Flac Kbps

[matsaul]

When playing a particular track from cd it displays 1400kbps. i wish to rip and keep the same kbps. i am using flac, but on flac playback (ripped) i display 945kbps. i was under the impression this form of ripping would be lossless. somthing i am doing wrong?

[ujay]

Little misunderstanding here.

There are three main types of file for audio playback.

1) Lossless - this is just the raw sound data(PCM) packaged as RAW, WAV, CD output etc. They are transported and stored at the full bitrate.

2) Compressed & Lossless - this is the raw sound data compressed in much the same way as a zip or rar file, when decoded they are played back as if it was the original file.
Like zip or rar, this saves on the bitrate needed to transport and store the data.

3) Compressed & Lossy - as well as being compressed these files attempt to get rid of some of the original sound data that has minimal impact on the final sound.
When decoded these files will not be quite as true to the original as either of the above, but very large compression ratios can be made, cutting the transport rate and storage considerably.

FLAC is type 2), and a good choice if you want to keep the original sound but save a bit on storage.

UJ