The Loudness Wars Rage On! Is FLAC as Good as CD Sound Quality?

By: Robert Petty, Team SoundDomain

This question came up while discussing the poor recording practices used these days. I've posted before about what compressing music into MP3 format does to your recordings. I decided to take a song that I like and compare the original CD recording to a FLAC version of it. The song? Steve Winwood "Higher Love" It has a nice percussion intro, and some decent dynamics. Steve's voice is pretty "thin" sounding compared to some, but that makes it even harder for an ordinary system to produce it realistically. So here's the results.

Doing an A/B comparison between the FLAC recording and the original CD, I sat in the car with just these two discs and played them both several times without looking at which disc I was listening to. The volume seemed identical. The only thing I could pick out was one of them seemed to have a little better dynamics than the other. For those who have never heard that term before, it's basically the difference between the "soft" parts of a track and the "loud" parts of the track. One of the discs seemed to have a little more definition between the soft and loud parts of the song, and there were some very faint details that were more clear in the same disc. Before we discuss which was the better one, let's look at the analysis.

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Alpine Bluetooth Install & Hands-On

Team SoundDomain member Robert Petty has been building up his toy arsenal again, this time adding an Alpine KCE-300BT Bluetooth adapter to his IVA-W205. But since Robert is an engineer by trade and a gadget geek by hobby, he wanted to take his install a bit beyond what Alpine provides instructions for. Robert's Acura CL-S came equipped with an analog OnStar system (which was made useless after OnStar switched to an all-digital system not too long ago), and he successfully incorporated the factory OnStar microphone in his rearview mirror with the Alpine set-up. Now Robert has a stealthy hands-free solution for his mobile phone and can even stream audio from his cell into his W205.

Check out Roberts hands-on of the KCA-300BT, including screen shots and install progress, in the Head Unit Help forum, and take a peek at his competition SQ CL-S build in the Team SoundDomain forums.

Getting Ready For The Show

All competitors have different ways in which they prepare for a show. Some do nothing, some spend hours into the wee morning testing and tuning their systems, some tear their cars apart to make last minute adjustments or changes to the install with hopes of scoring a few points higher or to satisfy a judge's suggestions for improvement. Team SoundDomain member Robert Petty gives us a little insight into his routine for pre-show prep. Nothing like a little last minute sound deadening and RTA tuning to get the blood pumping!

Check out Robert's routine! How do you prepare?

Product Review: Alpine IVA-W205

Team SoundDomain member Robert Petty's weapon of choice for head units is the Alpine IVA-W205, a double-DIN multimedia powerhouse with good looks and user-friendly functionality. Since "Which Should I Get...." is a common question in the Head Unit Help section, Robert decided to post up a pretty great review of his IVA-W205 with plenty of photos and explanations as to why this is his preferred sound quality source unit. Robert also incorporated steering wheel controls and the incredible Alpine PXA-H701 processor to his multimedia mix. And while I wouldn't think to question his choice of equipment for even a second, his music selection is a whole other story.... (Kidding Robert!... Kind of)

Check Out Robert's Review!