Topic: FLAC Encoding Options "Levels"

[tfrench]

Tried to find some information about the various levels.  I've seen several shows that mark the FLAC conversion at Level 5 or 6.  Can anyone drop some knowledge on me about these levels and which one I should be using when FLACing a show.  Thanks in advance!

[JasonSobel]

the levels are referring to the level of compression.  I always use Level 8 when encoding.  Level 8 is the highest level and will result in a smaller file.  The downside is that it takes longer to compress, but even without a top of the line computer, it shouldn't take too long to compress anyway.

[dnsacks]

the higher the level of encoding, the greater the compression (though sometimes by VERY small amounts).  Conversely, the higher the level of encoding, the longer it takes to encode (though decoding times are FAR less effected).  

I encode all of the shows I seed @ the highest level, since the extra compression time on my pc will be more than offset by the shortened downloading times of others and the potential hard disk storage savings.  

Finally, since flac compression is lossless, none of the encoding settings will have ANY effect on the sound of the show.

[tfrench]

+T's and thanks for the quick feedback!

[dmaster]

there's really no reason to go beyond level 6.

I tested this out with a few shows, and the difference in most shows was less than 1 percent from 6 to 8, and 6 takes about 1/5 the time that 8 does.  (at least on my 1.5ghz machine).   If you really need to squeezez out a little bit to fit on one CD with a show, you might want to try bumping it up, but really the gain is very very minimal on 7 or 8 compared to 6.   

[John Kelly]

there's really no reason to go beyond level 6.

I tested this out with a few shows, and the difference in most shows was less than 1 percent from 6 to 8, and 6 takes about 1/5 the time that 8 does.  (at least on my 1.5ghz machine).   If you really need to squeezez out a little bit to fit on one CD with a show, you might want to try bumping it up, but really the gain is very very minimal on 7 or 8 compared to 6.   

The fact that 8 is 1% smaller proves to me that it *is* worth it to encode at level 8.  Seems to me that the encoding time does not really matter in the long run, if it takes an extra 20 mins, who cares?  It's not like a race to encode anything.  But saving any amount of space *is* a good thing, even if the amount saved is small.

[dnsacks]

Additionally, flac files are frequently downloaded/torrented.  1% of a few hundred gigabytes of total download size (easily realized on an even remotely popular show) is a significant amount of bandwidth.