize FLAC files? Mp4Gain is the solution.

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How to normalize FLAC files? Mp4Gain is the solution.

Normalize FLAC

For years, Mp4Gain has been able to serve to normalize the loudness of the most popular audio formats such as Ogg, FLAC, ACC, Mp3, etc and also video such as mp4, avi, flv, mpeg, etc. has received a lot of attention.

Initially it was the normalization of the audio volume level of mp3s, but later we have been able to achieve with great success and great quality to normalize the loudness of all these other audio and video formats.

How to normalize FLAC?

The operation is simple: you just have to load your audio or video files and press the button to normalize your audio volume level and that’s it. In no time you will have the file perfectly normalized.

At the same time you can perform other functions, such as equalizing the sound. and improve the sound quality, modify the bitrate, the samplerate and modify the pitch without affecting the speed or vice versa, modify the speed without affecting the pitch.

How to normalize FLAC files using Mp4Gain?

The easiest way to normalize FLAC files or to convert (and normalize at the same time) mp4 videos or directly convert mp3 to FLAC is to use Mp4Gain, which is as simple as loading the mp3 or an mp4 and clicking on the video and that’s it. you can convert from mp4 to FLAC or from mp3 to FLAC, all with the best sound quality and with the volume perfectly normalized.

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Mp4Gain Main Window

Mp4Gain Features

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WAV has no better sound quality than FLAC

WAV has no better sound quality than FLAC.

FLAC vs WAV

The switch to file playback invites unnecessary discussion.

FLAC y WAV

In recent years, audio equipment has expanded into the field of file playback, which has been handled by personal computers, and most of the players currently on the market are equipped with a USB terminal and a LAN terminal, and they are compatible with various audio formats. .

Network audio PC audio file format Sound quality difference FLAC WAV JPLAY

It can be roughly divided into four formats.

Lossy compressed audio formats, such as mp3 and AAC
Lossless compressed audio formats such as FLAC and ALAC
High quality WAV format equal to or better than a CD sound source
Audio formats other than CD (such as DSD)
If you enjoy music with PC audio or network audio, it is a common understanding that the sound of lossy compressed audio format is worse than that of a CD.

In theory, lossy compressed audio formats lose information during the compression process and cannot be restored to the original WAV file, so if you want to make up for the difference, you can increase or interpolate the information. There is no choice but to “fill in”. Even so, the amount of information is not the same, and since we are interpolating what is not there, although it sounds good, it is only an imitation.

I think the argument that there is a difference in sound quality when there is a difference in the amount of information theoretically was also at the time of the transition from pre-records to CDs and the emergence of SACD and DVD-Audio. The difference in the amount of information is the difference in sound quality, which can be said to be the same when comparing high-resolution and CD-equivalent sound sources. It is true in a sense, although it is conditional on the material at the time of production being good.

Discussion of lossless compression formats
On the other hand, as a story to debate among people who enjoy PC audio and network audio, there is a similar story between WAV files equivalent to CD sound sources and FLAC files in lossless compression audio format.

WAV sounds better than FLAC.
Sound is better without tag information.
So make all sound sources WAV and remove all tags.
No, it’s inconvenient without a label, so commit to FLAC
Certainly, the sound output between FLAC files and WAV files may sound different if you play it back on a PC or network audio player. Even at home, when I play it on the Marantz NA-11S1, I feel a slight difference.

Network audio PC audio file format Sound quality difference FLAC WAV JPLAY

However, WAV files, FLAC files, and the CD sound source used as the extraction source are originally sound sources with the same amount of information, unlike the lossy compressed audio format. Which is better, when playing on a CD or when playing a WAV file, or when the sound source is the same?

The answer is fixed.

It depends on the quality of the player.

If you are good at playing CDs, you will hear them better. If you’re good at playing WAV files, WAV files should sound better. Since it is related to the creator’s commitment, I think the sound quality may not be exactly the same depending on the playback path and the processing method.

Similarly, FLAC has the same amount of information, so there should be no difference in sound quality. But it certainly sounds different. I think it should be the same.

Let’s change our perspective and look at the lossless compressed file format, which is not an audio file.

WAV vs FLAC – Comparision

Why WAV and FLAC make fun of saying “the quality of the sound is different”?

WAV vs FLAC

By observing the area of audio files (audiophiles), sound quality is different between WAV and FLAC!

FLAC versus WAV File Format

There are people who scream. In this article I would like to consider if it is true.

