-
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- -
-
| ||||||
- -
-
| ||||||
- -
-
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- -
-
| ||||||||||||||||||
- -
-
| ||||
- -
-
-
-
- metaflac
-
-
-
- metaflac is the command-line .flac file metadata editor. You can use it to list the contents of metadata blocks, edit, delete or insert blocks, and manage padding.
-
- metaflac takes a set of "options" (though some are not optional) and a set of FLAC files to operate on. There are three kinds of "options": -
-
- metaflac --show-md5sum file1.flac file2.flac file3.flac
-
- Another example; this removes all DESCRIPTION and COMMENT tags in a set of FLAC files, and uses the --preserve-modtime global option to keep the FLAC file modification times the same (usually when files are edited the modification time is set to the current time):
-
- metaflac --preserve-modtime --remove-tag=DESCRIPTION --remove-tag=COMMENT file1.flac file2.flac file3.flac
-
- -
-
-
- -
-
-
- -
-
-
-
--
- metaflac takes a set of "options" (though some are not optional) and a set of FLAC files to operate on. There are three kinds of "options": -
-
-
- - Major operations, which specify a mode of operation like listing blocks, removing blocks, etc. These will have sub-operations describing exactly what is to be done. - -
- - Shorthand operations, which are convenient synonyms for major operations. For example, there is a shorthand operation --show-sample-rate that shows just the sample rate field from the STREAMINFO metadata block. - -
- - Global options, which affect all the operations. - -
-
- metaflac --show-md5sum file1.flac file2.flac file3.flac
-
- Another example; this removes all DESCRIPTION and COMMENT tags in a set of FLAC files, and uses the --preserve-modtime global option to keep the FLAC file modification times the same (usually when files are edited the modification time is set to the current time):
-
- metaflac --preserve-modtime --remove-tag=DESCRIPTION --remove-tag=COMMENT file1.flac file2.flac file3.flac
-
- -
-
| ||||||||||||
- -
-
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- -
-
| ||||||||||||||||||
- -
-
-
-
- xmms plugin
-
-
-
- All that is necessary is to copy libxmms-flac.so to the directory where XMMS looks for input plugins (usually /usr/lib/xmms/Input or $HOME/.xmms/Input). There is nothing else to configure. Make sure to restart XMMS before trying to play any .flac files.
-
-
-- -
-
-
-
- winamp2 plugin
-
-
-
- The Winamp plugin should work for both Winamp2 and Winamp5. If you are using Winamp 2.x, all that is necessary is to copy in_flac.dll to the Plugins/ directory of your Winamp installation. There is nothing else to configure. Make sure to restart Winamp before trying to play any .flac files.
-
-
-- -
-
-
-
- known bugs
-
-
-
- Bug tracking is done on the Sourceforge project page here. If you submit a bug, make sure and provide an email contact or use the Monitor feature.
-
- The following are major known bugs in the current (1.1.3) release: -
-
--
- The following are major known bugs in the current (1.1.3) release: -
-
-
- - If your locale does not use "." for the decimal point, there is a bug that causes the default compression settings to be sub-optimal. You should add -A "tukey(0,5)" to your flac command string (or however "0.5" should be formatted for your locale). - -
- - If a corrupted FLAC file is used as input in FLAC-to-FLAC encoding, the transcoded FLAC file will have the audio data truncated after the first error. - -
- - When encoding to Ogg FLAC, if there are too many seek points (>240), the seek table will not have the offsets written back properly after encoding. - -
-
-
- - If you change the FLAC configuration options in the XMMS plugin while a FLAC file is playing, it can cause a crash or other bad things to happen. - -
-
-
- - All decoders prior to and including 1.0.4 have a bug that prevents them from skipping unknown metadata blocks properly. A FLAC file created by flac 1.1.0 containing a CUESHEET metadata block will not decode in 1.0.x decoders. - -
- - metaflac has a bug where, if --import-vc-from is used on a FLAC file that has no Vorbis comment block, the FLAC file can be corrupted. All FLAC files generated by 1.0.4 have a Vorbis comment block added automatically but files from 1.0.3 and before do not. This is fixed in CVS. - -
- - There is an odd bug in metaflac such that you must always use the --dont-use-padding option with --add-padding or the padding block won't be written. This is fixed in CVS. - -
- -
-
diff --git a/doc/html/documentation_bugs.html b/doc/html/documentation_bugs.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..516350e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/html/documentation_bugs.html
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
- monkey
-
-
-
- Monkey's Audio comes with a nice GUI that many people are familiar with. It supports some external encoders, but not FLAC. However, the FLAC Windows distribution comes with a utility that allows you to replace one the of the supported lossless external codecs with FLAC. Here's how:
-
-
-
- Copy flac.exe and flac_ren.exe to the External/ directory of the Monkey's Audio installation. -
-
- Choose a supported encoder to replace:
-
-
-
- Shorten - copy flac_mac.exe on top of External/shortn32.exe -
- WavPack - copy flac_mac.exe on top of both External/wavpack.exe and External/wvunpack.exe -
- RKAU - copy flac_mac.exe on top of External/rkau.exe -
- - Now you can encode FLAC files as if you were using the replaced encoder. The renamed flac_mac.exe utility will call flac.exe and afterwards, flac_ren.exe will rename the resulting file to have the .flac extension. -
+ 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ known bugs
+
+
+
+ The following are major known bugs in the current (1.1.3) release:
+
+
+-
+
- + If your locale does not use "." for the decimal point, there is a bug that causes the default compression settings to be sub-optimal. You should add -A "tukey(0,5)" to your flac command string (or however "0.5" should be formatted for your locale). + +
- + If a corrupted FLAC file is used as input in FLAC-to-FLAC encoding, the transcoded FLAC file will have the audio data truncated after the first error. + +
- + When encoding to Ogg FLAC, if there are too many seek points (>240), the seek table will not have the offsets written back properly after encoding. + +
+ +
+
+
+
+
+ reporting bugs
+
+
+
+ To report a bug, please go to the FLAC bug tracker (or appropriately the feature request tracker, patch page, or support page).
+
+ First check that there is not already an existing request. If you do submit a new request, make sure and provide an email contact and use the Monitor feature.
+
+ Note that we get many false bug reports from people with faulty hardware or who overclock their machines that FLAC is not working. Please do due diligence if you are getting FLAC encoding or decoding errors that it is not the fault of the hardware. FLAC encoding tends to highlight problems with bad RAM, corrupted files, and excessive overclocking. +
+
++
+ First check that there is not already an existing request. If you do submit a new request, make sure and provide an email contact and use the Monitor feature.
