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Vorbis VS FLAC

Compare Vorbis VS FLAC and see what are their differences

Vorbis logo Vorbis

Ogg Vorbis is a fully open, general-purpose compressed audio format for mid to high quality...

FLAC logo FLAC

A free, open source codec for lossless audio compression and decompression
  • Vorbis Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-04-11
  • FLAC Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-11-02

Vorbis features and specs

  • Open Source
    Vorbis is part of the Xiph.org Foundation's suite of open-source projects, making it free to use and modify without licensing fees.
  • Good Compression
    Vorbis provides efficient compression, delivering high-quality audio at lower bitrates compared to some other formats, which can be beneficial for streaming and storage.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Supported by various platforms and devices, Vorbis is versatile for use in different environments, whether on PCs, mobile devices, or gaming consoles.
  • Wide Compatibility
    Vorbis can be easily integrated with several media players and software, enhancing its usability across different systems.
  • High Audio Quality
    At identical bitrates, Vorbis generally delivers superior sound quality compared to other lossy compression formats like MP3.

Possible disadvantages of Vorbis

  • Limited Hardware Support
    While software support is broad, hardware support for Vorbis is limited compared to more established formats like MP3 or AAC, especially in older devices.
  • Market Adoption
    Despite its benefits, Vorbis hasn't achieved the same market penetration as other codecs, primarily due to the dominance of formats like MP3 and AAC.
  • Lack of Proprietary Features
    Vorbis does not support features commonly found in proprietary codecs, such as certain forms of digital rights management (DRM), which can be a limitation in commercial applications.
  • Complexity for Developers
    Developers might find Vorbis more complex to implement than other more straightforward audio codecs due to the depth of customization and functionality it offers.

FLAC features and specs

  • Lossless Compression
    FLAC, which stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, compresses audio files without any loss of quality, preserving the original sound perfectly.
  • Open Source
    FLAC is an open-source format, allowing developers to modify and integrate it into software without licensing fees.
  • High Compatibility
    FLAC is widely supported by many audio players, software, and devices, making it a versatile choice for storing high-quality audio.
  • Metadata Support
    FLAC files support rich metadata, allowing users to store detailed information about the audio file, such as artist, album, and genre.
  • Error Resilience
    FLAC has built-in error checking to ensure the integrity of the audio data, which helps prevent data corruption during playback or file transfer.

Possible disadvantages of FLAC

  • File Size
    Compared to lossy formats like MP3 or AAC, FLAC files are larger, which can be a disadvantage when storage space is limited.
  • Limited Portability
    While compatibility is generally good, some older or less popular devices and software might not support FLAC, necessitating conversion to other formats.
  • Streaming Limitations
    Streaming services and platforms may not support FLAC due to its large file size, impacting its use in online streaming environments.
  • Battery Consumption
    Playing FLAC files can consume more device battery power compared to smaller, lossy files due to the increased processing required.
  • No DRM Support
    FLAC does not support digital rights management (DRM), which may be an issue for users or services that require DRM for content protection.

Vorbis videos

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FLAC videos

Can we hear the differences between MP3 and FLAC?

More videos:

  • Review - FLAC vs Spotify vs YouTube : HEARING Test Review!
  • Review - High Fidelity (Hi-Fi) Music on your Smartphone | FLAC | Vox | Google Play Music

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Vorbis and FLAC)
Audio Player
35 35%
65% 65
Product Presentation
43 43%
57% 57
Audio & Music
32 32%
68% 68
Media Player
47 47%
53% 53

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, FLAC should be more popular than Vorbis. It has been mentiond 6 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Vorbis mentions (3)

  • Reverse-engineering a weird video file
    An audio stream encoded as Vorbis, at 48000 samples per second, in stereo audio. - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
  • Maximum bitrate of ogg/vorbis
    I'm not sure if I'm missing something, but I've seen ogg/vorbis bitrates in excess of 128 kbps mentioned in several places (supposedly Spotify can stream vorbis at a maximum of 320 kbps), while the xiph.org foundation states that the maximum bitrate per channel is 128 kbps. Assuming that for typical stereo audio this comes to 256 kbps, what is the meaningful comparison with something like e.g. Mp3 at 320 kbps?... Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Loading Audio in Node JS
    But what about audio file formats like mp3, ogg, and flac? The difference between these formats and wav is that the audio is compressed on disk. Mp3 and ogg are what's called "lossy" compression - that means they change the actual sound in ways that are hopefully imperceptible to most listeners in order to get better compression. flac, meanwhile, is a format that implements lossless compression. This means that it... - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago

FLAC mentions (6)

  • Best iPod for music in 2023 with large capacity.
    The Xiph.org foundation maintains FLAC and they have a list of tools that might be helpful. Source: about 2 years ago
  • lossless music on the 7th gen
    Lastly, ALAC hasn't been updated by apple since 2016. FLAC is actively maintained by xiph.org and saw its last update this past October. Source: over 2 years ago
  • [Audio] The MQA Controversy: How an inferior format tried to take over the high-end audio market and caused major backlash
    Excessive licensing costs weren’t the only concern surrounding MQA though. MQA is touted as being DRM free, with audio streams able to be stored in the very popular, open source FLAC format. Only the lower resolution 16-bit audio is truly DRM free however. MQA’s authentication watermarking must be present in the file, and properly validated at playback, otherwise MQA decoders will refuse to unfold the audio to... Source: over 2 years ago
  • What audio format do you put on your iPods?
    FLAC continues to be actively maintained and updated. Which, actually thanks for asking your question because in checking sources I noticed FLAC was just updated not two weeks ago. I thik the last time I updated my encoder libraries was after MP3 lost patent protection and dropped licensing a few years ago, so this is fortuitous timing! Anyways, FLAC continues to be meaningfully updated (homepage @ xiph and the... Source: over 2 years ago
  • ELI5: How does audio compression (mp3, etc) make sound files so much smaller?
    There are lossless audio compression standards such as FLAC. Source: almost 4 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Vorbis and FLAC, you can also consider the following products

WavPack - WavPack is a completely open audio compression format providing lossless, high-quality lossy, and a...

Opus Interactive Audio Codec - Opus is a totally open, royalty-free, highly versatile audio codec.

Monkey's Audio (.APE) - Monkey’s Audio makes perfect, bit-for-bit copies of your music, exactly the same as the original. You can decompress your lossless .APE files back to the original files. Think of it as a beefed-up Winzip™ to perfectly recreate the original music CD.

LameDropXPd - LameDropXPd is a practical frontend for LAME that makes things easier to the user, as there is no...

LAME - LAME is a high quality MPEG Audio Layer III (MP3) encoder licensed under the LGPL.

LameXP - LameXP is an Audio Encoder Front-End, a graphical user-interface for a number of audio encoders.