320kbps vs FLAC – Which is Better and How to Convert them to each other?

Q:

What’s the difference between MP3 and FLAC?

A:

MP3 – A coding format for digital audio that has always been and will continue to be popular worldwide as the result of its small size and acceptable fidelity. Speaking of “acceptable fidelity”: first, “fidelity” – consider it to be the approximation of the original sound. Second, be aware, MP3 is a lossy compressed audio format. When compressing, MP3 filters and abandons the data that is not likely to be noticed by human ears.

FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) – Think about it, you are compressing files to ZIP, which happens from time to time thanks to your limited drive storage. When you unpack the ZIP afterward, it would be much sweeter if none of your sidekicks were missing, right?

FLAC is pretty much that case: it’s an audio compression system/format, while downsizing audio file storage space, it maintains the original sound’s quality, there is none data loss in the compression. Thus, it goes without saying that FLAC is of high compression ratio.

Hot Post: FLAC to ALAC | MP4 to FLAC | WMA to FLAC | ISO to FLAC | MKV to FLAC

In short, there is a factor worth considering – compression. MP3 is a lossy compression while FLAC isn’t, which leads to the fact that FLAC has better quality and MP3 has better online transfer performance and less space occupation due to its small size. Running short on online/offline storage space? Just convert FLAC to MP3, people do that all the time.

Q:

What is 320 kbps MP3, 320 kbps meaning?

A:

Kbps, stands for “kilobits per second”, a data-rate unit used to measure data transmit rate in telecommunications. As for audio file 320kbps, the highest bit rate of MP3 format, the best setting value of a high-end MP3 player, is the best audio quality of MP3 format so far. If you compare 320kbps with 192kbps and 128kbs, you’ll find the higher the bit rate, the fuller the sound, the more details it contains, meanwhile, the more data storage per second, the larger the file size.

Q:

320kbps mp3 vs .flac, which one is better?

A:

FLAC bitrate is usually at around 1411kbps.

As a matter of fact, whether using spectrum analysis software (Adobe Audition, Cool Edit Pro) or high-end audio equipment to compare these two, we can only find some subtle differences – we can never tell which is which precisely. Although to be fair, under ideal circumstances, there are still some Matt Murdock who can actually tell the difference between 320kbps and FLAC.

What I’m trying to say is, there are barely differences between 320kbps and FLAC in quality, but 320kbps MP3 overmatches FLAC in its smaller size and better compatibility.

Q:

I’m aware of the fact that FLAC is good, no question on 320 MP3 vs FLAC, but how’s 320kbps quality? Like 320kbps vs cd quality?

A:

CDs are 128kbps, but that doesn’t mean 320k MP3 has better quality. For two songs of the same duration, the music file on CD is a lot larger than the one on your PC, let’s say, CD has higher data storage “density”.

FLAC vs mp3 320 vs CD Quality: CD ≈ FLAC > 320k mp3