Recommendations for export settings to FLAC

[JeffB]

I have been exporting some files originally in M4A format, which I had done some minor editing, such as trimming &/or adding silence, adjusting volume & joining files together into FLAC format.

I’m wondering if I’m using the most appropriate export settings, however.

Sample rate: 44100 Hz
Bit depth: 16 bit
Level: 8 (best)

The sound quality is important to me, but I don’t want to waste space with overkill.

Thank you for any recommendations (or links).
I looked in the manual, but didn’t see anything along those lines other than saying 44100Hz was CD quality.

[DVDdoug]

Unlike MP3, M4A (AAC, MP4) doesn’t accumulate damage with multiple generations of re-compression so I’d re-export as M4A. (100 pass re-compression test)

If you need FLAC, don’t change the sample rate. 16-bits is probably good enough but 24-bits is theoretically better (and about 50% bigger).

[JeffB]

Thank you so much, that is very helpful!

[JeffB]

fwiw, I just trimmed a few seconds off of an M4A file, adjusted the volume (up slightly) and saved it with a slightly different name in the same folder.

           bit rate           size           length
orig:       0kbps            1,509 KB         1:35

new:        250kbps          2,829 KB         1:32

I just used the default settings on the export, which was:
Sample rate 44100 Hz
Quality (kbps) 256

Perhaps it defaults to a higher Quality than the original?

[DVDdoug]

Perhaps it defaults to a higher Quality than the original?

Right. The format has potential for better quality but you don’t get back the data that was thrown away during the previous compression.

The original bitrate is obviously not 0kbps.
You can check the actual bitrate with MediaInfoOnline.

Or, there are 8-bits in a byte so :
1509kB x 8 / 95 seconds = 127kbps

Note that any embedded artwork will increase file size and foul-up the bitrate/size calculation.