The Official Hard Rock / Classic Metal Music Discussion and Memorabilia Thread!

[BlobVanDam]

Yep - full of shit a lot of the time      Having said that I don't have any trouble believing that ALAC could be inferior to FLAC.   "Lossless is lossless" is like saying "a photocopy is a photocopy" .........the machinery (or in this case the FLAC codec vs ALAC codec) can make a difference.

A photocopy is analog, but a digitally lossless file is precisely that, so they are all equal in terms of quality. You could convert from one lossless format to another lossless format all day long, and never lose any quality.

That said, I'd still trust FLAC over anything from Apple. But as you said, not really worth worrying about. The bigger difference will be in the playback software/hardware, rather than the file format.

[bl5150]

How did I know that you would use technical jargon to destroy my analogy ?     I understand that they are different but my point stands - just because two codecs/copiers exist that claim to produce lossless/fine copies doesn't mean that they are both as effective as each other in all respects.   Many of these audiophile types believe (or did at some point in time)  that ALAC codec is inferior to FLAC.   I really don't care but I don't believe it's necessarily as simple as "if they say it's lossless it's lossless".   And yeah - I don't trust Apple either 

We both agree that it's not worth worrying about - all I was saying is that until I see/hear proof of the codecs' equivalence I don't have any reason to believe Apple over the rogue audiophiles     

You would hope that Apple wouldn't be dumb enough to produce a lossless codec that spits out stuff that isn't "bit for bit" equivalent to FLAC................maybe my memory of these arguments goes back to an early iteration of ALAC when there were some issues.

Anyway...............why are we talking about this shit?

[BlobVanDam]

Well I'm a nerd with nothing better to do. What's your excuse?

What they might mean in ALAC vs FLAC is the file size. Lossless formats like that still compress the file size so that it isn't as big, but it doesn't lose any quality in the process unlike MP3. Maybe FLAC produces smaller file sizes than ALAC. So ALAC may be inferior in that way, despite the audio quality being identical.
The quality will theoretically beat any MP3 regardless, so yeah.

[jjrock88]

Enough with this stuff, lets get back to the rock!!

[Samsara]

Enough with this stuff, lets get back to the rock!!

[wolfking]

I don't know why I even asked.  I don't even know what FLAC and ALAC means?

[wolfking]

Enough with this stuff, lets get back to the rock!!

[Bolsters]

What they might mean in ALAC vs FLAC is the file size. Lossless formats like that still compress the file size so that it isn't as big, but it doesn't lose any quality in the process unlike MP3. Maybe FLAC produces smaller file sizes than ALAC. So ALAC may be inferior in that way, despite the audio quality being identical.

I just converted a couple of FLAC files to ALAC. The comparison is 34.4MB to 35MB, and 19.3MB to 19.7MB. So yeah, it does appear to be slightly less efficient data compression.

So as to not be off topic:

[jjrock88]

What they might mean in ALAC vs FLAC is the file size. Lossless formats like that still compress the file size so that it isn't as big, but it doesn't lose any quality in the process unlike MP3. Maybe FLAC produces smaller file sizes than ALAC. So ALAC may be inferior in that way, despite the audio quality being identical.

I just converted a couple of FLAC files to ALAC. The comparison is 34.4MB to 35MB, and 19.3MB to 19.7MB. So yeah, it does appear to be slightly less efficient data compression.

So as to not be off topic:

Enough with this stuff, lets get back to the rock!!

[TAC]

[wolfking]

Jason is going to go ape shit in a minute.

[TAC]

He better not give me any.....FLAC!

[TAC]

Jason is going to go ape shit in a minute.

I see what you did there!

[Samsara]

 

[Big Hath]

He better not give me any.....FLAC!

if he gets his hands on you, he'll shorten your life

[bl5150]

OK JJ - can you please go back to the rock ? 

[TAC]

 

[jjrock88]

What the fuck is the flac?