+
+ Note that we get many false bug reports from people with faulty hardware or who overclock their machines that FLAC is not working. Please do due diligence if you are getting FLAC encoding or decoding errors that it is not the fault of the hardware. FLAC encoding tends to highlight problems with bad RAM, corrupted files, and excessive overclocking. +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/doc/html/documentation_format_overview.html b/doc/html/documentation_format_overview.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f8e000d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/html/documentation_format_overview.html
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ | + Copyright (c) 2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006 Josh Coalson + | +
+ |
+
+  + |
+
+ |
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ format
+
+
+
+ The basic structure of a FLAC stream is:
+
+
+ METADATA
+
+ FLAC defines several types of metadata blocks (see the format page for the complete list). Metadata blocks can be any length and new ones can be defined. A decoder is allowed to skip any metadata types it does not understand. Only one is mandatory: the STREAMINFO block. This block has information like the sample rate, number of channels, etc., and data that can help the decoder manage its buffers, like the minimum and maximum data rate and minimum and maximum block size. Also included in the STREAMINFO block is the MD5 signature of the unencoded audio data. This is useful for checking an entire stream for transmission errors.
+
+ Other blocks allow for padding, seek tables, tags, cuesheets, and application-specific data. There are flac options for adding PADDING blocks or specifying seek points. FLAC does not require seek points for seeking but they can speed up seeks, or be used for cueing in editing applications.
+
+ Also, if you have a need of a custom metadata block, you can define your own and request an ID here. Then you can reserve a PADDING block of the correct size when encoding, and overwrite the padding block with your APPLICATION block after encoding. The resulting stream will be FLAC compatible; decoders that are aware of your metadata can use it and the rest will safely ignore it.
+
+ AUDIO DATA
+
+ After the metadata comes the encoded audio data. Audio data and metadata are not interleaved. Like most audio codecs, FLAC splits the unencoded audio data into blocks, and encodes each block separately. The encoded block is packed into a frame and appended to the stream. The reference encoder uses a single block size for the whole stream but the FLAC format does not require it.
+
+ BLOCKING
+
+ The block size is an important parameter to encoding. If it is too small, the frame overhead will lower the compression. If it is too large, the modeling stage of the compressor will not be able to generate an efficient model. Understanding FLAC's modeling will help you to improve compression for some kinds of input by varying the block size. In the most general case, using linear prediction on 44.1kHz audio, the optimal block size will be between 2-6 ksamples. flac defaults to a block size of 4608 in this case. Using the fast fixed predictors, a smaller block size is usually preferable because of the smaller frame header.
+
+ INTER-CHANNEL DECORRELATION
+
+ In the case of stereo input, once the data is blocked it is optionally passed through an inter-channel decorrelation stage. The left and right channels are converted to center and side channels through the following transformation: mid = (left + right) / 2, side = left - right. This is a lossless process, unlike joint stereo. For normal CD audio this can result in significant extra compression. flac has two options for this: -m always compresses both the left-right and mid-side versions of the block and takes the smallest frame, and -M, which adaptively switches between left-right and mid-side.
+
+ MODELING
+
+ In the next stage, the encoder tries to approximate the signal with a function in such a way that when the approximation is subracted, the result (called the residual, residue, or error) requires fewer bits-per-sample to encode. The function's parameters also have to be transmitted so they should not be so complex as to eat up the savings. FLAC has two methods of forming approximations: 1) fitting a simple polynomial to the signal; and 2) general linear predictive coding (LPC). I will not go into the details here, only some generalities that involve the encoding options.
+
+ First, fixed polynomial prediction (specified with -l 0) is much faster, but less accurate than LPC. The higher the maximum LPC order, the slower, but more accurate, the model will be. However, there are diminishing returns with increasing orders. Also, at some point (usually around order 9) the part of the encoder that guesses what is the best order to use will start to get it wrong and the compression will actually decrease slightly; at that point you will have to you will have to use the exhaustive search option -e to overcome this, which is significantly slower.
+
+ Second, the parameters for the fixed predictors can be transmitted in 3 bits whereas the parameters for the LPC model depend on the bits-per-sample and LPC order. This means the frame header length varies depending on the method and order you choose and can affect the optimal block size.
+
+ RESIDUAL CODING
+
+ Once the model is generated, the encoder subracts the approximation from the original signal to get the residual (error) signal. The error signal is then losslessly coded. To do this, FLAC takes advantage of the fact that the error signal generally has a Laplacian (two-sided geometric) distribution, and that there are a set of special Huffman codes called Rice codes that can be used to efficiently encode these kind of signals quickly and without needing a dictionary.
+
+ Rice coding involves finding a single parameter that matches a signal's distribution, then using that parameter to generate the codes. As the distribution changes, the optimal parameter changes, so FLAC supports a method that allows the parameter to change as needed. The residual can be broken into several contexts or partitions, each with it's own Rice parameter. flac allows you to specify how the partitioning is done with the -r option. The residual can be broken into 2^n partitions, by using the option -r n,n. The parameter n is called the partition order. Furthermore, the encoder can be made to search through m to n partition orders, taking the best one, by specifying -r m,n. Generally, the choice of n does not affect encoding speed but m,n does. The larger the difference between m and n, the more time it will take the encoder to search for the best order. The block size will also affect the optimal order.
+
+ FRAMING
+
+ An audio frame is preceded by a frame header and trailed by a frame footer. The header starts with a sync code, and contains the minimum information necessary for a decoder to play the stream, like sample rate, bits per sample, etc. It also contains the block or sample number and an 8-bit CRC of the frame header. The sync code, frame header CRC, and block/sample number allow resynchronization and seeking even in the absence of seek points. The frame footer contains a 16-bit CRC of the entire encoded frame for error detection. If the reference decoder detects a CRC error it will generate a silent block.
+
+ MISCELLANEOUS
+
+ As a convenience, the reference decoder knows how to skip ID3v1 and ID3v2 tags. Note however that the FLAC specification does not require compliant implementations to support ID3 in any form and their use is strongly discouraged.
+
+ flac has a verify option -V that verifies the output while encoding. With this option, a decoder is run in parallel to the encoder and its output is compared against the original input. If a difference is found flac will stop with an error. +
+
+-
+
- The four byte string "fLaC" +
- The STREAMINFO metadata block +
- Zero or more other metadata blocks +
- One or more audio frames +
+
+ METADATA
+
+ FLAC defines several types of metadata blocks (see the format page for the complete list). Metadata blocks can be any length and new ones can be defined. A decoder is allowed to skip any metadata types it does not understand. Only one is mandatory: the STREAMINFO block. This block has information like the sample rate, number of channels, etc., and data that can help the decoder manage its buffers, like the minimum and maximum data rate and minimum and maximum block size. Also included in the STREAMINFO block is the MD5 signature of the unencoded audio data. This is useful for checking an entire stream for transmission errors.
+
+ Other blocks allow for padding, seek tables, tags, cuesheets, and application-specific data. There are flac options for adding PADDING blocks or specifying seek points. FLAC does not require seek points for seeking but they can speed up seeks, or be used for cueing in editing applications.
+
+ Also, if you have a need of a custom metadata block, you can define your own and request an ID here. Then you can reserve a PADDING block of the correct size when encoding, and overwrite the padding block with your APPLICATION block after encoding. The resulting stream will be FLAC compatible; decoders that are aware of your metadata can use it and the rest will safely ignore it.
