I sent an email..Anybody have an answer from the company?

I contacted both bravado and google

Google is making a huge push to compete with iTuner.
They have put a lot of money and promo into becoming the superior player in the MP3 marketing world. They wanna be the go to for cellphone purchases, pad purchases and desktop computer purchases. They are compatible with every known MP3 playing device available. FLAC doesn't have a place in any of that. No Justin Bieber purchasing smartphone user is gonna want FLAC, and no MP3 device can play it.

Because the Stones partnered with an MP3 powerhouse you will need to search elsewhere for the FLAC.

I am wondering that also.

"What's the reason that the US can't have FLAC?"
Does anyone know the answer to this?

If & when they make it available as FLAC in the US, you'll probably have to pay again.

Munichhilton is probably right. Google got the deal for Brussels Affair in the US. In Europe and elsewhere, I guess Stonesarchive.com is selling it more independently.

But it's not quite true that "no mp3 device" can play Flac. Sure, it's less common than mp3, but it's easy to find a flac player for Android (which is made by Google). It *think* my Android phone can play flacs through its default music player. It also plays ogg files.

Quote
schillid
If & when they make it available as FLAC in the US, you'll probably have to pay again.

And you wouldn't know if it's really lossless FLAC or upsampled from the mp3. Sad.
Where can you actually get the FLAC version at this time?

FLAC is like Filet Mignon
MP3 is like a Big Mac

Quote
treaclefingers
FLAC is like Filet Mignon
MP3 is like a Big Mac

And when you're hungry, you eat either one.

Quote
billwebster

Quote
schillid
If & when they make it available as FLAC in the US, you'll probably have to pay again.

And you wouldn't know if it's really lossless FLAC or upsampled from the mp3. Sad.
Where can you actually get the FLAC version at this time?

Look for demons....;-)

They are selling the FLAC version..Just not in the US. The choice should be up to the customer.



SOULSURVIVOR

you just have to know where to look, the flacs are on usenet in the lossless group.

Quote
Slick
you just have to know where to look, the flacs are on usenet in the lossless group.

sshhhhhh ;-)


IORR............but I like it!

Quote
schillid

Quote
treaclefingers
FLAC is like Filet Mignon
MP3 is like a Big Mac

And when you're hungry, you eat either one.

not if the filet is big enough.

Quote
treaclefingers
FLAC is like Filet Mignon
MP3 is like a Big Mac

more like a big mac without the toppings

Quote
ghostryder13

Quote
treaclefingers
FLAC is like Filet Mignon
MP3 is like a Big Mac

more like a big mac without the toppings

More like a single McDonald's regular hamburger with no toppings.

We're all prisoners of Rock And Roll. Jailhouse Rock!!!

Quote
LieB
Munichhilton is probably right. Google got the deal for Brussels Affair in the US. In Europe and elsewhere, I guess Stonesarchive.com is selling it more independently.

But it's not quite true that "no mp3 device" can play Flac. Sure, it's less common than mp3, but it's easy to find a flac player for Android (which is made by Google). It *think* my Android phone can play flacs through its default music player. It also plays ogg files.

You're right.
I don't think of phones as MP3 devices, but I guess I need to start!

For you flac fans, what is the real benefit of flac's? Is it simply that it sounds better than mp3's when burned to a cd? Seems to me most audio programs (such as itunes) can't play the files, and even if they did it wouldn't take many flac's to fill up the average mp3 player considering the huge size of the files. How are most of you using the flac's? To my ears, when comparing the sound to a 320 mp3, I can't tell the difference and I've always had an ear for clarity when it comes to my music.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-11-20 22:24 by shadooby.

Quote
shadooby
For you flac fans, what is the real benefit of flac's? Is it simply that it sounds better than mp3's when burned to a cd? Seems to me most audio programs (such as itunes) can't play the files, and even if they did it wouldn't take many flac's to fill up the average mp3 player considering the huge size of the files. How are most of you using the flac's? To my ears, when comparing the sound to a 320 mp3, I can't tell the difference and I've always had an ear for clarity when it comes to my music.

convert flac to aiff.


IORR............but I like it!

Neo, I did that but can't import to itunes...did I do something wrong? Never mind, I see it, I was converting to Dolby Digital. I think I'll stick with converting to mp3, the aiff's are larger than the flac's.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2011-11-20 22:39 by shadooby.

FLAC means you have a master copy.

You can dilute it to MP3 for use in anyway you desire here and there but when its all over...you still have an uncompromisable master copy in FLAC.

MP3's have all sorts of problems that pop up. Plus you can't trace whether its a twice compressed (or more) MP3 or a once compressed MP3.

