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What happened to FLAC support?

SRLMJ23

SRLMJ23

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 11, 2008
2,334
1,435
Central New York
I have the FLAC version of Jay Z's 4:44, and when I put it in iTunes it will not work at all. I thought High Sierra was supposed to support FLAC among other file types?

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated. Thank You in advance!

:apple:
 
Please cite a reputable source for this "FLAC on High Sierra" feature that you heard about. Remember that one shouldn't believe everything one hears or reads on the Internet.

I never heard about this rumored feature.

In the meanwhile, consider using a tool like XLD to convert from FLAC to Apple Lossless (ALAC).
 
It's supported in the OS, but not iTunes yet, unfortunately.

On iOS you can play them in the Files app.
 
Nermal said:
It's mentioned in the All the Little Things thread, although it talks about QuickTime and Quicklook specifically; not iTunes.

SRLMJ23, does the file play in QuickTime Player?
Click to expand...
Sorry, I don't consider that thread to be a reputable source.

I did search for "FLAC" on the Apple support site and it looks like FLAC playback is support on iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, Apple TV 4K.

There is no indication from the Apple support pages that FLAC is supported by QuickTime or iTunes.

Another Internet search led me to an article that indicates that FLAC is supported by Quick Look in High Sierra. It appears that FLAC audio files can be previewed in Finder.
 
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Bart Kela said:
Sorry, I don't consider that thread to be a reputable source.

I did search for "FLAC" on the Apple support site and it looks like FLAC playback is support on iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, Apple TV 4K.

There is no indication from the Apple support pages that FLAC is supported by QuickTime or iTunes.
Click to expand...

The thread is correct. FLAC works in Quicklook and Quicktime, but not iTunes.
 
Bart Kela said:
Sorry, I don't consider that thread to be a reputable source.

I did search for "FLAC" on the Apple support site and it looks like FLAC playback is support on iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, Apple TV 4K.

There is no indication from the Apple support pages that FLAC is supported by QuickTime or iTunes.

Another Internet search led me to an article that indicates that FLAC is supported by Quick Look in High Sierra. It appears that FLAC audio files can be previewed in Finder.
Click to expand...

I apologize, you are correct about FLAC support on iOS 11. For some reason I completely got the different operating systems confused. That being said, I do not understand how iOS 11 can support FLAC, and macOS Sierra cannot. I have my Jay-Z 4:44 FLAC album in my "Files" app and when I click on it to play, it will not play. It does nothing. This is on the iPhone X, with the latest iOS 11 update. I do not think they have it fully implemented yet. Also, is there any HEVC test file that I could play on my iPhone X or MacBook Pro? I just want to see if I can play it. Thank you for your help and comments!

Edit: I can play the FLAC album in macOS in preview in the Files App. Still cannot figure out why it will not play on my iPhone X.

:apple:
 
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Clearly, Apple included whatever required FLAC playback libraries in iOS 11, but not in macOS Sierra. Why? I have no idea. Ask them.

I suggest you use an Internet search engine and look for "HEVC test file" or "HEVC sample file."

I did the same for "FLAC sample file" and was able to locate some files to download.

Good luck.
 
Is there really a reason to even use FLAC? I know its lossless and all but a 320kbps mp3 file sounds just as crystal clear to me without the monstrous filesize you'd get with FLAC and WAV >.>
 
Lossless is what you archive music in, then can convert from there into whatever codec is currently best efficiency wise (e.g. opus is relatively new). So yeah it has a use, problem with starting with a lossy codec is quality can degrade once transcoded.

Wouldn't use FLAC on mobile because of the battery, and yes you are even more unlikely to hear any difference.

Out of interest here is a user codec comparison showing quality of opus and aac:

http://listening-test.coresv.net/results.htm
 
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Well... I use an external DAC with my iPhone6s (DragonflyRed or Fiio Q1) and good quality earphones (AudioTechnica, RHA, Focal) and definitely DO hear the difference with lossless files. It’s not enough to have all music in iPhone in those bigger files, but I have a pair of good recordings of classical symphonies in ALAC. Rock, pop & others are nice in aac.
But I believe this iTunes inability with FLAC must be a transition thing... Some apps in previous iOS systems were able to use FLAC already. Making iOS flac ready can only mean that iTunes will support it in the future.
There’s no way to put music files in Music app other than importing from iTunes! O.K., you can download from Apple Music... but they don’t offer FLAC’s! (AFAIK)
So... What the hell does it mean saying iOS11 is flac compatible? Just in Files? Why? What for?
 
FLAC also works in apps like documents and Plex, might just be music that is not allowing it. It is very picky with non iTunes imports so could just be artificial limit.
 
Have also just discovered that Quicktime will process FLAC but iTunes still chokes it out. Does anyone know if there's plans in the pipeline for this to become an iTunes feature?

Also I hate it when people bring up the 'but you can't tell the difference' argument. Well I can definitely hear more clarity in the detail of a few albums I own in 24-bit 96KHz FLAC compared to their 320kbps VBR versions on Spotify. And I've asked family to blind test me just to see.
 
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Just convert from FLAC to ALAC. It's a lossless to lossless encode so it's totally safe without the risk of losing quality.
 
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CJM said:
Also I hate it when people bring up the 'but you can't tell the difference' argument. Well I can definitely hear more clarity in the detail of a few albums I own in 24-bit 96KHz FLAC compared to their 320kbps VBR versions on Spotify. And I've asked family to blind test me just to see.
Click to expand...

You wouldn’t last five minutes over at the Hydrogen Audio forums.
 
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CJM said:
Have also just discovered that Quicktime will process FLAC but iTunes still chokes it out. Does anyone know if there's plans in the pipeline for this to become an iTunes feature?

Also I hate it when people bring up the 'but you can't tell the difference' argument. Well I can definitely hear more clarity in the detail of a few albums I own in 24-bit 96KHz FLAC compared to their 320kbps VBR versions on Spotify. And I've asked family to blind test me just to see.
Click to expand...

There are too many variables at play in your tests. That said, if you want to own those huge digital files and are OK with them taking up that much space all the more power to you brother.
 
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