+
+ AUDIO DATA
+
+ After the metadata comes the encoded audio data. Audio data and metadata are not interleaved. Like most audio codecs, FLAC splits the unencoded audio data into blocks, and encodes each block separately. The encoded block is packed into a frame and appended to the stream. The reference encoder uses a single block size for the whole stream but the FLAC format does not require it.
+
+ BLOCKING
+
+ The block size is an important parameter to encoding. If it is too small, the frame overhead will lower the compression. If it is too large, the modeling stage of the compressor will not be able to generate an efficient model. Understanding FLAC's modeling will help you to improve compression for some kinds of input by varying the block size. In the most general case, using linear prediction on 44.1kHz audio, the optimal block size will be between 2-6 ksamples. flac defaults to a block size of 4608 in this case. Using the fast fixed predictors, a smaller block size is usually preferable because of the smaller frame header.
+
+ INTER-CHANNEL DECORRELATION
+
+ In the case of stereo input, once the data is blocked it is optionally passed through an inter-channel decorrelation stage. The left and right channels are converted to center and side channels through the following transformation: mid = (left + right) / 2, side = left - right. This is a lossless process, unlike joint stereo. For normal CD audio this can result in significant extra compression. flac has two options for this: -m always compresses both the left-right and mid-side versions of the block and takes the smallest frame, and -M, which adaptively switches between left-right and mid-side.
+
+ MODELING
+
+ In the next stage, the encoder tries to approximate the signal with a function in such a way that when the approximation is subracted, the result (called the residual, residue, or error) requires fewer bits-per-sample to encode. The function's parameters also have to be transmitted so they should not be so complex as to eat up the savings. FLAC has two methods of forming approximations: 1) fitting a simple polynomial to the signal; and 2) general linear predictive coding (LPC). I will not go into the details here, only some generalities that involve the encoding options.
+
+ First, fixed polynomial prediction (specified with -l 0) is much faster, but less accurate than LPC. The higher the maximum LPC order, the slower, but more accurate, the model will be. However, there are diminishing returns with increasing orders. Also, at some point (usually around order 9) the part of the encoder that guesses what is the best order to use will start to get it wrong and the compression will actually decrease slightly; at that point you will have to you will have to use the exhaustive search option -e to overcome this, which is significantly slower.
+
+ Second, the parameters for the fixed predictors can be transmitted in 3 bits whereas the parameters for the LPC model depend on the bits-per-sample and LPC order. This means the frame header length varies depending on the method and order you choose and can affect the optimal block size.
+
+ RESIDUAL CODING
+
+ Once the model is generated, the encoder subracts the approximation from the original signal to get the residual (error) signal. The error signal is then losslessly coded. To do this, FLAC takes advantage of the fact that the error signal generally has a Laplacian (two-sided geometric) distribution, and that there are a set of special Huffman codes called Rice codes that can be used to efficiently encode these kind of signals quickly and without needing a dictionary.
+
+ Rice coding involves finding a single parameter that matches a signal's distribution, then using that parameter to generate the codes. As the distribution changes, the optimal parameter changes, so FLAC supports a method that allows the parameter to change as needed. The residual can be broken into several contexts or partitions, each with it's own Rice parameter. flac allows you to specify how the partitioning is done with the -r option. The residual can be broken into 2^n partitions, by using the option -r n,n. The parameter n is called the partition order. Furthermore, the encoder can be made to search through m to n partition orders, taking the best one, by specifying -r m,n. Generally, the choice of n does not affect encoding speed but m,n does. The larger the difference between m and n, the more time it will take the encoder to search for the best order. The block size will also affect the optimal order.
+
+ FRAMING
+
+ An audio frame is preceded by a frame header and trailed by a frame footer. The header starts with a sync code, and contains the minimum information necessary for a decoder to play the stream, like sample rate, bits per sample, etc. It also contains the block or sample number and an 8-bit CRC of the frame header. The sync code, frame header CRC, and block/sample number allow resynchronization and seeking even in the absence of seek points. The frame footer contains a 16-bit CRC of the entire encoded frame for error detection. If the reference decoder detects a CRC error it will generate a silent block.
+
+ MISCELLANEOUS
+
+ As a convenience, the reference decoder knows how to skip ID3v1 and ID3v2 tags. Note however that the FLAC specification does not require compliant implementations to support ID3 in any form and their use is strongly discouraged.
+
+ flac has a verify option -V that verifies the output while encoding. With this option, a decoder is run in parallel to the encoder and its output is compared against the original input. If a difference is found flac will stop with an error. +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/doc/html/documentation_tasks.html b/doc/html/documentation_tasks.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bc8d8fbe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/html/documentation_tasks.html
@@ -0,0 +1,222 @@
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ | + Copyright (c) 2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006 Josh Coalson + | +
+ |
+
+ + |
+
+ |
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ using flac
+
+
+
+ Since FLAC is supported by so many different programs, it can be a daunting task for the new user to choose a suitable program. This page will walk you through the steps. First, choose your operating system:
+
+
+
++ +
+
+
+
+ windows
+
+
+
+
+ Using iTunes? Sorry, due to iTunes' design we can't add FLAC support; ask Apple to support FLAC!
+
+ If you want to play FLAC files, here is how with some popular players: +
+
++ Using iTunes? Sorry, due to iTunes' design we can't add FLAC support; ask Apple to support FLAC!
+
+ If you want to play FLAC files, here is how with some popular players: +
-
+
- Windows Media Player (WMP) - Microsoft does not make it easy, but it is possible if you follow this guide: How to add FLAC support to Windows Media Player +
- Winamp - Winamp plays FLAC out of the box since version 5.31 if you download the Full version (not Lite). +
- dbPowerAMP Audio Player - Install the FLAC plugin. +
- Media Center/Media Jukebox - Install the in_FLAC plugin. +
- MediaMonkey - Plays FLAC out of the box. +
- (more) +
-
+
- Windows Media Player (WMP) - Sorry, Microsoft has made it impossible to rip to FLAC in WMP; hopefully this will change eventually. +
- Winamp - Winamp can rip to FLAC out of the box since version 5.31 if you download the Full version (not Lite). +
- dbPowerAMP Music Converter - Install the FLAC plugin. +
- Media Center/Media Jukebox - Install the Enc_FLAC plugin. +
- Exact Audio Copy (EAC) - First install the official FLAC tools, then follow this guide. EAC is notoriously complex so here are some other guides: guide guide guide guide. EAC can also be set up with AutoFLAC, Omni Encoder, or MAREO to rip to FLAC or multiple formats at once. +
- CDex - First install the official FLAC tools, then follow this guide. +
- (more) +
-
+
- Windows Media Player (WMP) - Sorry, Microsoft has made it impossible to burn FLAC to CD in WMP; hopefully this will change eventually. + +
- dbPowerAMP CD Writer - Install the FLAC plugin. +
- Burrrn - Supports burning from FLAC out of the box. +
- (more) +
-
+
+
- Winamp - Winamp can convert to/from FLAC out of the box since version 5.31 if you download the Full version (not Lite). +
- dbPowerAMP Music Converter - Install the FLAC plugin. +
- FLAC Frontend - A simple GUI that comes in our FLAC Installer for Windows. Also includes command-line programs for converting FLAC files and editing metadata. +
- foobar2000 - A swiss army knife that supports FLAC out of the box. +
- MediaMonkey +
- (more) +
+ +
+
+
+
+ mac os x
+
+
+
+
+ Using iTunes? Sorry, due to iTunes' design we can't add FLAC support; ask Apple to support FLAC!
