When I stream ALACs, they get transcoded to lossless WAV files that gobble up two-to three times as much bandwidth in transit, and space on the receiving device's cache. When I stream FLACs, they transmit as FLACs. One of the options is to leave the originals intact, or transcode them on the fly to a lossy format (for lower bandwidth devices). Here's another dealbreaker: I use a NAS to stream my FLACs over the Internet. Wipe out your iTunes library, or delete and subsequently re-import your music, and all your ratings are toast. For instance, I typically make the decision to remove a track from my portable devices while I'm listening to it -it's nice to know that I can lower the rating on the device, and the next time I sync it, the smart playlist I built (which uses rating info as a criteria) will remove the song automatically. This may not be a big deal for people who don't use star (or now "love") ratings in their libraries, but it can be a pretty convenient way to build and edit auto-sync playlists. The three previous commenters make excellent anti-ALAC points, to which I would add the following regarding the "reviled" Apple ecosystem: iTunes and ALAC do not support embedding ratings in track tags, while most FLAC editors do. This has everything to do with their long-term disk storage and nothing about audible differences or that one format is “better” than another. Some high-res audiophile music download sites, like HDTracks, will give you both ALAC and FLAC, or they will give you just one and not the other. To oversimplify things, ALAC is an Apple-based solution to compress lossless file while FLAC was initially developed as an “open” format. ALAC battle? It has nothing to do with audio quality and everything to do with the perceived-emphasis on the word “perceived”-Apple ecosystem lock-in and consequent player choices. So, if the difference isn’t audible, then why are are you here and why do you get the sense that there’s such a zeal and fervor over the FLAC vs. That’s ultimately the case because all FLAC or ALAC files are compressed versions of a “lossless” original, which means that the original file, when compressed in either format to make it smaller to store and transmit, doesn’t lose any of its quality when it’s played on your system. From an audio perspective, there’s no difference between FLAC or ALAC files that are recorded at the same sampling rate. Guys, I’m sorry, but the answer is going to be way too boring-at least at first. So, you’re waiting for me to tell you that ALAC has sweeter highs and that FLAC has better bottom-end authority, right? Or perhaps you wouldn’t be surprised if I told you that FLAC sounded a bit more detailed and open but ALAC had a better soundstage?
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