Bob's Chat
A chatbox where we can post comments and have discussions on artists & songs. However, if you just want to say thank you for a particular post then please continue using the usual comment box located below each post.
A correction to my earlier post that this blog will be switching entirely to FLAC.
When FLAC files began appearing on the music sharing blogs some years ago I wasn't at all interested. I was more than happy with MP3, especially at 320kbps. I don't listen to music on expensive sound systems. Mostly I listen via a thumb drive in my car stereo, or on my laptop. Furthermore, the larger FLAC file sizes just meant more data usage for downloads, longer wait times for downloads to complete, and more backup storage requirements.
More recently however I've been downloading FLAC and noticing a discernible difference in audio quality. Plus with better internet connections along with unlimited data plans, the disadvantages of FLAC have vanished and FLAC has now become my preferred audio file format.
As I've mentioned several times in the past I make up these compilations in batches well in advance, and some of the batches I'm currently putting together are now FLAC files, these will start appearing on the blog early in 2026. Whenever possible compilations will be in FLAC, however, with the compilations that deal with old historical recordings, such as much of the hillbilly and pre-war country blues, then those compilations will remain in MP3-320.
Mp3 or Flac, they both are fine with me, with my ears they sound almost the same!! Mike. ✌️👍
ReplyDeleteHi Mike, thanks for your feedback.
DeleteThanks Bob. I have a similar opinion to you as regards the use of FLAC. I suppose us oldies need to keep up with the times. By the way, have you been watching season 3 of The White Lotus - I found it very good.
ReplyDeleteHi Ballas, no I haven't watched any of The White Lotus, I know nothing at all about it.
DeleteHi Bob, I don't want Flac and with the old stuff you do your country posts in is not accurate 320 so careful old cobber as you can't make Flac out of a 320 or less. Good luck
ReplyDeleteHi Ted, thanks for your feedback. Yes good point and one that I have just arrived at myself. Because while much of the newish country & bluegrass music is available in flac (and has superior sound) the old stuff is not so much available. So I've already been thinking that there will still have to be some compilations in MP3.
DeleteAgree as I have started to do the same and download FLAC where I have a choice. Now that full fibre is readily available (and VPNs) and the price of storage has dropped there isn't a need to save space or download times like there used to be.
ReplyDelete👍👍👍👍
DeleteMP3 or FLAC - grateful for either that I am able get here.
ReplyDeleteCheers RMstorm, thanks for your feedback.
Deletei prefer flac but am grateful for whatever is offered
ReplyDeleteHi cabledogg2, yes many of the files I'm getting now (especially with the jazz compilations) are already in FLAC. So it makes sense of keep them in FLAC.
DeleteHi Bob,
ReplyDeleteIt makes little difference to me. Like you I'm not driven to use high quality audio equipment and to me with so many variables involved in terms of the source, the equipment, the room acoustics etc you can never really guarantee near to perfect audio anyway so I don't fuss about it and anyway unless I have my ear trumpet handy I doubt I could hear the difference anyway ;-)
The one thing I would say is that if you store a lot of media as I do, its considerably more cost effective to keep MP3's (especially if you want to keep hard back-ups on CD / DVD etc) than it is to store high quality flac but for most people I doubt that's a consideration. Having lost as many external drives as I have in recent years (about 20Tb worth) the idea of backing up what you want to keep to CD/DVD becomes a consideration again.
Still I wonder how long it will be before the debate turns to whether a flac file is 16 or 24 bit and what compression level was used? It never ends. Anyway I'm happy to enjoy the files whatever format and compression levels they are offered in and I can downsize anything from Flac to Mp3 if I need to. Thanks as ever for all your efforts Bob.
Hi Manny and thanks for your interesting comment. It was mainly with the jazz and the blues/R&B compilations that got me thinking because I often started off with tracks that came to me in FLAC format and I was converting them down to MP3-320, and I began think this is a retrograde step. Anyway as we get into 2026 there will be some FLAC on the blog whenever possible. And of course if anyone in concerned about storage space they can simply convert to MP3 if they wish. But I have noticed some audio deterioration with some of my MP3 files and this has also concerned me recently.
DeleteHey Bob, this is the perennial (and thorny) problem. Personally, I'm with Manny Kent most particularly because being in my mid-80s my hearing isn't what it was (probably destroyed by over-loud music in my youth!) and I cannot detect any discernible difference. I am happy to receive whatever is posted and enjoy the music you post. All flac means is I need to convert to mp3s. In any case the vast majority of postings were recorded in analogue form many years ago. Whatever, I am grateful for all your hard work here, so thank you and long may you continue.
ReplyDeleteTamworth Ted made an interesting comment above that many of my tracks are not true 320. This prompted me to do some checks and yes, that is the case. The latest batch of compilations I'm putting together in flac I also checked and some were fake flac, those tracks I deleted. I still have many compilations prepared in advance that have tracks that are not true bitrates, when they have all been posted what follows will be truly flac and truly mp3-320. I'm currently checking all tracks prior to adding them to any new compilations.
DeleteHi Bob, hope you are doing well...I stopped collecting MP3's myself except for some ongoing series collecting (notably the "Do The 45" series which is over a 1,000 vol's so far)...I primarily started MP3's because that's what my iPod and car USB port played but I now use a Hi Res Sony player and my car plays FLAC too...
ReplyDeleteHi nappyrags, nice to hear from you, I'm much the same, not collection any more MP3 unless it's really something rare and I badly need. Otherwise now all flac, however there is a lot of fake flac I'm finding, so all the flac files that are finding their way into future compilations I'm making are being checked out first.
DeleteYeah there are many fake flac files out there on the net. But there are even more fake 320 files, that have been upscaled from 128 files, no improvement in quality, just makes the files fatter!
ReplyDeleteI now check everything I download, mp3 and flac, even sites that I have used and trusted for years, I am finding many fakes. You can't judge a book by the cover!! Any thing upscaled I down grade back to it's original bit rate, slimming down the files.
I have no problem playing lower bit rate files, I just don't understand why all the upscaling to 320 or in some cases flac, yeah have found 128 files upscaled to flac.
I started downloading music a few years ago, mostly at 320p when I could find it, but when many people started discarding the slower-speed recordings, the fakes started. I've checked with my older downloads, which are real. I started verifying them when Reb alerted me and gave me the means to do so. Until then, I fully trusted the honesty of the publishers, but that's that already happened. Now, I check everything except the closest ones.
ReplyDeleteFor my part, I have no problem with you posting in FLAC or MP3; I convert the FLACs to save space, and my ears are cork 😂
As I've said many times, it's your blog, and you decide how and what to post... But keep posting!
Thank you very much, Bob, for all the work you're doing to offer the best in the best quality.