+
+ If you want to play FLAC files, here is how with some popular players: +
+
++ Using iTunes? Sorry, due to iTunes' design we can't add FLAC support; ask Apple to support FLAC!
+
+ If you want to play FLAC files, here is how with some popular players: +
-
+
- Cog +
- MacAmp Lite X +
- Songbird +
- VLC +
- (more) +
-
+
- Roxio's Toast 7 Titanium. +
- Max. +
-
+
- Roxio's Toast 7 Titanium. +
-
+
- Roxio's Toast 7 Titanium. +
- MacFLAC. Also includes command-line programs for converting FLAC files and editing metadata. +
- MediaRage can edit FLAC tags. +
+ +
+
+
+
+
+ *nix
+
+
+
+ In the Unix world, FLAC support is quite widespread and it's usually only a matter of installing packages, so here are a few pointers. See the software links section for many more.
+
+ To play FLAC files: +
+
++
+ To play FLAC files: +
-
+
- AlsaPlayer +
- GiantDisc: Linux jukebox + Palm remote +
- MPlayer +
- Muine: a music player for GNOME +
- Musik: an open-source, cross-platform multimedia player and library +
- VideoLAN client +
- Xine multimedia player +
- xmcd: X CD player +
- XMMS: X MultiMedia System +
- (more) +
-
+
- Grip is a great ripping and encoding front end and can be easily configured to use flac. See this message on how to configure Grip for FLAC. +
- xmcd is a CD ripper with CDDB support as well as a player. +
- (more) +
-
+
- Official FLAC tools have the command-line programs. +
- (more) +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/doc/html/documentation_tools.html b/doc/html/documentation_tools.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bdedb673
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/html/documentation_tools.html
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ | + Copyright (c) 2006 Josh Coalson + | +
+ |
+
+ + |
+
+ |
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ tools
+
+
+
+ FLAC is a general purpose audio format supported by many programs, but in this section we are concentrating on just the official tools provided by the FLAC project:
+
+ See Getting FLAC for instructions on downloading and installing the official FLAC tools, or Using FLAC for instructions and guides on playing FLAC files, ripping CDs to FLAC, etc. +
+
+-
+
- flac - The command-line encoder and decoder. +
- metaflac - The command-line metadata editor. +
- plugins - Setting up the Winamp and XMMS plugins. +
-
+
- Bugs - How to report bugs and request features, and a list of known bugs in the FLAC tools. +
- Request Support - Support for the official FLAC tools. For other programs, use hydrogenaudio.org +
- FLAC Mailing List - General discussion about FLAC, tools, releases, etc. +
+ See Getting FLAC for instructions on downloading and installing the official FLAC tools, or Using FLAC for instructions and guides on playing FLAC files, ripping CDs to FLAC, etc. +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/doc/html/documentation_tools_flac.html b/doc/html/documentation_tools_flac.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b23ba11d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/html/documentation_tools_flac.html
@@ -0,0 +1,1039 @@
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ | + Copyright (c) 2006 Josh Coalson + | +
+ |
+
+ + |
+
+ |
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ flac
+
+
+
+ Table of Contents
+
+
+ flac is the command-line file encoder/decoder. The encoder currently supports as input RIFF WAVE, AIFF, FLAC or Ogg FLAC format, or raw interleaved samples. The decoder currently can output to RIFF WAVE or AIFF format, or raw interleaved samples. flac only supports linear PCM samples (in other words, no A-LAW, uLAW, etc.), and the input must be between 4 and 24 bits per sample. This is not a limitation of the FLAC format, just the reference encoder/decoder.
+
+ flac assumes that files ending in ".wav" or that have the RIFF WAVE header present are WAVE files, files ending in ".aif" or ".aiff" or have the AIFF header present are AIFF files, and files ending in ".flac" or have the FLAC header present are FLAC files. This assumption may be overridden with a command-line option. It also assumes that files ending in ".ogg" of have the Ogg FLAC header present are Ogg FLAC files. Other than this, flac makes no assumptions about file extensions, though the convention is that FLAC files have the extension ".flac" (or ".fla" on ancient "8.3" file systems like FAT-16).
+
+ Before going into the full command-line description, a few other things help to sort it out: 1) flac encodes by default, so you must use -d to decode; 2) the options -0 .. -8 (or --fast and --best) that control the compression level actually are just synonyms for different groups of specific encoding options (described later) and you can get the same effect by using the same options; 3) flac behaves similarly to gzip in the way it handles input and output files.
+
+ flac will be invoked one of four ways, depending on whether you are encoding, decoding, testing, or analyzing: +
+
+ If you are encoding/decoding from stdin to a file, you should use the -o option like so: +
+
+ Also, you can force output data to go to stdout using -c.
+
+ To encode or decode files that start with a dash, use -- to signal the end of options, to keep the filenames themselves from being treated as options: +
+
+ In test mode, flac acts just like in decode mode, except no output file is written. Both decode and test modes detect errors in the stream, but they also detect when the MD5 signature of the decoded audio does not match the stored MD5 signature, even when the bitstream is valid.
+
+ flac can also re-encode FLAC files. In other words, you can specify a FLAC or Ogg FLAC file as an input to the encoder and it will decoder it and re-encode it according to the options you specify. It will also preserve all the metadata unless you override it with other options (e.g. specifying new tags, seekpoints, cuesheet, padding, etc.).
+
+ flac has been tuned so that the default settings yield a good speed vs. compression tradeoff for many kinds of input. However, if you are looking to maximize the compression rate or speed, or want to use the full power of FLAC's metadata system, see About the FLAC Format.
