Help Android no lossless playback?? WTF!

[rgildoss]

so i been searching the net for the last 2 hours and i have found thatt ANdroid can not play FLAC or AAC ( M4A ) lossless files???

Comon such a great OS with that type of FLAW??

Or am i just totaly blind and not see it ?

default player, tunewiki, mixzing none of them play it ....

 

[karlschmidt]

Seems to work ok on my Hero... just copied the iTunes AAC files to the SD card and use the supplied player.

 

[rgildoss]

Seems to work ok on my Hero... just copied the iTunes AAC files to the SD card and use the supplied player.

Can you confirm that it is infact LOSSLESS AAC file ?

 

[karlschmidt]

Well, it is a .m4a extension, but that probably doesn't mean a thing.

I'll see if I can create one and try it out.

UPDATE: Imported a CD into iTunes using Apple Lossless setting. Transferred to phone and would not play.

 

[rgildoss]

Most people dont care about lossless playback because of the space thing, however i have a BOSE car system with bluetooth that totaly rocks out when playing lossless on my TP2. the clearity is incredible!

I would think that someone would make a app and sell it on the market place and make tons on cash ..i would pay 10 bucks for a nice looking app that would play lossless ...

i hope someday soon someone will take on that task ...untill then i guess we have to wait

 

[cooolone2]

Most people dont care about lossless playback because of the space thing, however i have a BOSE car system with bluetooth that totaly rocks out when playing lossless on my TP2. the clearity is incredible!

I would think that someone would make a app and sell it on the market place and make tons on cash ..i would pay 10 bucks for a nice looking app that would play lossless ...

i hope someday soon someone will take on that task ...untill then i guess we have to wait

BOSE is not lossless - I actually don't like BOSE but that's just preference.
Car/Vehicle Audio is rife with noise... even the quietest of vehicles still have noise.

Android/Hero Plays; MP3, AAC(AAC, AAC+, AAC-LC), AMR-NB, WAV, MIDI and Windows Media

 

[Visionikz03]

Most people dont care about lossless playback because of the space thing, however i have a BOSE car system with bluetooth that totaly rocks out when playing lossless on my TP2. the clearity is incredible!

I would think that someone would make a app and sell it on the market place and make tons on cash ..i would pay 10 bucks for a nice looking app that would play lossless ...

i hope someday soon someone will take on that task ...until then i guess we have to wait

If u compress and mp3 at minimum 192kb/s u would pretty much have to have an oscilloscope to be able to "see" the difference in signal quality. I don't even think beethoven could tell the difference between the two. Especially if it's just a stock bose system. IMHO i've heard bose car systems and they almost sound "compressed" in themselves like they're behind a glass panel or something. I have a complete aftermarket system minus the stock radio nd i use mp3 compressed at 192kb/s nd i promise u if u heard lossless compared to it on my system u wouldn't be able to tell which is which because the compressed version sounds so good. Nd like coolone said, u r battling so much road noise that any clarity u get from using lossless is pretty much lost in all the ambient noise around u anyhow. Also unless ur streaming audio digitally thru bluetooth from ur phone to the car system which is wat i think u were describing, then playing thru a 3.5mm defeats the whole purpose of using lossless anyhow.

 

[beefytee]

I see one of you uses mixzing, what do you other guys use. I'm looking for something with a little audio boost and maybe an EQ with some presets. Nothing fancy as I'm not an audio nut, I just like a little more than I currently have.

 

[rgildoss]

If u compress and mp3 at minimum 192kb/s u would pretty much have to have an oscilloscope to be able to "see" the difference in signal quality. I don't even think beethoven could tell the difference between the two. Especially if it's just a stock bose system. IMHO i've heard bose car systems and they almost sound "compressed" in themselves like they're behind a glass panel or something. I have a complete aftermarket system minus the stock radio nd i use mp3 compressed at 192kb/s nd i promise u if u heard lossless compared to it on my system u wouldn't be able to tell which is which because the compressed version sounds so good. Nd like coolone said, u r battling so much road noise that any clarity u get from using lossless is pretty much lost in all the ambient noise around u anyhow. Also unless ur streaming audio digitally thru bluetooth from ur phone to the car system which is wat i think u were describing, then playing thru a 3.5mm defeats the whole purpose of using lossless anyhow.

