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FLAC 1.1.2 is available.  New in this release are small decoding speedups for all platforms, small encoding speedups in fast (non-LPC) mode, streaming support in the XMMS plugin, and several bug fixes.  For developers there are also a few additions and changes to the metadata API to make working with tags easier.  See the
changelog.html#flac_1_1_2
changelog entry
for complete details.  This release actually wasn't supposed to happen so soon, but needed to be made to fix library naming and build problems in FLAC 1.1.1 that caused trouble for package maintainers, so unless you are having trouble with one of the particular bugs that got fixed in 1.1.2 then there is not much of a need to upgrade.
Another handful of devices that support FLAC are out or announced:
the
http://www.zensonic.com/press_z500.php
Zensonic Z500 Networked DVD Media Player
, Escient's
http://www.escient.com/releases/escient_jan0605_2.html
new FireBall E2-40, E2-160, and DVDM-300
, the
http://www.digitaltechniques.com/M300A_Overview.html
M300A Digital Music Player
from Digital Techniques (see
http://www.digitaltechniques.com/QuickStart.html
manual
), Meda Systems'
http://www.medainc.com/
Bravo servers
(
http://www.stereophile.com/news/092704medasystems/
more info
), and the
http://www.cesweb.org/attendees/show_floor/product_locator/product_details.asp?prodid=5181
MS300 Music Server
by McIntosh Laboratory.
We just found out that
http://www.skipjam.com/
SkipJam
's line of networked audio/video components supports FLAC.  (Even though it's not mentioned on their site, I'm assured that's just because the site hasn't been updated yet.)
http://www.escient.com/
Escient
has a new home stereo component that supports FLAC, the
http://www.escient.com/fireballe2300.html
FireBall E2-300
.
http://www.mindawn.com/
Mindawn
, a new online music service offering FLAC and Ogg Vorbis, is now open.  They also have a multi-platform (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X) CD ripper/encoder and are finishing up a multi-platform player.
Illiminable has updated his excellent
http://www.illiminable.com/ogg/
Directshow filters
to support native FLAC (in addition to Ogg FLAC/Vorbis/Speex/Theora).
last updated 2005-Feb-05
what is FLAC?
FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec.  Grossly oversimplified, FLAC is 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 (or your car or home stereo, see
links.html#hardware
supported devices
) just like you would an MP3 file.
FLAC is freely available and supported on most operating systems, including Windows, "unix" (Linux, *BSD, Solaris, OS X, IRIX), BeOS, OS/2, and Amiga.  There are build systems for autotools, MSVC, Watcom C, and Project Builder.
See the
features.html
features page
for a complete list of features, or the
comparison.html
comparison page
to see how FLAC compares with other lossless codecs.
The FLAC project consists of:
the stream format
reference encoders and decoders in library form
flac
, a command-line program to encode and decode FLAC files
metaflac
, a command-line metadata editor for FLAC files
input plugins for various music players
When we say that FLAC is "Free" it means more than just that it is available at no cost.  It means that the specification of the format is fully open to the public to be used for any purpose (the FLAC project reserves the right to set the FLAC specification and certify compliance), and that neither the FLAC format nor any of the implemented encoding/decoding methods are covered by any known patent.  It also means that all the source code is available under open-source licenses.  It is the first truly open and free lossless audio format.  (For more information, see the
license.html
license page
.)
download
Visit the
download.html
download page
for links to the source code or pre-built binaries.
documentation
The documentation is available online as well as in the distributions.  The general installation and usage documentation for
flac
and the plugins is
documentation.html
here
.  For a detailed description of the FLAC format and reference encoder see the
format.html
FLAC format page
.
id registration
If you have an application that uses FLAC and would like it to be able to tag FLAC files with custom metadata, visit the
id.html
registration page
to register an ID for your application.
news
news.html#20050205
05-Feb-2005
:
Version 1.1.2 released
news.html#20050117
17-Jan-2005
:
Several new devices support FLAC
news.html#20041112
12-Nov-2004
:
Escient's new FireBall E2-300 supports FLAC
news.html#20041102
02-Nov-2004
:
New Mindawn music store offers FLAC and Vorbis
news.html#20041001
01-Oct-2004
:
Version 1.1.1 released
news.html#20040727
27-Jul-2004
:
The Furthur network now supports FLAC
news.html#20040621
21-Jun-2004
:
Bonnaroo soundboard recordings available in FLAC
news.html#20040303
03-Mar-2004
:
Metallica offers live shows in FLAC
news.html#20040203
03-Feb-2004
:
Charlie Hunter makes select albums available in FLAC
news.html#20031119
19-Nov-2003
:
PhatNoise's new Home Digital Media Player supports FLAC
news.html#20031118
18-Nov-2003
:
Slim's new 'Squeezebox' supports FLAC
news.html#20031111
11-Nov-2003
:
Primus offers live shows in FLAC
news.html#20031013
13-Oct-2003
:
Magnatune catalog available in FLAC
news.html#20030811
11-Aug-2003
:
New Rio Karma supports FLAC
news.html#20030623
23-Jun-2003
:
livephish.com offers FLAC shows
news.html#20030209
09-Feb-2003
:
ReQuest adds FLAC support
news.html#20030129
29-Jan-2003
:
FLAC joins Xiph.org!
news.html#20030126
26-Jan-2003
:
Version 1.1.0 released
news.html
(all news)
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