+
+ +
+
+
+ +
+
+
+ +
+
+
+ +
+
+
+ +
+
+
+ +
+
+
+ Option Index
+
+ -0
+ -1
+ -2
+ -3
+ -4
+ -5
+ -6
+ -7
+ -8
+ -A
+ -a
+ --adaptive-mid-side
+ --analyze
+ --apodization
+ + -b
+ --best
+ --blocksize
+ --bps
+ -c
+ --channels
+ --compression-level-0
+ --compression-level-1
+ --compression-level-2
+ --compression-level-3
+ --compression-level-4
+ --compression-level-5
+ --compression-level-6
+ --compression-level-7
+ --compression-level-8
+ --cue
+ --cuesheet
+ -d
+ --decode
+ --decode-through-errors
+ --delete-input-file
+ -e
+ --endian
+ --exhaustive-model-search
+ --explain
+ -F
+ -f
+ --fast
+ --force-aiff-format
+ --force-raw-format
+ --force
+ -H
+ -h
+ --help
+ --input-size
+ -l
+ --lax
+ -M
+ -m
+ --max-lpc-order
+ --mid-side
+ --no-adaptive-mid-side
+ --no-decode-through-errors
+ --no-delete-input-file
+ --no-escape-coding
+ --no-exhaustive-model-search
+ --no-lax
+ --no-mid-side
+ --no-ogg
+ --no-padding
+ --no-qlp-coeff-precision-search
+ --no-residual-gnuplot
+ --no-residual-text
+ --no-sector-align
+ --no-seektable
+ --no-silent
+ --no-verify
+ -o
+ --ogg
+ --output-name
+ --output-prefix
+ -P
+ -p
+ --padding
+ --picture
+ -q
+ --qlp-coeff-precision
+ --qlp-coeff-precision-search
+ -r
+ --replay-gain
+ --residual-gnuplot
+ --residual-text
+ --rice-partition-order
+ -S
+ -s
+ --sample-rate
+ --sector-align
+ --seekpoint
+ --serial-number
+ --sign
+ --silent
+ --skip
+ --stdout
+ -T
+ -t
+ --tag
+ --tag-from-file
+ --test
+ --totally-silent
+ --until
+ -V
+ -v
+ --verify
+ --version
+ +
+
+-
+
- General Usage +
- General Options +
- Analysis Options +
- Decoding Options +
- Encoding Options +
- Format Options +
- Negative Options +
- Option Index +
+
+ flac is the command-line file encoder/decoder. The encoder currently supports as input RIFF WAVE, AIFF, FLAC or Ogg FLAC format, or raw interleaved samples. The decoder currently can output to RIFF WAVE or AIFF format, or raw interleaved samples. flac only supports linear PCM samples (in other words, no A-LAW, uLAW, etc.), and the input must be between 4 and 24 bits per sample. This is not a limitation of the FLAC format, just the reference encoder/decoder.
+
+ flac assumes that files ending in ".wav" or that have the RIFF WAVE header present are WAVE files, files ending in ".aif" or ".aiff" or have the AIFF header present are AIFF files, and files ending in ".flac" or have the FLAC header present are FLAC files. This assumption may be overridden with a command-line option. It also assumes that files ending in ".ogg" of have the Ogg FLAC header present are Ogg FLAC files. Other than this, flac makes no assumptions about file extensions, though the convention is that FLAC files have the extension ".flac" (or ".fla" on ancient "8.3" file systems like FAT-16).
+
+ Before going into the full command-line description, a few other things help to sort it out: 1) flac encodes by default, so you must use -d to decode; 2) the options -0 .. -8 (or --fast and --best) that control the compression level actually are just synonyms for different groups of specific encoding options (described later) and you can get the same effect by using the same options; 3) flac behaves similarly to gzip in the way it handles input and output files.
+
+ flac will be invoked one of four ways, depending on whether you are encoding, decoding, testing, or analyzing: +
-
+
- + Encoding: flac [<general-options>] [<format-options>] [<encoding options>] [inputfile [...]] + +
- + Decoding: flac -d [<general-options>] [<format-options>] [<decoding options>] [FLACfile [...]] + +
- + Testing: flac -t [<general-options>] [FLACfile [...]] + +
- + Analyzing: flac -a [<general-options>] [<analysis-options>] [FLACfile [...]] + +
+
+ If you are encoding/decoding from stdin to a file, you should use the -o option like so: +
-
+
- + flac [options] -o outputfile + +
- + flac -d [options] -o outputfile + +
-
+
- + flac [options] > outputfile + +
- + flac -d [options] > outputfile + +
+
+ Also, you can force output data to go to stdout using -c.
+
+ To encode or decode files that start with a dash, use -- to signal the end of options, to keep the filenames themselves from being treated as options: +
-
+
- + flac -V -- -01-filename.wav + +
+
+ In test mode, flac acts just like in decode mode, except no output file is written. Both decode and test modes detect errors in the stream, but they also detect when the MD5 signature of the decoded audio does not match the stored MD5 signature, even when the bitstream is valid.
+
+ flac can also re-encode FLAC files. In other words, you can specify a FLAC or Ogg FLAC file as an input to the encoder and it will decoder it and re-encode it according to the options you specify. It will also preserve all the metadata unless you override it with other options (e.g. specifying new tags, seekpoints, cuesheet, padding, etc.).
+
+ flac has been tuned so that the default settings yield a good speed vs. compression tradeoff for many kinds of input. However, if you are looking to maximize the compression rate or speed, or want to use the full power of FLAC's metadata system, see About the FLAC Format.
+
+ +
+
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
+ +
+
| ||||||
+ +
+
| ||||||
+ +
+
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
+ +
+
| ||||||||||||||||||
+ +
+
| ||||
+ Option Index
+
+ -0
+ -1
+ -2
+ -3
+ -4
+ -5
+ -6
+ -7
+ -8
+ -A
+ -a
+ --adaptive-mid-side
+ --analyze
+ --apodization
+ + -b
+ --best
+ --blocksize
+ --bps
+ -c
+ --channels
+ --compression-level-0
+ --compression-level-1
+ --compression-level-2
+ --compression-level-3
+ --compression-level-4
+ --compression-level-5
+ --compression-level-6
+ --compression-level-7
+ --compression-level-8
+ --cue
+ --cuesheet
+ -d
+ --decode
+ --decode-through-errors
+ --delete-input-file
+ -e
+ --endian
+ --exhaustive-model-search
+ --explain
+ -F
+ -f
+ --fast
+ --force-aiff-format
+ --force-raw-format
+ --force
+ -H
+ -h
+ --help
+ --input-size
+ -l
+ --lax
+ -M
+ -m
+ --max-lpc-order
+ --mid-side
+ --no-adaptive-mid-side
+ --no-decode-through-errors
+ --no-delete-input-file
+ --no-escape-coding
+ --no-exhaustive-model-search
+ --no-lax
+ --no-mid-side
+ --no-ogg
+ --no-padding
+ --no-qlp-coeff-precision-search
+ --no-residual-gnuplot
+ --no-residual-text
+ --no-sector-align
+ --no-seektable
+ --no-silent
+ --no-verify
+ -o
+ --ogg
+ --output-name
+ --output-prefix
+ -P
+ -p
+ --padding
+ --picture
+ -q
+ --qlp-coeff-precision
+ --qlp-coeff-precision-search
+ -r
+ --replay-gain
+ --residual-gnuplot
+ --residual-text
+ --rice-partition-order
+ -S
+ -s
+ --sample-rate
+ --sector-align
+ --seekpoint
+ --serial-number
+ --sign
+ --silent
+ --skip
+ --stdout
+ -T
+ -t
+ --tag
+ --tag-from-file
+ --test
+ --totally-silent
+ --until
+ -V
+ -v
+ --verify
+ --version
+ +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/doc/html/documentation_tools_metaflac.html b/doc/html/documentation_tools_metaflac.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..376846a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/html/documentation_tools_metaflac.html
@@ -0,0 +1,570 @@
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ | + Copyright (c) 2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006 Josh Coalson + | +
+ |
+
+ + |
+
+ |
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ metaflac
+
+
+
+ Table of Contents
+
+ General Usage
+
+ metaflac is the command-line .flac file metadata editor. You can use it to list the contents of metadata blocks, edit, delete or insert blocks, and manage padding.