Guys I do understand audio HI-FI and how it all works. Yes BOSE is not the best and in a car even not as good clear sound.

Also 192k NEVER can be compared to LOSSLESS, don

 

[beefytee]

I have a hard time understanding the motivation behind audio freaks. It doesn't make crappy music or crappy performances sound better.

More times than not it just reveals the incompetence of the engineer

 

[Bennyhill]

If I was that concerned about my audio quality I don't think I would rely on my phone for playback...

Thats just me though.

 

[chfields]

Its a PHONE, you are not going to get good sound quality, so that would be pointless. Now, if you have a high end sound system at home, then I can see it otherwise its a waste of money and time.

 

[thatjerk]

Lol!
That is all I have to say about that.

 

[cooolone2]

OP, I hope you didn't misinterpret my post... I wasn't trying to flame you.

I know full well the need for near perfect sound as I love it too. I just talked about the contrast of looking for that within the vehicle and that it would be easier to get one of those laptop HDD's the size of your phone to store those files you want to listen to because they will take up a load of space. A portable 250 Gig drive would be way better than an 8 or 16 Gig MicroSD. My old iPod (yes, I owned one, now doa!) was 64 Gigs and only held half my collection, if that. I sample at 320bps for my MP3 ripping, so all my files are pretty big.

If your headunit has the USB connectivity you are way a head of the game

Let us know what you decide...

 

[rgildoss]

he was deaf... i don't think he'd be able to tell the difference between a Bass C and my fart.

as for car audio, they can get pretty good, i have a 93 1500 sierra with infiniti kappa series speakers plus two more 6'' put in the doors with dual 10'' subs running left and right channels behind the seats with sound absorbent material all around the compartment. it is by far the BEST audio system i have access to, nothing can beat it that i have ever heard, it is like a sound chamber in there. i cannot hear a damn thing besides the music even when it's not that loud, unfortunately i can't hear ambulances or firetrucks either lol so i gotta check my mirrors

my sugestion, if your going for good audio in your car, start with upgrading your head unit, you can find ones that support any file type. it's much better imho. as for phone playback, if your going through headphones, than lossless doesn't matter at all, you'd need a good digital signal to be able to tell the difference, straight up analog won't ever matter, it'l still have static in the background and only 2ch audio through small headphones...

I too had similer system in my old car ( had Menphis amps with 12" HCCA Orion sub ) and ur 100% correct systems like that are fantastic sounding and clear

As for headphones? i dont use it that way ..i use bluetooth audio.. so far clearity is fantastic
I am looking for this for more of simplicity as i dont have time or the will to convert 12,000+ songs to MP3 ...hehe

 

[Visionikz03]

he was deaf... i don't think he'd be able to tell the difference between a Bass C and my fart.

I know that pun was intended lol...

 

[dennistpm]

Try "Andless" in the Market.

"This audio player can play lossless files (FLAC/APE/MPC/WV), or any files directly supported in Android. Now supports Apple lossless files (in M4A container) as well. CUE sheets and playlists are also supported."

 

[oldjackbob]

There's something that I don't understand at all, that's been mentioned twice already in this thread, and I've also seen in at least one other thread in this forum...the statement that if you're listening to tunes through a 3.5mm jack, you're wasting any advantage of lossless recordings.

Can someone please explain to me how the type of electrical connector you're using can have an effect on the quality of sound you hear out of the speakers? Is it just a shielding issue, as in RCA connector & coax cable? If so, wouldn't that be of negligible concern at any audio stage beyond preamp?

Just curious, thanks in advance.

 

[hakujin]

192Kbps CBR might not be the best head to head choice to lossless . Better example would be V0 extreme encoded VBR mp3 to lossless. Audiophiles might 'say' they hear a difference, but they probably bottle and smell their own farts profusely. They also drive Prius.