Differences between
WAV (Wave) is a file format that can store linear PCM, and FLAC is a format that can store audio with compression without loss (ie, it can be compressed without loss of sound quality).
According to the FLAC standard, formats of up to an integer of 32 bits / 655,350 Hz can be stored, but the encoder itself supports an integer up to 24 bits.
WAV is a former standard created in 1991 and is actually a type of container standard called Riff. Several waveform data can be saved in WAV, and 64-bit floating, etc. can also be stored.
In other words, if both are in the range of 24 bits, you can save exactly the same waveform. This is a perfect combination at the waveform level.
If you are using a music player called FOOBAR2000, you can use a supplement called Binary Share to confirm that there is no difference of 1 bit between WAV and FLAC.
FLAC has a CRC checking sum for each frame and the file has an MD5 hash to detect damage to the file. It is possible that WAV does not realize even if it is damaged, as confusing data.
By the way, if you want to save 32 bits or more, you can use a lossless compression format named Wavpack.
“Decodify load gar”
The logic of those who argue that there is a difference in sound quality between WAV and FLAC is generally “FLAC requires decoding to PCM for reproduction, and there is a need for decoding, so the CPU load is high and quality of sound is high. It gets worse. ”
The first half of this logic is correct. FLAC is a compression without loss and must be decoded for reproduction. However, when discussing the second half, questions arise.
Although FLAC is a compressed format first, the load during decoding is one of the lowest among all lossless compressed audio formats.
The codecperformancecomparison site has decoding speeds by format. Among them, FLAC has a speed that far exceeds Monkey’s Audio, Wavpack, AAC and MP3. The decoding speed is almost the same regardless of whether the compression rate is 5 or 8.
It is said that FLAC can decode only by arithmetic of integers (source), and is quite fast. Although WAV does not require decoding, it is nothing more than using the CPU, since reading the file, saves it in memory and the CPU processes the driver and sends the data to the sound card.
In addition, WAV is not compressed, so there is the problem that the file size increases. This means that reading files from storage is clearly more frequent than FLAC. This is nothing more than using more bandwidth of your computer bus. How do you explain the electromagnetic noise that generate these storage and buses? Has anyone verified it?
Importance of the ABX test (double blind test)
I think most people in audio files (OTA, audiophiles) minimize science and think about things with several conjectures, relying solely on their own senses.
“Clear sound” “Soft and elegant acutes” “Natural Low”
These words sound good, but they have to do with falsifier and I can not even start a discussion.
I want to compare A and B. At that time, the “ABX test” or double-blind test (double blind method) is useful.
Let’s say you have A and B. I want to compare A and B. It can be WAV and FLAC, or an oxygen-free copper cable and Amazon Basics cable. It may be the sound reproduced by the electricity generated by hydroelectric power and the sound reproduced by sunlight, or the difference between iPod and Walkman, cassette tape and disk.
If you really want to make a comparison, hide A and B and ask. There is another collaborator in this. When you start the test, the collaborators first prepare the equipment for A and B, and they clearly touch each sound as A or B. Next, the collaborator hides A or B and reproduces the sound. It can be in the order of Aabbaba or Ababab. Anyway, he plays randomly. And the collaborator asks: “What was the random sound I presented for the first time, A or B?” He can request and re-listen to the sounds A and B at any time during the test.

What is a “FLAC file”? Part 2

What is a “FLAC file”? Part 2

FLAC

He appeared there, compression without losses.

FLAC format file

Humans are greedy creatures.
While recognizing the excellent technology of MP3, if you still want to return to the original Wave file, you want to compress it in a format that can be reversed exactly.
Unlined compression is a compression method that allows you to return to the original form if you wish, even if it compresses it.
Unfortunately, MP3s have an “irreversible” cross, so they can not play that role.

Here comes the “compressed file without loss” for music as “FLAC file”. There are other formats for “compression without loss” files such as “Apel Archive”, “WMA Lossless” and “Apple Lossless”, but from my point of view, the “FLAC file” seems to be the most widespread.

This “FLAC file” is much less popular than the “MP3 file”.
However, if you want to reverse a “FLAC file” to a “Wave file”, you can revert to the original “Wave” exactly without a 1-bit error.

Oh, you might think that a good file format could be more popular.
I also believe it.
But everything in the world is barter. Not all are satisfied unilaterally. If you get one, you must sacrifice one.

The “lossless compressed files” represented by “FLAC files” are sacrificed to obtain the wonderful property of “non-loss compression”.

That is the “compression rate”.

