What is FLAC?

[slash1213]

hey guys.. I think this is the right place to ask this. Can anybody tell me what is FLAC files. Someone told me only that the quality is better... However , I downloaded some music in FLAC and decoded it an all that crap.. and sounds pretty much the same to me,, am I doing something wrong?..the only difference I notice is the files are 80 MB instead of 3 MB hehe.. Thanks in advance

[kaasupoltin]

It's lossless, it's the best sound quality you can get. But if you're fine with .mp3 etc. then I don't see any reason to use FLACs

[Aerosmith]

 Flac files is a type of compression without loss of quality with respect to the original (Wav PCM files), instead Mp3, Wma or ogg, ?cuts certain frequencies that supposedly are not audible to the human ear. For example an Mp3 at 128 kb/s cuts frequencies upwards of 15000 Hz, with that we are losing the last 5000 Hz of the audible spectrum, besides that adds some noise to the signal.
 I hope you understand me, since my english is not the best.

[zombux]

+ MP3 under 192kbps or so is becoming different from the original, it distorts the sound, especially lower bitrates add more bass and destroys middles and trebles. however, 256kbps or more is pretty similar to the original.

[ForeverGNR]

http://flac.sourceforge.net/

[slash1213]

thanks to everyone who answered.. I guess I ll stay with Mp3 for now,, until I buy a  500 GB hard drive