Regarding noisy cars, I've seen some serious after market sound dampening put in a mazda 3 speed, that would make you think you were in a a cocoon chamber floating in space. Nevertheless, you can achieve damn good sound in a car, anything otherwise is just nonsense to the ears.

related to the topic at hand, I do find it frustrating too, that with 50k apps, there are so many apps missing that lack functional breadth. Seriously... no app that can play flac? There's also no apps that play xvid/divx if I'm not mistaken... same with Apple. TCMP, where are you? One brilliant little a/v playback app. My little $40 second to none SOC Sansa Clip can play lossless, and it has more of a capacity argument w/ only 8GB max. You can fit plenty of lossless on a 16 or 32GB micro sd card . Coupled with some TripleFi 10 cans, top notch SQ.

I also don't think there's something similar to Soti Pocket Controller for Android.... nor Vito Audio notes, 2 of my most favorite and most used apps on the Windows Mobile platform. Vito would even let you set the bitrate and container of recordings in addition to auto recording phone calls, a feature sorely missed. The quality was excellent on my SDA.

Seems it's always a give a take. Add better, prettier UI, lose something else. I'm hoping Android becomes the best of both worlds.

 

[unfrostedpoptart]

Most of you have missed the main point that I have for wanting m4a support. Almost all the files on my home server are m4a, so I don't want to have to take the time to transcode files every time I want to copy them to my phone. If I'm copying a ton of files, this takes a long time to convert!

I know I'm not going to hear the difference through the phone's audio circuitry.

David

 

[urbanomad]

I am also looking for the same kind of compression on sync, e.g. iTunes does with iPhone. I have too much music in lossless to fit on any SD card. I am not concerned with lossless on my phone as I understand that it cannot be done easily. I will be converting to Android from iPhone 3G next week and would like as seamless experience as possible. I know the first sync would be hours long compressing but I know that already...

 

[westkc3]

Most of you have missed the main point that I have for wanting m4a support. Almost all the files on my home server are m4a, so I don't want to have to take the time to transcode files every time I want to copy them to my phone. If I'm copying a ton of files, this takes a long time to convert!

I know I'm not going to hear the difference through the phone's audio circuitry.

David

This is my issue also. 95% of what I listen to is live music I and others have recorded which is now 526G of FLAC files. I have tried several apps from the market which say they support the FLAC codec but the playback is so choppy I can't stand to listen to it. So I've resigned myself to use a dedicated player for music. In addition, with battery life being what it is on smartphones, I want to save my juice for when I need it.

 

[hakujin]

Must... move.. mind, away from sync... that is an iPhone exclusive disability. You needn't use any bloated app to get things onto and off of your phone w/ Android. I think of this as a feature. And regarding lossless audio; just my opinion, but such things would be superfluous on a phone (probably any phone) w/ mediocre audio SoC at best, esp. when utilizing sub $200 cans. As far as dedicated players, one of the best I've ever used/heard (and many would agree) are the Sansa Clip devices (and maybe Fuse, dunno on them). They are known for superior SoC and sound, support FLAC and have a very active FW community (or I know at least did before Sandisk banned me from their forums for mentioning lawsuit, but that's another story!). Clip+ also have expandable micro SD memory.

 

[raincity]

If u compress and mp3 at minimum 192kb/s u would pretty much have to have an oscilloscope to be able to "see" the difference in signal quality. I don't even think beethoven could tell the difference between the two. Especially if it's just a stock bose system. IMHO i've heard bose car systems and they almost sound "compressed" in themselves like they're behind a glass panel or something. I have a complete aftermarket system minus the stock radio nd i use mp3 compressed at 192kb/s nd i promise u if u heard lossless compared to it on my system u wouldn't be able to tell which is which because the compressed version sounds so good. Nd like coolone said, u r battling so much road noise that any clarity u get from using lossless is pretty much lost in all the ambient noise around u anyhow. Also unless ur streaming audio digitally thru bluetooth from ur phone to the car system which is wat i think u were describing, then playing thru a 3.5mm defeats the whole purpose of using lossless anyhow.

I can easily tell the difference between ANY kind of lossy compression and lossless WITHOUT using an oscilloscope. I spent a few hours doing blind A/B comparisons before ripping my CD collection and could tell the difference every single time. The difference is also noticeable when I connect my phone to my stereo. Have 'u' ever actually compared them that way? BTW- Poweramp works fine with the lossless files I've tried. They're supposed to be adding streaming playback to a version in the near future.