+
+ metaflac takes a set of "options" (though some are not optional) and a set of FLAC files to operate on. There are three kinds of "options": +
+
+ metaflac --show-md5sum file1.flac file2.flac file3.flac
+
+ Another example; this removes all DESCRIPTION and COMMENT tags in a set of FLAC files, and uses the --preserve-modtime global option to keep the FLAC file modification times the same (usually when files are edited the modification time is set to the current time):
+
+ metaflac --preserve-modtime --remove-tag=DESCRIPTION --remove-tag=COMMENT file1.flac file2.flac file3.flac
+
+ +
+
+
+ +
+
+
+ +
+
+
+ Option Index
+
+ --add-padding
+ --add-replay-gain
+ --add-seekpoint
+ --dont-use-padding
+ --export-cuesheet-to
+ --export-picture-to
+ --export-tags-to
+ --import-cuesheet-from
+ --import-picture-from
+ --import-tags-from
+ --list
+ --merge-padding
+ --no-filename
+ --no-utf8-convert
+ --preserve-modtime
+ --remove-all-tags
+ --remove-all
+ --remove-first-tag
+ --remove-replay-gain
+ --remove-tag
+ --remove
+ --set-tag-from-file
+ --set-tag
+ --show-bps
+ --show-channels
+ --show-max-blocksize
+ --show-max-framesize
+ --show-md5sum
+ --show-min-blocksize
+ --show-min-framesize
+ --show-sample-rate
+ --show-tag
+ --show-total-samples
+ --show-vendor-tag
+ --sort-padding
+ --version
+ --with-filename
+ +
+
++
+ metaflac is the command-line .flac file metadata editor. You can use it to list the contents of metadata blocks, edit, delete or insert blocks, and manage padding.
+
+ metaflac takes a set of "options" (though some are not optional) and a set of FLAC files to operate on. There are three kinds of "options": +
-
+
- + Major operations, which specify a mode of operation like listing blocks, removing blocks, etc. These will have sub-operations describing exactly what is to be done. + +
- + Shorthand operations, which are convenient synonyms for major operations. For example, there is a shorthand operation --show-sample-rate that shows just the sample rate field from the STREAMINFO metadata block. + +
- + Global options, which affect all the operations. + +
+
+ metaflac --show-md5sum file1.flac file2.flac file3.flac
+
+ Another example; this removes all DESCRIPTION and COMMENT tags in a set of FLAC files, and uses the --preserve-modtime global option to keep the FLAC file modification times the same (usually when files are edited the modification time is set to the current time):
+
+ metaflac --preserve-modtime --remove-tag=DESCRIPTION --remove-tag=COMMENT file1.flac file2.flac file3.flac
+
+ +
+
| ||||||||||||
+ +
+
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
+ +
+
| ||||||||||||||||||
+ Option Index
+
+ --add-padding
+ --add-replay-gain
+ --add-seekpoint
+ --dont-use-padding
+ --export-cuesheet-to
+ --export-picture-to
+ --export-tags-to
+ --import-cuesheet-from
+ --import-picture-from
+ --import-tags-from
+ --list
+ --merge-padding
+ --no-filename
+ --no-utf8-convert
+ --preserve-modtime
+ --remove-all-tags
+ --remove-all
+ --remove-first-tag
+ --remove-replay-gain
+ --remove-tag
+ --remove
+ --set-tag-from-file
+ --set-tag
+ --show-bps
+ --show-channels
+ --show-max-blocksize
+ --show-max-framesize
+ --show-md5sum
+ --show-min-blocksize
+ --show-min-framesize
+ --show-sample-rate
+ --show-tag
+ --show-total-samples
+ --show-vendor-tag
+ --sort-padding
+ --version
+ --with-filename
+ +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/doc/html/documentation_tools_plugins.html b/doc/html/documentation_tools_plugins.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d9c33a70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/html/documentation_tools_plugins.html
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ | + Copyright (c) 2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006 Josh Coalson + | +
+ |
+
+ + |
+
+ |
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ xmms plugin
+
+
+
+ Normally the FLAC plugin for XMMS is installed with a package, but some of the binary builds have a compiled plugin. All that is necessary is to copy libxmms-flac.so to the directory where XMMS looks for input plugins (usually /usr/lib/xmms/Input or $HOME/.xmms/Input). There is nothing else to configure. Make sure to restart XMMS before trying to play any .flac files.
+
+
++ +
+
+
+
+
+ winamp plugin
+
+
+
+ Since Winamp 5.31, Nullsoft has supplied a FLAC plugin with their Full install; nothing else is needed to get FLAC to play in Wnamp.
+
+ Before Winamp 5.31 it was necessary to use our FLAC plugin. If you have an older version of Winamp, our plugin is still available in the FLAC Installer for Windows. The Winamp plugin should work for both Winamp2 and Winamp5. All that is necessary is to copy in_flac.dll to the Plugins/ directory of your Winamp installation. There is nothing else to configure. Make sure to restart Winamp before trying to play any .flac files. +
+
++
+ Before Winamp 5.31 it was necessary to use our FLAC plugin. If you have an older version of Winamp, our plugin is still available in the FLAC Installer for Windows. The Winamp plugin should work for both Winamp2 and Winamp5. All that is necessary is to copy in_flac.dll to the Plugins/ directory of your Winamp installation. There is nothing else to configure. Make sure to restart Winamp before trying to play any .flac files. +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/doc/html/download.html b/doc/html/download.html
index cf303a7d..4d4b0856 100644
--- a/doc/html/download.html
+++ b/doc/html/download.html
@@ -29,12 +29,8 @@
faq |
news |
download |
- features |
- goals |
- format |
- id |
- comparison |
documentation |
+ comparison |
changelog |
links |
developers
@@ -53,6 +49,10 @@
| + Copyright (c) 2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006 Josh Coalson + | +
+ |
+
+ + |
+
+ |
+
+ Many different programs support FLAC. If you are not sure what to download, see Using FLAC for instructions and guides on playing FLAC files, ripping CDs to FLAC, etc.
+
+ This section is for the official FLAC tools. See the extras section below for other third-party tools.
