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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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What are the advantages in installing the FLAC files? Should both the lossy files and the FLAC files be installed? Does having both lossy and FLAC files installed cause any problems for BIAB or RB? Can BIAB or RB be forced to use one or the other?
I guess the real question is can I hear a difference between lossless and lossy?
Jeff
Win11, Intel i7 7700K 4.2Ghz, 32Gb RAM, 2x1Tb HD, 500Gb NVMe, BIAB/RB 2026, MOTU 828MK3 audio, MOTU Midi Express, Yamaha Montage 7, DX7II, TX802, Motif XS Rack, Roland Fantom XR Rack, Oberheim Matrix 1000, VoiceLive3 Extreme, Kontakt 6, SampleTank 4.3
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Love flac rec n play.
Many songs in my sig vocs done flac
...
Run tests.if you doubt me
Would love flac recording of my vocs and gtr in rb..
Om
Last edited by justanoldmuso; 12/27/25 07:30 AM.
my songs....mixed for good earbuds...(fyi..my vocs on all songs..) https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs(90 songs created useing bb/rb) (lots of tips of mine in pg tips forum.)
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Jeff, here is an objective response as accurately as we currently know. FLAC files are lossless. (Free Lossless Audio Codec). As we understand things, BIAB will search for .flac files to use as its first priority. If not available (file does not exist), then it will use the next available file with the same file name with compressed file type (.wma). The main program does not differentiate between file types, it chooses the best available as its first preference (.flac, .wav). Being able to differentiate the audio quality between file types is also somewhat subjective, as it depends on many other variables, especially including speakers and room conditions. Professional recording studios would always choose lossless audio as their primary choice. There is an excellent discussion on the topic here. Hope this clarifies the situation for you.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Jeff, I think my article that Trevor linked is all still accurate. What is a bit of a problem is that it’s incomplete as to storage issues. No, you should not install both FLAC and WMA, but you have no choice!
Yes, I’ve requested a utility to sort this out.
If your computer has loads of space, all you want is all WAV. If your space is limited and you aren’t using the computer as a production machine (think laptop to compose while traveling), you want all FLAC. The problem is, for older version, you frequently have all three versions of the same RealTrack installed and cannot do anything about that.
I would like something similar to Help, What Add-ons Do I Have. It would say something like:
77% of your Real Tracks are WAV and WMA.
11% of your RealTracks are WMA only
3% of your RealTracks are FLAC and WMA.
1% of your RealTracks are FLAC only.
8% of your RealTracks are WAV, FLAC, and WMA.
And then it would let you do something about that, including deleting all WMA when either WAV or FLAC existed, etc. AND letting you buy what you are missing in the file format you prefer.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Matt I agree to your idea about having a Dashboard for FLAC versus WMA and a cleaning utility.
The latest 2026 install of audiophile does have the option for FLAC only.
Interestingly enough, if you're doing an overlay install and not a complete delete 1TB and add 1TB, then you will still end up with the 2026 FLAC files and the 2025 WMA files on your local drive. The savings by not installing the WMA's is approximately 130 GB. Knowing their priority algorithm and if you have the space it's not huge problem.
To answer the question can you tell the difference audible, the answer is yes.
Last edited by jpettit; 12/27/25 11:20 AM.
Studio One (latest version), Win 11 23H2 , i9 -10940X 3.3 GHz, 32GB Mem, a 4K 40" monitor, PreSonus Studio Live III Console as interface/controller. secondarily test on Reaper, Cakewalk, and S1 on Surface Pro 3 Win 10 (latest versions).
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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You are correct. I have always said the WMA files are not a serious problem unless someone writes they have a limited storage on a laptop and don’t want to use an external drive. It’s more the principle of the thing as we get more and more each year.
Jeff, I did not know the new installer allows choosing FLAC only. Thanks for this info. It does alter my requested solution a little. I don’t generally do any automated downloads or installs; I’m still a manual guy because I like to know exactly what’s being done.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Very interesting discussion guys! Thanks for the help and clarification.
Jeff
Win11, Intel i7 7700K 4.2Ghz, 32Gb RAM, 2x1Tb HD, 500Gb NVMe, BIAB/RB 2026, MOTU 828MK3 audio, MOTU Midi Express, Yamaha Montage 7, DX7II, TX802, Motif XS Rack, Roland Fantom XR Rack, Oberheim Matrix 1000, VoiceLive3 Extreme, Kontakt 6, SampleTank 4.3
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