For example.
I download an MP3 that says its 320K. I have no way of knowing if thats true.
I can now transfer that to 128K if I like. Or maybe to 256K.
Either way, I have just compressed an already compressed file and deteriorated the sound quality even more than before.

If I have FLAC, I can always decompress to wav, and compress to MP3 320K and know that is exactly what it is.

If you listen to true 320K...it is going to be the same as lossless to your ears. Only a small dog could hear the discrepancies.

But when you are D/Ling from some of the seedy sites I've been around...you have no idea what you are actually getting. Once an MP3 hits dual compression, which happens all the time, you are absolutely gonna hear the difference and wish you had a better source file to make your own MP3s with...


FLAC

(stepping down from soapbox)

Thanks Munich.

There's definitely a difference. The reason why the MP3 files are so small is because they are missing digital data information.

The amount of difference will depend on different factors such as the source of the FLAC files,the playback equipment used (amp / sound processor / receiver / source unit),the quality (or lack there of) of the digital to analog converter chips in the playback equipment,the quality (or lack there of) of the speakers used to listen to the FLAC files etc.. Granted,for an MP3 / digital audio player,the difference could be small in some applications - listening on the go and so on.

The capabilities of "most audio programs" and what types of files they can't play is completely irrelevant to me and that shouldn't be a real factor here because,all you need is ONE program that CAN handle a broad range of digital files including FLAC files such as VLC Media Player or Kantaris Media Player (both free) and you're good to go.

Also,as far as the size of the files goes,you can easily get a huge eSATA or USB external hard drive relatively cheap and then connect it to audio / video equipment. You can also just use a portable USB stick. File size is not a big deal these days. Maybe it was five years ago,but,it doesn't have to be now. Most half-way decent MP3 players / MP3 + FLAC players now even have SD card or Micro SD card slots to further expand their capacity.

I don't see why Google Music can't offer both FLAC and MP3 options as Rolling Stones.com does.

FLAC is superior to mp3 and thats all there is to it. I love mp3s (always V0 rips) but flac is simply the better file. You will likely never notice the difference on a laptop or mp3 player (or ipod/phone whathaveyou) but you WILL notice a difference on a great sound system. My 5.1 surround sound (all Polk on a Denon 866) sounds fantastic with flac. Yamaha HS80M studios monitors sound GLORIOUS with flac, but you simply can't tell a major difference unless you have good equipment to enjoy the files. It took me several years to build up what I currently have.

Here are screenshots of spectral analysis of Brown Sugar from official Brussels Affair.

I converted Brown Sugar original FLAC file to various MP3 quality files.


The black part on top shows the degraded / lost music informations.

As you can see the more the file is compressed the more there is lost information.



1 - Brown Sugar in FLAC (full spectral, nothing is lost) - Equivalent to CD audio quality






2 - Brown Sugar in MP3 @ 320 kb/s (cut above 20khz and slightly degraded above 16khz) - That's what Google Music is selling.





3 - Brown Sugar in MP3 @ 245kb/s (Cut above 19kHz and more degrading above 16kHz) - Equivalent to iTunes files.





4 - Brown Sugar in MP3 @ 128kb/s (cut above 16kHz and slight degrading under 16kHz) - This what used to be most MP3's until the mid 2000's (including iTunes).

Quote
Winning Ugly VXII
I don't see why Google Music can't offer both FLAC and MP3 options as Rolling Stones.com does.

If and when Google Music offers FLAC in the USA...
To those US customers who have already paid for the MP3 album on Google Music's website, they should offer an opportunity to get the FLAC files for a small upgrade price.

So, in other words, the only real way to enjoy the benefit of flac is to have a receiver that can play the digital file (i.e. usb input)? I've got both the mp3's and the flac's and whether it's on my computer with some pretty good speakers or my ipod thru aux input on my Sherwood hi-fi (w/out usb input) I can't tell the difference. I'm new to flac's and just trying to justify the large file size as far as downloading and storage.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2011-11-21 02:02 by shadooby.

The people who want the vaults open are obviously true audiophiles/tapers and of course super Stones fans so it is baffling as to why someone in The stones camp did not make it happen despite Google vs. Itunes competition.

Maybe someone should upload the official Flac at a free torrent sight and F these clueless fools?!?!

That's the way business learns.

If they do not make the vault releases available in hard copy, actual physical cds, rather than just cyber space releases, they will turn up as overpriced bootlegs at the Bootleg Shop.

incidentally, there isn't a soul among us who could tell the difference in sound between these mp3's and the flac files...anyone who says otherwise is a fibber.