norderney;585707 Wrote: > Just curious about MPEG-4 which is the file format used by iTunes. > > I noticed that the bit rate on downloaded tracks shows as 256kbps CBR, > but it then says Converted to 705kbps FLAC. > > How does this actually work? I know with MP3 files you CANNOT convert > an MP3 file to FLAC, so how is MPEG-4 able to convert the 256kps file > to 705kps FLAC? > > Are MPEG-4 files of higher quality than MP3 files?
AAC (.mp4 files) can't be decoded natively on older Squeezeboxes (Touch and Radio can do it), so Squeezebox Server decodes them to WAV and then encodes that into FLAC for streaming. The reason for the FLAC encoding is to save bandwidth. There's only one lossy decoding being done, and then a lossless encoding, so there's no loss in quality in the process. Technically, you can transcode from just about any format to any other. What you're thinking of is the general advice that once you've encoded something in a lossless codec like MP3 or AAC that the quality is lost forever. You lose additional quality if you transcode the file to another lossless (or even the same) codec. -- JJZolx ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JJZolx's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=10 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=82937 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/discuss
