Music Discussions

Recently, in my article on the NIN/JA 2009 promotional EP, I recommended downloading the lossless version as well as the "standard" mp3 version. This topic should discussed further as it deserves more than just a "by the way" on another article.

As its name implies, with lossy formats some quality is lost. This loss stems from the trade off between file size – which affects loading times, storage requirements, and downloading times – and quality. Many of us are using relatively inexpensive hardware and, because of this, will not notice any difference between a high-quality lossy version of a track and a lossless version. Maintaining this mindset however, can lead to issues.

With prices continuing to drop while quality continues to go up, in five or ten years even inexpensive hardware may show limitations of current lossy formats. At that point, it would be nice to listen to a lossless version to hear what the artist intended. Also, if a new file type replace those that are common today, having a lossless version allows you to convert your music to this new format. I realize that the existing lossy file could be converted, but the file would lose even more quality by converting it to another lossy format.

If you have the option to download multiple formats, I would suggest getting both a lossy format (probably mp3) that you can use on you portable media player as well as a lossless format such as flac for archival purposes. If, on the other hand, you have a choice of file types but are only allowed to download one, I would suggest downloading the lossless format and creating any other formats that you need from it.

Lossy formats that you are likely to encounter include mp3, m4a, and ogg. Common lossless formats include flac, wav, and alac.