“MP3” compressed the original “Wave” file at 1/10, but the “FLAC file” is limited to the maximum compression.
In other words, in the case of “MP3 file”, a small element of about 5 minutes compressed to “5MB”, and even in a 1 hour box office success symphony, but in the case of “Flac File”, a small element of about 5 minutes. A symphony of box office of an hour of “25 MB” can only be compressed at about “300 MB”.

This is really subtle.
Probably “NG” in the era of telephone lines through modems.
However, in the ADSL era, this also reached the level of “Is there one?”
And when the optical lines are generalized, it is probably “yes”.

With current optical lines, you should be able to download “FLAC files” more comfortably than downloading MP3 files in the telephone line era.
In other words, the low “compression rate” that was sacrificed to perform a “compression without losses” is not necessarily a “sacrifice” due to the generalization of the optical lines. In that case, the mainstream of music files on the Internet can be replaced with “loss compression files” represented by “MP3 files” to “FLAC files” of “non-loss compression”.

The establishment of the “FLAC file database” this time was due to I wanted to lead that trend.

Basically, download and then decodify a wave file

So, how is the downloaded “FLAC file” played? Unfortunately, it can not be reproduced with important software as “iTunes” and “WMP”.
At the moment, the “FLAC files” can be reproduced without problems.

However, I do not recommend playing “FLAC files” as they are.
The greatest merit of the “FLAC file” is “reversibility”. Then, the way to take full advantage of merit is to decode the “FLAC file”, restore it to the original “Wave” file and then play it.

The increase in capacity and reduction in the price of hard drives are also a wind in favor of this trend.
In addition, even those that have not yet entered the Audio of the PC can record a “Wave file” on a CD and play it on a CD player. Since it is a “lossless compression” without deterioration of sound quality, the quality of CD created in this way is exactly the same as that of the market.

Well, how are you?
If you have read up here and are interested in “FLAC files”, go to “FLAC file database” and download it.

Next time, I will explain how to decode a “FLAC file” and restore it to “Wave File” as a first step to use the “FLAC file”.

What is a “FLAC file”?

What is a “FLAC file”?

FLAC

Introduction to FLAC.

Free Lossless Audio Codec FLAC

The base of the music files are the “Wave files”. If you draw a music file from a commercially available CD, it will be saved in this “Wave file” format. Therefore, this “Wave file” is the best in terms of sound quality.

However, the inconvenience is that the file size is very large.
Generally, “1 minute = 10 MB”, so even a small element of about 5 minutes will be “50 MB”, and a 1 hour masterpiece symphony will be “600 MB”.
When I try to download such a large file on a thin line in the first days of the Internet, it does not end, even if it takes hours (days?). (It is still difficult for “600MB” files ^^;)
Even so, the desire to share music widely through the Internet created a compression technology called “MP3 files”.

I will omit a difficult explanation, but the good thing about this “MP3 file” was that “reduced the deterioration of sound quality as much as possible” and “reduced the size of the file”. Now, even if the file size is reduced to 1/10, you can enjoy music with a sound quality that is not very different from that of a CD.
In other words, even if the file size is reduced to “5MB” for a small element of approximately 5 minutes, or “60MB” for a 1 hour box office success symphony, you can now enjoy music with a quality of Sound that is not very different from that of a CD.

It’s really great.

However, there is a difference in sound quality when compared to the grave.
With the growing interest in PC audio these days, more and more people pay attention to this sound quality. For those who say that, it is “natural” reproduce music in “Wave files” instead of “MP3 files”. In fact, due to the pc audio boom, the software that can only be played Wave files is appearing one after another. “CMP2 = CMP + CPLAY” and “WAVE FILE PLAYER” are typical examples, and high-quality sound playback that distinguishes it from conventional playback software is on sale.

Well, I do not care … if you say it, pass this page. (^^;

Weaknesses of MP3 files → irreversible

MP3 files are a really good technology. By compressing the size of the file to 1/10, it maintains an excellent sound quality so that you will not notice the difference with the original “Wave file” if you listened vaguely. Then, as I mentioned earlier as a joke, it is not surprising that some people say: “That is enough for the quality of the sound!”
It is such a good technology.

However, these “MP3 files” also have a fatal weakness.
That is “irreversible”.

It is difficult to say “irreversible”, but the point is that once a “Wave file” is compressed in an “MP3 file” and it becomes, you can not restore the original “Wave” file. It is about nature.
This “never return” property is called “compression with loss”, and compression with said property is called “compression with loss”.

However, you may be told: “If you decode the MP3 file, it will return to the Wave file!”
Usually, the conversion of the original file into a compressed file is called “encoding” and, in reverse, the conversion of the compressed file to the original file is called “decoding”. · · · Trivia (^^ V
Certainly, MP3 files can be converted to WAVE files using the appropriate software.

