How to shrink Flac files with LossyWAV

[mchlbk]

The default LossyWav rip-settings don't work. They result in an error and no ripped files. Searched for a solution in the forum, but found none.


This is how I made LossyWAV work:


First I made sure I had the latest version: I downloaded the latest LossyWav zip file (1.4.2) from Hydrogenaudio, unpacked it and replaced the file 'lossyWAV.exe' in the MusicBee installation folder with the new 'lossyWAV.exe' from the zip file.

Second I entered the right settings: Opened up MusicBee, inserted a CD and chose rip. Clicked 'settings', chose FLAC and 'Portable device listening' (for maximum flac compression) and clicked 'Encoder settings'.
Scrolled to the flac-section, ticked 'reduce file size using lossyWAV' and erased the LossyWAV preset. Entered '-q 10' (for best quality) in the LossyWAV field and hit Save, Save and Start rip.

Result:

Flac 8 (max compression): 483 MB

Flac 8 + LossyWAV q 10: 376 MB, saved: 107 MB / 22%.

Flac 8 + LossyWAV q 7.5: 334 MB, saved 149 MB / 30%.

Sweet!

(Test-cd: Sting, Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984-1994)

[mchlbk]

Even better compression:

The '-b 512' setting in the LossyWAV field is not a LossyWAV-setting and will return an error and no ripped files, as explained above. It is actually a Flac setting that creates a smaller file, when LossyWAV is used first. There is no quality difference, but a decent size decrease is possible. To achieve this, rip to Flac with this string:

Code

-s -b 512 -8 -o [outputfile] -

And '-q 10' or '-q 7.5' in the LossyWAV field, as explained above.

Results, when using the '-b 512' setting;

Flac 8 (max compression): 483 MB
Flac 8 b 512 + LossyWAV q 10: 337 MB, saved: 146 MB / 30%
Flac 8 b 512 + LossyWAV q 7.5: 297 MB, saved: 186 MB / 38%

(Same test-cd.)

As you can see, using '-b 512' results in an additional saving of about 40 MB / 8% on this cd.

Please note that there is no difference to the human ear between these files and truly lossless Flac files. But you save a lot of space - and bandwith, if you're streaming.

[theta_wave]

Please note that there is no difference to the human ear between these files and truly lossless Flac files. But you save a lot of space - and bandwith, if you're streaming.

Are any commercial streaming services are using lossyWAV?  I guess it is fine for streaming, but the bandwidth savings are minimal compared to using more efficient lossy codecs for that purpose.  It is, however, not ideal for archiving (md5 hash of audiostream is going to be different from the source).  For DAP playback, there are many more efficient lossy audio encoders out there (AAC, Ogg Vorbis, Opus, heck even LAME MP3 V0).