Really? I've never seen any debate (but I don't follow Apple news that closely). As long as a codec's input equals it's output, then it is lossless. I prefer FLAC (because it is open), but there's more than one way to remove the redundancies from digital data in such a way it can be restored.
Once again Chris, I must bow down to your deep knowledge of all things concerning computers and codecs!
Early on there was some controversy regarding the Apple lossless format due to the processing needed for converting it for playback. I assume this was because processor speed might be a consideration? Not sure but... I was actually mistaking Apple lossless for AAC which
is lossy. My bad.
I just get all nervous when someone starts talking about throwing out bits!
But truthfully, I don't really see the need for compressing 16 bit wav/aiff files much anymore since storage space is so cheap now. Compression or not, it's really not an issue in terms of disk space. A 1.5 terrabyte HDD is big enough for around 3000 CDs in wav. That's a lot of storage!
I remember when I paid $600.00 for a 500 meg drive... ouch!
I
am interested in FLAC since I've been hearing it's a great (open source) format for downloading large, higher bit files off the intertubes...
