I am starting to notice that a lot of files that are supposed to be lossless are in fact lossy files pretending to be lossless. I don't see any thing in the forum rules about this. A search on the topic didn't generate anything obvious.

I appreciate all the different files - lossless and losssy. I would prefer people were upfront about the source of the their particular files. If they:
a) Know a series of files is lossless - state it
b) Know a series of files is lossy - don't try to fake it by upgrading to FLAC etc - it doesn't work. Once they are lossy - every generation after that, will be lossy.
c) Don't know - say so.

How about the rest of you out there - do you want to know about the files that are pretenders? A recent download that was over 5 GB of space and many attempts turned out to be lossy - I would not have put that time & effort to something I already had. I would like to know the true quality of the files.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2018-11-14 01:10 by Rot10Crotch.

I belong to guitars101.com. There are separate forums for lossless and lossy files.

Oh no not that again...

No, this is an issue. Preference of sound quality has real reasons, and lineage if a recording is important. People who collect "only lossless" can't fool themselves and say their collection of bootlegs and downloads is pristine, but lossless is better and should be sought out and identified so people have a choice.

Also, the greater amount of lossy recordings people accept increases the chances that lossy is all everyone will get in the future. Audio enthusiasts have spent decades pursuing quality in the recordings and playback media they will pay for, and now it's all in danger of being "dumbed down" to the quality of AM radio and resold to us as "convenience."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-11-14 13:41 by andrews27.

So do people want me to post when a collection of files is not lossless? or will it get removed?

Andrews27 has a point.... a collector has the right to know if he's downloading flac or lossy. It's like buying artificially sweetened ice cream or cane sugar at the grocery store.

I entirely support full disclosure.

A "right" to know ? Really? The collector isn't buying anything when downloading, it's more like stealing artificially sweetened ice cream or cane sugar from the grocery store

But apart from that - what's the problem? I always try to download the best possible quality. Even lossless files have their limits but people tend to see the CD-standard as ultimate. But we all should know better by now. let's face it - a "pristine" collection of downloads is a contradiction in terms.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-11-14 16:33 by silkcut1978_.

Some originals are made from an original "lossy" recording.

I would suggest that people install a software like Audacity (that one is free, correct me if I'm wrong) and check one or two tracks before uploading.

If the source is lossy, just mention that in you post.
Even a "probly lossy" comment would suffice.

Chris from Belgium

Quote
Rot10Crotch
So do people want me to post when a collection of files is not lossless? or will it get removed?

It won't be removed if it is allowed to be shared here (that means not official stuff).
This forum was turned into more lossless in the last 10 years because we prefer it in those formats (at least the most of who participate actively).
So you can share something lossy if you want, there's no problem. Just be clear that it is lossy! There's lot of stuff that only circulates in lossy formats at least for the common circles.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-11-14 23:17 by Quique-stone.

It's just best to know what you're getting. As Chris M. points out, "Some originals are made from an original 'lossy' recording." That can't be helped. But another reduction to .mp3 turned into flac files further degrades things. If you know you turned a lossy trade CDR or download into flac files, say so, so collectors know what they will be getting if they grab it. Also, then a lossy version won't spread to other sites as readily.

I used to trade by the hundreds using a portable external.
I did not know how to check and trusted the traders.
At least the files coming from torrents should be lossless, as long as they were no converted to mp3.
Two or three years ago I learned how to check with audacity and EAC.
My excel has 17000 lines and still not all is listed.
Checking all files is a project I work on now and than.

When I know something is lossy I do mention this.
I might have been posting lossy files in the time I did not know how to check.
Again, Checking all files is a project I work on now and than.