FLAC vs Apple Lossless file sizes

I've been looking into moving up to lossless audio files. From what I've been able to discover, FLAC and Apple Lossless should be roughly the same file size, but I downloaded a 24-bit/44.1kHz FLAC from the Bowers & Wilkins site (about half-way down the page - search for Portico) which is 35MB. I transcoded it to Apple Lossless using Max and the resulting file is 62MB - 77% larger!!

Does this seem right? Is the compression level variable for FLAC and/or Apple Lossless (as there is for ZIP for example)? There's no such option in Max.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mountain Lion, 2.6GHz/16GB/512GB

Posted on Oct 16, 2012 10:05 AM

20 replies

parish_chap Author

Level 1

17 points

Oct 16, 2012 2:10 PM in response to Limnos

Limnos: Just tried XLD. Same result, 62MB

parish_chap Author

Level 1

17 points

Oct 16, 2012 3:57 PM in response to Limnos

Limnos wrote:

Were you using XLD? You said Max earlier.

I tried XLD after you mentioned it earlier, but it gave the same result as Max

parish_chap Author

Level 1

17 points

Oct 18, 2012 9:39 AM in response to Limnos

Thanks Linmos - so it appears to be a 24-bit issue. I'll try re-ripping a CD (so 16/44.1) at the weekend and see if the FLAC & ALAC file sizes are closer.

Limnos

Level 10

428,883 points

Oct 26, 2012 7:55 PM in response to parish_chap

Yes, similar to the results I got with my test.

Jul 16, 2013 3:30 AM in response to Chris CA

hello, I did say within the apple ecosystem, implyin that the tags would not be there when the files are removed from the iTunes/iOS ecosystem

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

FLAC vs Apple Lossless file sizes