Good Audio File Format for Anker Space A40 Earbuds?

[Toolworker]

I would like to play some flac files (classical music) through Anker Space A40 earbuds (Bluetooth 5.2, LDAC) and a Samsung Galaxy S21 running Android 14.

Is there another file format (and parameters) that will reduce file size and still get the best sound quality this setup is capable of?

 

[Vincent Kars]

By design FLAC is lossless compression. If you want smaller file sizes you have to switch to lossy compression say AAC or MP3.

 

[Berwhale]

I have 1.1TB of FLACs in my library (~30,000 files). I use MusicBee to automatically convert and synchronize the files to my phone when I connect it to my PC. I convert the FLACs to the highest bitrate OPUS format, they end up taking around 260GB on my phone.

You need to add the Encoder Pack to MusicBee to get access to the Opus file format. I'm sure that VBR MP3 would be just as good and probably use the same amount of storage, I just fancied using the newer codec.

 

[Toolworker]

I have 1.1TB of FLACs in my library (~30,000 files). I use MusicBee to automatically convert and synchronize the files to my phone when I connect it to my PC. I convert the FLACs to the highest bitrate OPUS format, they end up taking around 260GB on my phone.

You need to add the Encoder Pack to MusicBee to get access to the Opus file format. I'm sure that VBR MP3 would be just as good and probably use the same amount of storage, I just fancied using the newer codec.

Thanks! Any suggestion for a good minimum and/or maximum bitrate for VBR MP3 so that the codec and earbuds would still be the limiting factor for sound quality? I realize there isn't an exact answer, but your guess would be better than mine.

 

[Berwhale]

Thanks! Any suggestion for a good minimum and/or maximum bitrate for VBR MP3 so that the codec and earbuds would still be the limiting factor for sound quality? I realize there isn't an exact answer, but your guess would be better than mine.

I think I would go with the default, which I think results in an average of 250kb/s. There's an interest graph showing the impact of different bit rates on different codecs here: https://opus-codec.org/comparison/

You can see why I said that Opus and MP3 would tend to be identical at higher bit rates.

The other advantage to Opus over MP3 is that it's less computationally intensive which could provide benefits for battery life (I have no evidence to support this and it's probably moot on a modern phone )

 

[TonyJZX]

it depends on how much space you want to waste on your sd card

if i get flacs native i keep them as flacs... esp. since you have ldac

but for most uses 128 and above mp3 is fine

but i mean let's be honest... many wireless anc earbuds aint much chop even expensive ones and anker isnt what i would call a even middling brand.. i have some... ehhh...

 

[DVDdoug]

Any suggestion for a good minimum and/or maximum bitrate for VBR MP3

It's impossible to answer but HydrogenAudio has recommendations for various situations. Some sounds compress better than others (the whole idea behind VBR) and some people are better at hearing compression artifacts than others.

If a song is transparent at a certain bitrate, a higher bitrate can't make it "better". And some artifacts don't go-away at any bitrate.

If you aren't concerned about file size (but you still want MP3), you can go-ahead and use V0 or 320kbps CBR. (I chose V0 for that reason.)

 

[escape2]

I would like to play some flac files (classical music) through Anker Space A40 earbuds (Bluetooth 5.2, LDAC) and a Samsung Galaxy S21 running Android 14.

Is there another file format (and parameters) that will reduce file size and still get the best sound quality this setup is capable of?

It's one of those questions that only your own ears can answers.

Convert a couple of familiar tracks from FLAC to a few different lossy file formats (say MP3, AAC, OPUS) and a few different bitrates for each, and see if you can tell any difference when ABX'ing. If not, choose the one that results in smallest file size.

 

[Berwhale]

It's impossible to answer but HydrogenAudio has recommendations for various situations.

One of the nice things about my setup with MusicBee is that I can set different conversions for different devices....

Nothing Phone (2) - 512GB internal storage: Converts whole library to Opus with cover art extracted to single file (no conversion)
Lenovo P11 Pro Tab - 512GB microSD card: ditto
Shanling M0 - 512GB microSD card: Convert whole library to 'High Quality' MP3 (M0 can't play Opus) with album art resized to 240px (screen res. of M0)
Car - 32GB SD card: Convert 'Car' playlist to 'High Quality' MP3 (car can't play Opus) and album art to 600px (car player can't handle higher res.)

 

[Toolworker]

Thanks for everyone's advice. I convinced myself that with the Space A40s I can tell the difference between FLAC and the best quality MP3, and between AAC and LDAC. I'm no expert, but if I know what presence is then FLAC and LDAC delivers more of it. Anyway, I'm listening to Midsummer Night's Dream on that setup and grinning.

So I'll go with @TonyJZX and live with the large files.