Re: old burned cd file in wav

comments below. Nomex suit not required. -- m.

On Tue, Sep 29, 2020 at 4:09 PM Fred Maxwell [email protected]
[EAC] <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>
> To quote from the official FLAC website, "FLAC stands out as the fastest
> and most widely supported lossless audio codec, and the only one that at
> once is non-proprietary, is unencumbered by patents, has an
> open-source reference implementation, has a well documented format and API,
> and has several other independent implementations.”
>
>
> I was unaware that the official FLAC website states that FLAC is the best
> lossless format.  That is convincing. ;)
>

:)


> Not to disparage Fred's expertise in any way, but even the European
> Broadcasting Union uses FLAC, and not ALAC.
>
>
> The European Broadcasting Union adopted FLAC in October of 2007, when ALAC
> was still a proprietary, closed source CODEC.  That the EBU did not revisit
> that decision when ALAC was open-sourced by Apple four years later
> is hardly evidence of the superiority of FLAC.
>

You know, I don't think I argued that FLAC was superior because of anything
that it can do, only that it is usable on more platforms, programs, and in
more organizations than other lossless codecs.


> Here’s an example of the standardization documented on Xiph’s website:
>
> *What kinds of tags does FLAC support?*
>
> FLAC has it's own native tagging system which is identical to that of
> Vorbis. They are called alternately "FLAC tags" and "Vorbis comments". It
> is the only tagging system required and guaranteed to be supported by
> FLAC implementations.
>
> Out of convenience, the reference decoder knows how to skip ID3 tags so
> that they don't interfere with decoding. But you should not expect any tags
> beside FLAC tags to be supported in applications; some implementations
> may not even be able to decode a FLAC file with ID3 tags.
>
>
> You can have a FLAC file with an ID3 tag that works on the reference
> decoder, but the tag information won’t be processed or recognized..  Other
> applications may not even be able to decode that file.  That’s not a
> standard.  It’s a mess.  Either ID3 tags are acceptable or they are not. If
> they are not, then the decoder should not be written so as to allow them.
> If they are, then they should be part of the spec.  The web is filled with
> people complaining about ID3 tags in FLAC files, including those added as a
> default by EAC: https://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30377
>

ID3 tags are "acceptable" in the sense that they don't break the file and
stop it from playing, or decoding. My copy of EAC (and Easy AC) doesn't add
ID3 tags to FLAC files, because I didn't tell it to do such a stupid thing.
Nonetheless, the reference decoder is robust enough to play the file even
if I were that stupid. Would you prefer it to slap me upside the head and
prevent me from rescuing my music with, say, mp3tag that can strip off or
convert ID3 tags to FLAC tags? I would expect such dictatorial behavior
from a Microsoft product, not an open-source one.


>
> Another “standardization” issue is the use of "Vorbis comments” for
> tagging.  Saying “here’a a place for you to make up field names and assign
> text to them” is a standard.  But it is a problematic standard since,
> according to xiph, "No single or group of field names is mandatory; a
> comment header may contain one, all or none of the names in this list.”
> I won’t belabor that point as I’m sure you can see the ramifications
> yourself.
>

Yup. I can use any, all, or none. Very flexible. Works for me.


> Anyway, it's a non-issue, since one can convert back and forth between
> FLAC and ALAC without any loss (except your own time).
>
>
> Provided that your freeform Vorbis comment field names align with the MP4
> tag rigidly specified tag names.
>

MP4 is a wrapper for one or more codecs: Apple invented the wrapper because
AAC by itself didn't have ways to add DRM. AAC and ALAC codecs are not
necessarily identical with MP4. A suitably adventurous programmer could
probably wrap an ALAC stream in an Ogg container. Anyway, if you start with
"rigidly specified" tag names, they do transport back and forth, and those
are the ones most likely to be used by almost everyone -- but if you,
yourself, alone, have a special need for a custom tag, you can use it in
FLAC.The DATA. the MUSIC, is lossless in either format. Isn't that what
really matters?


>
> Apple has sold in excess of 2.2 billion iPhones, 360 million iPads, and
> 100 million iPods, so I don’t think that we are wanting for devices that
> natively, without third party add-ons, support ALAC but not FLAC.  Of
> course, if your devices support FLAC and not ALAC, then you’re probably
> better off standardizing on FLAC.
>

My devices -- including my wife's Mac -- support whatever plays in VLC. I'm
just not locked up in an Apple-run prison, so I'd rather be flexible than
depend on "native" support from a vendor with a profit motive and a lust
for power.

Cheers, Fred. We're probably in vehement agreement -- m.


-- 
It is hard to believe a man is telling you the truth when you know you
would lie if you were in his place.
   -- H.L. Mencken