[jjrock88]

And I'll hire Ogre from Revenge of the Nerds to clean up this thread if need be lol

[TAC]

What the fuck is the flac?

"That's a flac, jack!"

[BlobVanDam]

Jason is going to go ape shit in a minute.

I see what you did there!

[bl5150]

You requested my opinion on the new Firewind Kade............My first listen was very stop/start so I just gave it a proper "one sitting" second listen and it connected much more the second time around.   I have never been a big Firewind fan and , as you may remember , I rated Gus G's solo work much lower than you did.   His songwriting has never impressed me.  So I am a bit surprised to say that this is a very good album - by far the best thing I have heard from him.

Henning Basse does a fine job , sounding more than a bit like Rob Rock at times.   Gus G shreds a bit but plays very tastefully - his tone is reminiscent of prime TMac at times.

There's a number of very strong tracks (nothing mindblowing or original but plenty to like) and nothing sucks , which are the key ingredients for a good rating from me.   Only 10 tracks +1 bonus is nice too.......the filler really can be a killer these days.

My rating : 87%

[jjrock88]

I don't know much about Firewind, but you piqued my interest when you mentioned that Basse sounded like Rob Rock. Checked out Hands of Time and there definitely is a Rob Rock singing vibe. Good tune!

[Lowdz]

Worth a listen then. I've never given them much time.

[wolfking]

Fucking nice Brent.  Gonna try and get my hands on it this weekend.  Comparing Gus to TMac is fair enough, he's a stellar guitarist.

[Lowdz]

New Place Vendome. Yeah, won't be bothering with this.

https://youtu.be/O5JEGqYWeO0

[BlobVanDam]

Didn't sound bad, but it sounds like every other Frontiers metal album, and the vocals let it down a bit. Musically it wasn't bad though, and the production is really good for a Frontiers album. Not one I'm personally interested in.

[Samsara]

Just got done listening to the new firewind for the first time. Very good record. Basse isnt Apollo, but hes much better than the guy that first took over for Apollo (was it kelly sundown?)

Album and vocals are solid top to bottom. If you are a firewind fan, it delivers for sure. 

[jjrock88]

That PV was ok, better than the first single. But really not feeling anything I'm hearing from this album and definitely wouldn't be picking it up

Kiske has clearly taken care of his voice over the years as he still sounds strong vocally.

[TAC]

Well, I'll be getting it. Love Kiske, and the music is jusk ok enough to get by.

The beginning to Herafter reminded me a bit of UFO's WE Belong To The Night.

[wolfking]

That Place Vendome song is a DGM cover.  Why, I don't know.

[gazinwales]

Firewind, nothing has ever done anything for me with them.
I've tried a few albums and to be brutally honest, I really think that they are  lower second tier band.
Solid, unspectacular and nothing at all that sets them apart from the umpteen other power metal bands doing the same thing.

[wolfking]

Firewind, nothing has ever done anything for me with them.
I've tried a few albums and to be brutally honest, I really think that they are  lower second tier band.
Solid, unspectacular and nothing at all that sets them apart from the umpteen other power metal bands doing the same thing.

Funny it seems like they are definitely one of those bands that some like myself really rate them or they just totally miss the mark.

[Lowdz]

Firewind, nothing has ever done anything for me with them.
I've tried a few albums and to be brutally honest, I really think that they are  lower second tier band.
Solid, unspectacular and nothing at all that sets them apart from the umpteen other power metal bands doing the same thing.

Funny it seems like they are definitely one of those bands that some like myself really rate them or they just totally miss the mark.

Like Hammerfall. Started to play the latest one earlier and enjoyed the first track but I got about a mi ute into the  second and had to turn it off. That church hymn style chanting just makes me cringe. Played Herman Frank after it and that was much better

[jjrock88]

Just playing Halfords Live Insurrection cd.

This is a live album that doesn't get much attention, but IMO it's one of the best live metal albums of all time.

Rob is an absolute beast on this disc and it's one of my all time favorites.