However, keep in mind that the “Wave file” created when decoding the “MP3 file” is not the same as the original “Wave” file. This is because the deterioration of sound quality caused by the first compression is not recovered and becomes a WAVE file in a deteriorated state.
Specifically, the “MP3 files” eliminate the high tone information that is difficult to listen for the human ear in the compression process. Therefore, even if you decode the “MP3 file” compressed in this way, high-frequency cut information will not be recovered.
Therefore, if you do something stupid as Wave-> MP3-> Wave-> MP3-> Wave …, the sound quality will deteriorate and you will end up in a “is not what you heard”.

What is the FLAC audio format?

What is the FLAC audio format?

Free Lossless Audio Codec - FLAC

To listen to your favorite music in the highest quality, you need two things: the right equipment and the audio format. The recording format indicates the quality. In forums, people often discuss which format is the best. The most popular formats degrade sound quality. In this article, we will guide you about the FLAC audio format.

FLAC

Characteristics of the FLAC audio format.

FLAC is a free lossless audio codec. This stands for the abbreviation Free Lossless Audio Codec. The codec reduces file size by 50% compared to a similar quality audio CD.

The FLAC format is compatible with many smartphone applications and portable audio players.

Another feature of the FLAC codec is that it is free and distributed under the GNU GPL. This means that any audio maker or music publisher can use it for free.

How is FLAC different from lossy compression formats?

Other audio codecs compress lossy files (MP3, AAC, WMA, Ogg Vorbis, Opus). FLAC does not remove any information from the audio stream. It is suitable for listening to music on high-quality equipment and for archiving your music collection.

Lossy codecs, such as MP3, simplify the signal to reduce file sizes. That is, some data that the codec considers less significant and barely audible is erased. As a result, music loses detail, sound becomes drier and thinner at high frequencies. Consequently, the audio signal is roughly the same as in the photo, which was first compressed from 8 to 2 megapixels and then stretched to 8 megapixels. Despite returning to the original size, the original clarity of the image will no longer be.

Lossy compression in the example of a photograph.

The FLAC format works differently. It does not change the audio stream. AudioCD music is recorded similarly, but FLAC compresses the track to reduce its size in megabytes. For compression, the same principles are used as for creating RAR or ZIP archives. In other words, in the digital recording itself there are patterns that are recorded in a simplified way, but that can be restored to their original form by decompressing them.

The FLAC compression algorithm, unlike ZIP algorithms, divides the file into small blocks, several kilobytes in size. For each of the blocks, the optimal compression formula is selected, so if an audio CD (700MB) is simply archived in ZIP, it will take 550-650MB, and in FLAC, you can achieve a reduction to 350- 500 MB. At the same time, the signal quality does not deteriorate.

What smartphones are FLAC compatible?

Support for music in the FLAC codec is almost on any modern smartphone.

Current microcircuits of the middle class are equipped with a fairly advanced built-in codec. It is capable of playing high definition Loseless music up to 192 kHz. Such solutions allow to remove the load from the central processor, reducing battery consumption, but a weak sound path can impose restrictions on the sound quality at the output.

Best of all, smartphones with a discrete decoder and DAC, made separately from the chipset, can play music in FLAC format. These include the iPhone, Samsung Galaxy A, S and Note series, LG G and V series, Sony Xperia. Also, a discrete DAC that provides effective decoding of the FLAC codec is found in many BBK devices (Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus), LeEco, Meizu flagships.

FLAC [Free Lossless Audio Codec] The difference between FLAC and mp3

FLAC [Free Lossless Audio Codec] The difference between FLAC and mp3

FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is a lossless method for compressing the size of digital music information. Read about comparing mp3 and FLAC and then open it.
The file with the * .flac extension can store music compressed using the free lossless audio codec, as well as high-resolution DSD DoP or MQA formats.

Flac

“Lossless” means that “the original and restored digital audio material is completely identical.”

Example:

If the sequence “1234” is compressed in size in a certain sequence (for example, “97”), after unpacking the latter we have again “1234”.

Read on to learn more about audio quality, conversion, playback, and more.

Features> Converters> FLAC sound quality problems> How to play FLAC (software players)> Download FLAC files (examples)> Links> FLAC and iTunes> FLAC or mp3>

In addition to Free Lossless Audio Codec software decoders, there are hardware decoders built into portable audio players (DAPs). Although in reality a DAP or a mobile phone is a small computer that runs a program to encode or decode a music format.

