What audio format to record concert in

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xev
Posts: 217
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:47 pm
Location: New York

What audio format to record concert in

Post by xev » Sun Sep 10, 2017 10:57 am

I'd like to record a concert for future playback. I'll be using an iphone. The possible formats are m4a, mp3, caf, wave, mp4, aac.
Space isnt an issue as its a new phone.

Which would give me the best quality and possible reduce the inevitable rustling noises?

kinkinkijkin
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Sep 10, 2017 7:47 am

Re: What audio format to record concert in

Post by kinkinkijkin » Sun Sep 10, 2017 11:05 am

wave would be the best quality, but is uncompressed

AAC is the second best quality and nicely compressed

surprised you can't save as FLAC though, that's compressed with no loss of quality over WAV, though a lot of devs are slow to support FLAC

CA_Steve
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Re: What audio format to record concert in

Post by CA_Steve » Sun Sep 10, 2017 3:46 pm

Apple shuns FLAC in favor of apple lossless format. Both use ~50% of the space of wave and neither is lossy compression. So, if you intend to use Apple music sources, then apple lossless.

None will reduce your rustling noises. Stand stiller :)

Cistron
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Location: London, UK

Re: What audio format to record concert in

Post by Cistron » Sun Sep 10, 2017 9:53 pm

And the biggest bump in quality you get with close microphone/iPhone positioning and setting the appropriate levels.

edh
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Re: What audio format to record concert in

Post by edh » Thu Sep 14, 2017 1:57 am

If quality really matters then using something better than an iPhone to record it on would be the best thing.

FLAC of course is a wonderful format. Apple's failure to support it is just one more example of Apple using open source software to produce a closed product.

Some products support FLAC and other Ogg formats without advertising it. My BMW plays FLAC for example but doesn't document this anywhere!

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