Feature request: FLAC to WAV transcoding

[knijsterbek]

(01-04-2012 21:26)simoncn Wrote:  Have you done this double blind? If you know whether you're listening to FLAC or WAV, the results of the comparison can't really be trusted.

All FLAC is lossless, no matter what compression level is used. This is why most people claim that there's no difference between having the server stream files in FLAC format vs WAV format.

It was not my intention to start a discussion about FLAC vs WAV, but let me explain: I have not tested this double blind, but I did test it numerous times and under different circumstances. The results with (standard) level 5 compressed FLAC's were the same every time.
The last time, I tested uncompressed FLAC as a logical alternative to WAV, in the belief that the compession made the difference. Totally to my surprise, the uncompressed FLAC was not equivalent to WAV at all and I even had a slight preference for the maximum compressed FLAC over the uncompressed FLAC!
So I tend to trust my ears, especially because I hear differences that do not always confirm the "beliefs" I have.
Like I said: based on these observations, it seems logical that it's not the compression level of the FLAC that causes the SQ difference. I believe it's something else, maybe just the way the file is organised/built up/handled?

I use minimserver to stream FLAC and I very much like the comfort of the combination of the two (tags, album art, switching between folder view and tag view, etc.).
But: WAV has the edge over FLAC in my setup, so transcoding would be a logical way to combine the benefits of both ways.