+
All source code and binaries are freely available and distributed under Open Source licenses. The codec libraries are distributed under Xiph.org's BSD license, and the plugins and command-line utilites (flac and metaflac) are distributed under the GPL. If you would like to redistribute parts or all of FLAC under different terms, contact Josh Coalson. (For more information, see the license page.)
diff --git a/doc/html/format.html b/doc/html/format.html
index 98531148..80b85c11 100644
--- a/doc/html/format.html
+++ b/doc/html/format.html
@@ -29,12 +29,8 @@
faq |
news |
download |
- features |
- goals |
- format |
- id |
- comparison |
documentation |
+ comparison |
changelog |
links |
developers
@@ -55,6 +51,8 @@
+
+ This section is for the official FLAC tools. See the extras section below for other third-party tools.
+
All source code and binaries are freely available and distributed under Open Source licenses. The codec libraries are distributed under Xiph.org's BSD license, and the plugins and command-line utilites (flac and metaflac) are distributed under the GPL. If you would like to redistribute parts or all of FLAC under different terms, contact Josh Coalson. (For more information, see the license page.)
- @@ -76,7 +76,7 @@
-
Windows
-
-
- FLAC for Windows with installer (alternate link). NOTE: Several virus scanners are reporting that FLAC contains a trojan; this is a FALSE POSITIVE. For more info see here, here, here. +
- FLAC for Windows with installer (alternate link)
- FLAC for Windows (tools only)
@@ -119,10 +119,10 @@
-
- Windows
+ Windows
- AutoFLAC for automated ripping and encoding to FLAC with EAC (ExactAudioCopy); also has a write mode for burning back to CD for an exact copy
- dBpowerAMP, a swiss army knife that can convert and play many formats, including FLAC. @@ -133,20 +133,12 @@
- Frontah, a new frontend to many codecs, including FLAC. Still in beta but has good reviews.
- GX::Transcoder
- MAREO is a "virtual" encoder that can be used with ExactAudioCopy to encode to multiple formats (including FLAC) at once while ripping. -
- Monkey's Audio can be fooled into supporting FLAC as an external encoder; here's how.
- UniversalFront, an encoding/decoding/transcoding GUI that is also scriptable.
- Yahoo! Music Engine
-
- Unix
-
-
-
- Grip is a great ripping and encoding front end and can be easily configured to use flac. See this message on how to configure Grip for FLAC. -
- xmcd is a CD ripper with CDDB support as well as a player. -
- -
- Mac OS X
+ Mac OS X
- iTunes-to-FLAC, an AppleScript for converting between FLAC and WAVE/AIFF with tagging via iTunes.
- MacFLAC, a FLAC distribution which also includes nice graphical front-end. @@ -157,16 +149,24 @@
-
- Pocket PC
+ Unix
+
-
+
- Grip is a great ripping and encoding front end and can be easily configured to use flac. See this message on how to configure Grip for FLAC. +
- xmcd is a CD ripper with CDDB support as well as a player. +
- (many more) +
+ -
+ Pocket PC
- [$] Live2496, a program that can record 24-bit audio up to 96kHz on a Pocket PC (using Core Sound's PDAudio interface) can record directly to FLAC.
-
- Windows
+ Windows
- burnatonce, a CD burning GUI that wraps around cdrdao and mkisofs.
- Burrrn supports burning CDs from cuesheets directly from many formats, including FLAC, and supports most tag formats. @@ -174,24 +174,27 @@
- dBpowerAMP CD Writer.
- [$] Easy CD-DA Extractor.
- [$] Easy Media Creator 9 Suite from Roxio. -
- [$] Nero (as a plugin); allows you to burn FLAC files directly to audio CDs.
+ -
+ Mac OS X
- [$] Roxio's Toast 7 Titanium supports encoding to FLAC and CD/DVD burning from FLAC.
- - Unix + Unix
- - Windows + Windows
- - SDMI compliant, et cetera. There is no intention to support any methods of copy protection, which are, for all practical purposes, a complete waste of bits. (Another way to look at it is that since copy protection is futile, it really carries no information, so you might say FLAC already losslessly compresses all possible copy protection information down to zero bits!) Of course, we can't stop what some misguided person does with proprietary metadata blocks, but then again, non-proprietary decoders will skip them anyway. + DRM. There is no intention to add any copy prevention methods. Of course, we can't stop someone from encrypting a FLAC stream in another container (e.g. the way Apple encrypts AAC in MP4 with FairPlay), that is the choice of the user.
NOTE: make sure to check out the links page for a large list of open-source software supporting FLAC.
- GUI encoding/decoding front-ends: + GUI encoding/decoding front-ends:
This is a detailed description of the FLAC format. There is also a companion document that describes FLAC-to-Ogg mapping.
+ For a user-oriented overview, see About the FLAC Format.
+
Table of Contents
@@ -194,6 +120,7 @@
+ For a user-oriented overview, see About the FLAC Format.
+
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments diff --git a/doc/html/id.html b/doc/html/id.html index dcc3fe70..9beee7cf 100644 --- a/doc/html/id.html +++ b/doc/html/id.html @@ -29,12 +29,8 @@ faq | news | download | - features | - goals | - format | - id | - comparison | documentation | + comparison | changelog | links | developers diff --git a/doc/html/index.html b/doc/html/index.html index 235fada8..9c239f2b 100644 --- a/doc/html/index.html +++ b/doc/html/index.html @@ -29,12 +29,8 @@ faq | news | download | - features | - goals | - format | - id | - comparison | documentation | + comparison | changelog | links | developers @@ -53,17 +49,34 @@
- the stream format -
- reference encoders and decoders in library form -
- flac, a command-line program to encode and decode FLAC files -
- metaflac, a command-line metadata editor for FLAC files -
- input plugins for various music players -
- status
+ what is FLAC?
+ FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, an audio format similar to MP3, but lossless, meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. This is similar to how Zip works, except with FLAC you will get much better compression because it is designed specifically for audio, and you can play back compressed FLAC files in your favorite player (or your car or home stereo, see supported devices) just like you would an MP3 file.
+
+ See About FLAC for more, or Using FLAC for how to play FLAC files, rip CDs to FLAC, etc. +
+
+ +
+ See About FLAC for more, or Using FLAC for how to play FLAC files, rip CDs to FLAC, etc. +
+ +
+
-
-
+ the latest
+
+
+
+ Want iTunes to support FLAC? Visit our iTunes page to make your request known!
+
Sonos, Inc. has sent us a complete Sonos Digital Music System for review. Aside from being just plain cool, FLAC support is excellent; see our writeup for details.
Pearl Jam is selling recordings of many of their live shows in FLAC format.
Two new portables support FLAC, the Meizu M6 Miniplayer and the Teclast TL-29.
- FLAC 1.1.3 released Almost 2 years in the making, FLAC 1.1.3 is a major release with improved compression, improved cover art and multichannel support, better recovery for corrupted files, many new features and options in the command-line tools, and several bug fixes. For developers, the decoder and encoder APIs have also been simplified and there is a new porting guide. See the changelog entry for complete details. If your locale does not use "." for the decimal point, see this note.
