Hi folks, I'm trying to get a handle on the many lossless audio formats from the perspective of a software developer. I love the FLAC format because it is open source and it performs very well. But there is also the MLP (Meridian Lossless Packing), AAC (Apple Lossless), and probably some Microsoft format(s) that compete in the same feature set. These formats all achieve approximately 2:1 compression without loss of detail.
What I would like to know is where to go to find out the details on these formats. Is MLP documented anywhere? It has been accepted as an audio format for DVD-HD, so does that mean it must be openly documented? Dolby Digital AC-3 is documented as part of the HDTV specification, but it cannot be implemented without paying licensing. Well, a programmer could implement it based on the specification, but could not make a product without licensing. Also, what about Apple's Lossless format? Is this part of a larger specification, like MPEG-4, or is it completely independent? Is it documented anywhere? Sorry for the non-FLAC questions. Basically, because FLAC is open source, all of these questions are unnecessary for FLAC. I just want to put the other competing formats into perspective, and learn more about them if possible. Brian Willoughby Sound Consulting _______________________________________________ Flac-dev mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.xiph.org/mailman/listinfo/flac-dev
