Hi there,
I have just started a pretty large project, which means I'm going to end up with a lot of FLAC files. So far I've completed four songs and they all are aprox. 50mb each in size (which means I already have almost 200mb of flac files, with just four songs). I'm pretty sure I'm not using the optimal FLAC settings for storage.

What I wanted to ask in the first place is what settings should I use when exporting FLAC? I'm looking for that sweet spot where it's not too heavy but there is barely any audible difference in quality.

I may or may not post some of these online, so I definitely want to find the mentioned sweet spot between size and audio quality, I'm just not sure what that is. To me FLAC sounds amazing on its own, but I'm sure that on higher end audio equipment (which I don't have... yet) there can be a noticeable difference.

Thanks.

 

I'm sorry but it sounds like you need to understand what .flac is.

Uhmm. .flac is a lossless data compression container for your full rate audio.
There are no optimal settings!
I guess if you want to store it in .flac you have your reasons.

Most people use 96kHz now and 24Bit.
I don't know how "large" your projects are, but they sound small and I'd have to guess your projects are set at 16Bit 44.1kHz? Or 48kHz? IE Big projects are way bigger than 50MB.
And most of the time when I receive some .flac files, when I unpack them to use them, the .wav or.aiff will be about 1/3rd bigger than the compressed .flac
I really hope that ^ sentence should show you what you have misunderstood?

So are you implying that you are going to save all the individual tracks as .flac?
May I ask why, please?

edit:

Oh. Don't bother. Oh dear. I must have missed this! haha.
You misunderstand. Full rate audio that is inside the .flac is what sounds good! lol
IF full rate audio was in the .flac in the first place...

 

Last edited: Sep 7, 2021

There is a general rule of thumb most people adhere to. They want what they are hearing to pass to the audience they intend it for.
The optimal settings for any export are at the rate you have recorded it and are playing back at, that you are happy with, whatever that rate is.
FLAC and WAV are lossless so the output if rendered/exported in real time, should sound identical.

 

If you're talking about the differnet levels of compression (0 to -8), just use the slowest one. It'll take a bit longer to render (which isn't as bad as it sounds) but the size will be smaller. Either way, you won't loose quality.

Bit depht and sample rate will depend on your project, and you should really treat that the same way you treat WAV. Just use the setup you're using in your project or what you're asked by the media you're going to use. If you render to a higher sample rate just "because", you'll end up with larger files that will sound different to what you were listening in your project (because of upsampling) and that could be bad.

 

I guess what I really should be asking is what the "compression" setting in my daw does to a file format that is inherently uncompressed.

 

Mk_96 answered that for you just above. FLAC is lossless even compressed.

 

In my opinion the flac file has less settings than an mp3. The bitrate/samplerate setting must be left in "original".
If your master is wav 44/16 then the file will be generated with this resolution. If the master is at a higher resolution let's say 96/24, then the flac will be encoded at this resolution and those who have a performing DAC (or audio interface) will be able to listen to it in 96/24
Flac compression has the same concept as zip: hi compression--> slower to encode (wav to flac) & smaller in size, as far as I know, the file with high compression will require slightly more cpu to decode (play), the sound of the audio files in both cases will not change.
In case your flac files are the final product to be delivered to the streaming service, take care of the metadata and the cover image

 

This is a very good piece of software: dBpoweramp - Music Converter R17.3 www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm

 

FLAC is a way to preserve your original WAV, but in a smaller package. So you just set the compression (0 to 8) while keeping your mastering WAV settings.

 

In the past I did many tests about space-saving in lossless audio compression (FLAC, APE, Lossleess WMA, etc). I came to the conclusion that size reduction heavily depends on the actual audio structure or character. "Simple" audio (like a solo violin) compresses much much more, but a complex pop or dance production with many instruments covering a wide frequency spectrum (specially if these play at the same time) are much more difficult to compress. I've seen space reduction vary from 20 to 50%.

And about the settings, as it's lossless, I'd always advise you to use the settings that give you maximum compression. If you are using lossless compression it's because you want to reduce space, so...

I hope this helps you (look at the table):

https://boomspeaker.com/flac-compression-levels-explained/

 

Yes, true: it is interesting to note that flac size is contents-dependent
For example:

• 5 min of reggae dub at 48/24 results in a 64.6 mb file
• 5 min of silence at 48/24 results in a 7.8 mb file

 

As is .wav or .aiff or .mp3! lol

 

Nope, a wav file without any content (all tracks muted, or no tracks existing at all) has the same size as one with content. Try yourself.

 

I did, which is why I said it. Many times over the years, but not just now. oh well.
And I wasn't talking specifically about VBR mp3 which obviously does change in relation to frequencies in the song passages that are different...

This compounds the idea that I may actually be from another dimension. Just slipped in here somehow.
I mean, I've only met two other people recently that can fly, and we haven't seen anybody else flying recently.
Has there been a law passed that we missed?

 

Last edited: Sep 8, 2021

you really enjoy being a contrarian on any subject
Despite that, we love you just the way you are...

 

I wish at least one of those statements was true.

 

for compression, an algorithm similar to compression algorithms for archives is used. FLAC uses an algorithm very similar to ZIP (it may have been based on the ZIP algorithm).

this is due to the use of compression algorithms that work on the same principle: the more identical sequences of digital data and the larger their size, the more compression will be.
for example, in a document the sequence "123" is repeated 100 times and there are no more sequences in the document, then the compression algorithm simply creates a file in which this sequence is indicated, the number of such sequences in the original document and their order.
for this reason, a WAV file without sound and a WAV file with sound will be the same size (the duration must also be the same), but when compressed by any algorithm (archiver or compressed audio), their sizes will differ. however, the higher the compression ratio is selected, the greater the difference in file size will be.

 

If you want to look cool compress to Kontakt's .ncw.
It's like flac but more glamorous

 

but can be used only with native instruments software

 

Or you could just export to wav and change the extention to .tape for that analog warmth from countless grammy award winning records. Pro audio engineers hate me for this simple trick.