A single large * .flac file can be a music album container along with a CUE index file containing the start time points of each track.

The free lossless audio codec is maintained by the Xiph.Org Foundation.

The open source software libraries at the time of writing are available for Windows, Unix (Linux, * BSD, Solaris, Mac OS X, IRIX), BeOS, OS / 2, Amiga operating systems.

FLAC features

Sampling frequency: up to 384 kHz
Bit resolution: up to 32 bits
Compression type: lossless
Audio compression: compressed / uncompressed (uncompressed, non-standard)
FLAC file size compression ratio / compression ratio: 9 levels
(As a first approximation, the compressed FLAC size is approximately 60% of the original WAV size or more)
Using the FLAC file as a container for other formats – yes
Preservation of text metadata: yes
Save artwork as album art: yes
Save multiple images – yes
Program code: open source

FLAC sound quality problems

Compressed vs uncompressed
One of the most popular and never ending discussions is “FLAC vs WAV Sound Quality”. There is an opinion that WAV sounds better than FLAC.

However, WAV has compatibility issues with displaying metadata with some software. Therefore, uncompressed FLAC was implemented, which supports metadata as standard.

FLAC and WAV contain the exact same digital material. Therefore, FLAC and WAV should sound exactly the same.

FLAC in your hands!

FLAC in your hands!

FLAC

No matter how malicious the copyright holders are, we won’t stop copying AudioCD, if only because we don’t want to wear down the licensed disc again. It’s more expensive to store music on analog media – vinyl and magnetic tapes deteriorate fairly quickly, and CDs tend to get scratched or even broken on faulty drives. What has already been copied (digitized), in most cases, are popular MP3 files (less often OGG or even less often WMA). At the same time, most citizens do not think about the very real mockery of sound that occurs when converting music into compressed formats. The best option is to keep your favorite works unchanged.

FLAC

If we use a CD ripper and tell it to rip audio tracks to WAV files, we end up with what was originally burned on the audio CD (of course, we don’t take disc read errors into account). But the size! Even now, when the cost of 1TB hard drives has dropped below $ 100, it cannot be forgotten that the volume of “captured” WAV files from an audio CD reaches 700MB. Now let’s go back to the days when 10GB hard drives were considered a luxury and understand the motivation behind compressed formats. But at what cost did they achieve such impressive results? And where is the line that is best not to cross to maintain maximum sound quality? We will talk about this. But first, a little theory …

It is usual to subdivide the coding algorithms into two groups: with and without loss of information. The advantage of the latter is that the signal will be extracted in the same way as before compression.

“Digital” vs. “analog” recordings are not subject to the changes that analog audio media undergoes. Tracks are stored in binary form and transmitted in the form of electrical pulses that have only two values, “1” or “0”: the signal is present or absent. If interference occurs, even though it may affect the signal, digital circuitry can still detect whether it is present (“1”) or not (“0”). This is the main advantage of digital technology over analog technology: “Digital technology allows you to store and replicate records for an unlimited time without loss of quality.

Digitizing the sound supplied to the line input of a sound card is done in three stages. In the first stage (sampling), the signal is divided into many millions of elements, the number of which depends on the sampling frequency, which is measured in kilohertz (kHz). For example, a sample rate of 48 kHz means that every second of the analog signal has been divided into 48,000 samples. The higher the sampling frequency, the more elements the original analog audio signal will be divided, the more accurate the conversion, and the higher the quality of the digitized audio.

In the second stage (quantization), each element of the sampled signal is assigned a certain numerical value corresponding to its amplitude. This number can vary within certain limits, for example, from 0 to 16,535. With such quantization, 16,535 signal levels are possible (this type of quantization is called 16 bits or 16 bits (16,535 = 216). The resulting quantization is not binary, but decimal. Each decimal number is stored in computer memory in binary form: for example, the number “1” as “00000001” and “2” as “00000010”. The digitization of sound is called “Pulse Code Modulation” (PCM), since the audio signal is represented as a series of pulses of constant frequency, the amplitude of which is encoded in decimal numbers, that is, in the form of digital.

Finally, the third stage is encoding (compression). During it, the resulting sequence of numbers is archived according to a specific algorithm. The most popular digital audio compression format today is the one developed by the Institute. Comrade Fraunhofer IIS, www.iis.fraunhofer.de/amm) MPEG Layer3, or more commonly MP3. With high-quality encoding of individual blocks (bit rate up to 320 Kbps), only mathematical compression algorithms are used. At the same time, the quality does not suffer, but the file size is reduced by only four times, that is, we have a compression ratio like what a normal filing cabinet would give.