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I tried to search the forum, but didn't find a thread and thus, created one. Lossy Music: Lossy compression enables even greater reductions in file size by removing some of the data. Lossy compression typically achieves far greater compression than lossless compression by simplifying the complexities of the data. This of course results in a reduction in audio quality, but a variety of techniques are used, mainly by exploiting psychoacoustics, to remove the data that has least effect on perceived quality. The loss in data (and thus quality) may not always be easily perceived through casual listening. The popular MP3 format is probably the best-known example, but the AAC format found on the iTunes Music Store is also common. Most formats offer a range of degrees of compression, generally measured in bit rate. The lower the rate, the smaller the file and the more significant the quality loss. Flac: FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, an audio format similar to MP3, but lossless, meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. This is similar to how Zip works, except with FLAC you will get much better compression because it is designed specifically for audio, and you can play back compressed FLAC files in your favorite player just like you would an MP3 file. How To tell between a 'real' FLAC and a 'fake' FLAC: (Not possible with good encoding, except when compared to Original Soundtrack (OST) or CD) (Reason for check: There have been times when the OST is converted to a lossy format and then converted to flac.) Still, some methods to check when you don't have the OST: -Software: Spectro Homepage: http://spectro.enpts.com/ See the attached screenshots, one with flac and other mp3 (320 KBPS). If you see the mp3, it has a cut-off. So, if a flac is made from mp3, it will have the same cut-offs. It's a bit arbitrary and or misleading sometimes at least. -One more way: Lossless Audio Checker: -There have been various other utilities like audiochecker, True Audio Codec Software - Tau Analyzer , etc These programs can only "guess" if the source was lossless by looking at the spectrum and trying to detect artefacts that are inherent to lossy codecs, e.g. a low pass filter.