+ FLAC 1.1.3 released Almost 2 years in the making, FLAC 1.1.3 is a major release with improved compression, improved cover art and multichannel support, better recovery for corrupted files, many new features and options in the command-line tools, and several bug fixes. For developers, the decoder and encoder APIs have also been simplified and there is a new porting guide. See the changelog entry for complete details. If your locale does not use "." for the decimal point, see this note.
Winamp 5.31 now includes Nullsoft FLAC plugins for encoding and decoding. The decoder is based on our reference decoder plugin. However the current encoder plugin is based on a pre-release of flake and we recommend to not use it for archival yet.
@@ -71,77 +84,7 @@
The Philadelphia Orchestra is making many recordings available in FLAC.
- A whole new batch of devices and stores support FLAC: for portables there are the iAUDIO T2 and iAUDIO F2, TrekStor's Vibez, the Onda VX737, and the AP3000 from Green Apple. For the home stereo, Slim Devices' Transporter and Ziova's CS510 and CS505. For music in FLAC format check out digital-tunes for electronic and underground, or FestivaLink.net for live shows.
-
- last updated 2006-Dec-18 -
-
- +
Sonos, Inc. has sent us a complete Sonos Digital Music System for review. Aside from being just plain cool, FLAC support is excellent; see our writeup for details.
Pearl Jam is selling recordings of many of their live shows in FLAC format.
Two new portables support FLAC, the Meizu M6 Miniplayer and the Teclast TL-29.
- FLAC 1.1.3 released Almost 2 years in the making, FLAC 1.1.3 is a major release with improved compression, improved cover art and multichannel support, better recovery for corrupted files, many new features and options in the command-line tools, and several bug fixes. For developers, the decoder and encoder APIs have also been simplified and there is a new porting guide. See the changelog entry for complete details. If your locale does not use "." for the decimal point, see this note.
+ FLAC 1.1.3 released Almost 2 years in the making, FLAC 1.1.3 is a major release with improved compression, improved cover art and multichannel support, better recovery for corrupted files, many new features and options in the command-line tools, and several bug fixes. For developers, the decoder and encoder APIs have also been simplified and there is a new porting guide. See the changelog entry for complete details. If your locale does not use "." for the decimal point, see this note.
Winamp 5.31 now includes Nullsoft FLAC plugins for encoding and decoding. The decoder is based on our reference decoder plugin. However the current encoder plugin is based on a pre-release of flake and we recommend to not use it for archival yet.
@@ -71,77 +84,7 @@
The Philadelphia Orchestra is making many recordings available in FLAC.
- A whole new batch of devices and stores support FLAC: for portables there are the iAUDIO T2 and iAUDIO F2, TrekStor's Vibez, the Onda VX737, and the AP3000 from Green Apple. For the home stereo, Slim Devices' Transporter and Ziova's CS510 and CS505. For music in FLAC format check out digital-tunes for electronic and underground, or FestivaLink.net for live shows.
-
- last updated 2006-Dec-18 -
- -
-
-
-
- what is FLAC?
-
-
-
- FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec. Grossly oversimplified, FLAC is similar to MP3, but lossless, meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. This is similar to how Zip works, except with FLAC you will get much better compression because it is designed specifically for audio, and you can play back compressed FLAC files in your favorite player (or your car or home stereo, see supported devices) just like you would an MP3 file.
-
- FLAC is freely available and supported on most operating systems, including Windows, "unix" (Linux, *BSD, Solaris, OS X, IRIX), BeOS, OS/2, and Amiga. There are build systems for autotools, MSVC, Watcom C, and Project Builder.
-
- See the features page for a complete list of features, or the comparison page to see how FLAC compares with other lossless codecs.
-
- The FLAC project consists of:
-
-
-
- When we say that FLAC is "Free" it means more than just that it is available at no cost. It means that the specification of the format is fully open to the public to be used for any purpose (the FLAC project reserves the right to set the FLAC specification and certify compliance), and that neither the FLAC format nor any of the implemented encoding/decoding methods are covered by any known patent. It also means that all the source code is available under open-source licenses. It is the first truly open and free lossless audio format. (For more information, see the license page.) -
-
- -
- FLAC is freely available and supported on most operating systems, including Windows, "unix" (Linux, *BSD, Solaris, OS X, IRIX), BeOS, OS/2, and Amiga. There are build systems for autotools, MSVC, Watcom C, and Project Builder.
-
- See the features page for a complete list of features, or the comparison page to see how FLAC compares with other lossless codecs.
-
- The FLAC project consists of:
-
-
-
-
-
- When we say that FLAC is "Free" it means more than just that it is available at no cost. It means that the specification of the format is fully open to the public to be used for any purpose (the FLAC project reserves the right to set the FLAC specification and certify compliance), and that neither the FLAC format nor any of the implemented encoding/decoding methods are covered by any known patent. It also means that all the source code is available under open-source licenses. It is the first truly open and free lossless audio format. (For more information, see the license page.) -
- -
-
-
-
- download
-
-
-
- Visit the download page for links to the source code or pre-built binaries.
-
-
- - -
-
-
-
- documentation
-
-
-
- The documentation is available online as well as in the distributions. The general installation and usage documentation for flac and the plugins is here. For a detailed description of the FLAC format and reference encoder see the FLAC format page.
-
-
- - -
-
@@ -168,23 +111,6 @@
23-Apr-2005 :
- id registration
-
-
-
- If you have an application that uses FLAC and would like it to be able to tag FLAC files with custom metadata, visit the registration page to register an ID for your application.
+ last updated 2006-Dec-21
iAUDIO X5 portable supports FLAC and Vorbis
09-Mar-2005 :
Squeezebox2 supports FLAC on the box
05-Feb-2005 :
Version 1.1.2 released
- 17-Jan-2005 :
Several new devices support FLAC
- 12-Nov-2004 :
Escient's new FireBall E2-300 supports FLAC
- 02-Nov-2004 :
New Mindawn music store offers FLAC and Vorbis
- 01-Oct-2004 :
Version 1.1.1 released
- 27-Jul-2004 :
The Furthur network now supports FLAC
- 21-Jun-2004 :
Bonnaroo soundboard recordings available in FLAC
- 03-Mar-2004 :
Metallica offers live shows in FLAC
- 03-Feb-2004 :
Charlie Hunter makes select albums available in FLAC
- 19-Nov-2003 :
PhatNoise's new Home Digital Media Player supports FLAC
- 18-Nov-2003 :
Slim's new 'Squeezebox' supports FLAC
- 11-Nov-2003 :
Primus offers live shows in FLAC
- 13-Oct-2003 :
Magnatune catalog available in FLAC
- 11-Aug-2003 :
New Rio Karma supports FLAC
- 23-Jun-2003 :
livephish.com offers FLAC shows
- 09-Feb-2003 :
ReQuest adds FLAC support
- 29-Jan-2003 :
FLAC joins Xiph.org!
- 26-Jan-2003 :
Version 1.1.0 released
(all news)