ome websites can convert to wav for the upscaling try some plugins back in the day i used steinberg spectralizer to bring some higher frequencies or recreate them some brick wall, try zynaptiq unchirp

 

I think he's basically saying that if you're going to process it you should convert it to wav. Because every time you save in MP3 (lossy) you lose quality (there's lossy conversion applied). It's the same with JPEG images. It's what many of us do when using a MP3 in the DAW.

Since lossy formats stores frequency contents when you convert to WAV (lossless) you need a conversion. It's somehow similar to regular upsampling but more complex, that's why he says it with quotes.

 

I figured as much.
That screenshot was for all of us who are all pretty much saying much the same thing as you have, which is if you convert it to lossy it's not bi-directional, and converting back to WAV from lossy is only useful in a DAW where you can use plugins but truly, only simulate through EQ (and others) what was lost in the lossy.

 

You can dress an mp3 in shiek (chic) wav fashion but a pig is still a pig (though it might look cute).

 

Last edited: Jan 23, 2021

I couldn't even download my own stuff!!!

 

Thanks guys for the explanations and clarifications of course I didnt want to download a "lossy lossless" wav from soundcloud, now I know its really hard to get a real lossless format.

 

Ok, full disclosure. I just wanted to show off productive knowledge for once. Last time I did was like 8 months ago...

What do you mean your wife... she's MY wife!
Wait a min... HONEY, ARE YOU CHEATING ON ME?? AND WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING??!!!

 

And you did it well

 

I think the OP wants to download for free( eg not pay for it as I believe that the majority of bandcamp is that)

 

To download from Soundcloud, I always use JDownloader2.
JD2 is also able to grab higher quality files but only if the uploader added them
and made them available to download.

Btw. there's a nice tool to check if someone converted a lossy file into a lossless format.
It's called Spek (a Spectrum Analyzer).

Here's an example: 1st file is the original file, 2nd converted to 128kbps, 3rd converted back to lossless (wav).


Lost frequencys stay lost, converting lossy formats into lossless doesn't make any sense.

I use spek often when I downloaded some music to check if it's just ripped from somewhere or based on the original file.
It even helped me to identify sample packs as reencoded lossy stuff.

If you want to download music in high quality for free and without hassling around, I recommend the
AIDS Music App. It lets you download any kind of music in flac format from Deezer, with or without account.
Without Account you just need an ARL/Deezer token (found one after using google for a minute).

 

Last edited: Jan 24, 2021

@r4e Please don't look at spectra when comparing lossy codecs. An original and a bad quality compressed file can have the same spectra yet the encoded version can be full of nasty artifacts. You can't spot audible effects of sub band quantisation from spectrum levels.

Blind tests are the way to go IMHO.

 

Nah, I'm blind testing after I identified lossy files using a spectrum. For the first sight the spectral analysis is quick & perfect.
I mean ye, there are files that have a low spectral range of frequencies but you still can identify them as lossless or not by
looking closer:


In this case the track on the right is just quieter / has a lower peak but you can clearly see the smoothness of the spectrum
while on the left the upper frequencies seem cut of.

 

Yes but not every codec works like that. You can adjust levels and modify the LP cutoff in an encoder to encode @ full bandwidth and low bit rate at the same time.

 

No, but why not buy a FLAC or WAV version from the artist on Bandcamp or wherever? The streaming audio is low-bitrate for a reason or two, one of them being that it's not full-quality.

Uploading higher-res files to Soundcloud merely ensures that the streaming audio will sound less like shit.

 

Tried AIDS music app: doesnt work
Any file says "file not available in flac" and yes, I signed in with ARL
The app is v1.052: maybe outdated?

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jan 24, 2021

I'm using v1.058 and it just works (using a random ARL from the net).
In the settings I selected FLAC as default dl quality, maybe that helps.

Also can share that ARL in a PM, maybe it's the reason.

 

I have SoundCloud PRO yearly plan. As a PRO user I can upload lossless WAV files and download them back in original quality. But no option to download losless audio from other accounts as far as I know

 

PRODUCT knowlege?!
She's a Human Pig!

 

I'm so sorry to be the one that has to break it to you...that's a defiant laugh. She's no longer is willing to download your shite, lossy, faux .flac files for you after 4pm every day when you're drunk on piss quality cerveza and cheap sangria and is pregnant with a litter of droplet's piglets.



This job of Forum Cryer can be really tough. I recently showed Mrs. Pirate photographic evidence of her husband's sexual affair with a California Seal. That great big smile on his face broke her saddened heart.

 

Last edited: Jan 25, 2021