testing transcoding to wav24

[simoncn]

(28-11-2013 16:24)mikejazz Wrote:  Hello Simon!

I am currently testing this nice function of transcoding to wav, (as I have a linn ds, I am testing your suggestion of wav24).

I have some questions:
1) what exactly is happening in the system and what are the changes done...For example you say "16-bit FLAC files are extended to 24-bit audio by padding each sample with zeros. 24-bit FLAC files are transcoded without changing the sample bit depth. The original lossless audio data is preserved in both cases."
This seems to be very little processing. When transcoding to WAV, is the flac file also "decompressed"?

The FLAC file is decoded to the original audio data that was used to create the FLAC file. This is similar to "decompressed", although it is possible for a FLAC file to be encoded without being compressed.

Quote:2) are are the theoretical beneficts from this approach? Does it have to do with 24bit samples? Or to the decompressed file?

Some people find that this sounds better with their renderer. The reason for this is not known, though it may be related to enabling the renderer to do less internal processing while it is playing the file.

Quote:3) I will report back my findings. My previous experiences of flac vs wav in my system were not conclusive, I got an impression of slightly better "easy going flow" on wav. But this is yet very subjective..
For now, I am not finding any negative impact, for sure...

Thanks in advance for your comments and for these nice features!

On my Linn DS, I hear some improvement between FLAC and WAV, and I hear even more improvement between FLAC and wav24. I will be interested to hear if you have the same experience.