Difference between revisions of "Lossless Audio"

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'''Lossless Audio''' ('''LA''') is a [[lossless]] audio compressor developed by Michael Bevin.
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'''Lossless Audio''' ('''La''') is a [[lossless]] audio [[codec]] developed 2002 to 2004 by Michael Bevin, for the Windows and Linux/x86 platforms.  
  
== Pros ==
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La is available as closed-source freeware with a graphical front-end and plugins for [[Winamp]]/[[XMMS]] and [[foobar2000]]; '''''its foobar2000 plugin truncates the end of files''''' and should be avoided. The developer has left this issue unfixed since 2004, indicating that La could be considered abandonware.
* Compresses files better than almost any other current lossless encoder
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* Available for Windows (win32) and Linux/x86 (binaries only).
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* [[XMMS]] + [[Winamp]] plugin available
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== Cons ==
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La might have been the highest compressing lossless encoder, though in [http://www.squeezechart.com/audio.html some comparisons] rivaled by [[OptimFrog]] at its highest and even slower settings (and also [[Sac]], an ultra-slow experimental compressor never used for playback). Both encoding and decoding are CPU-intensive. 
* Very slow encode and decode (realtime on 700–800 MHz CPU)
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It is limited to 16 bit input. Whether this is a limitation to the format or to the current encoder is unknown but - hardly relevant, with the software being closed-source and unmaintained and no format specification being available.
* No source code or format specification available.
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'''''It's worth mentioning that the LA [[foobar2000]] plugin doesn't produce bit-identical streams, and the author has shown no interest in fixing this issue!'''''
 
  
== Addtional Reading ==
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* <s>[http://www.lossless-audio.com/ Lossless Audio website] </s>
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== Additional Reading ==
* [[Lossless_comparison|Lossless Codec Comparison]] by Rjamorim
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* [http://www.lossless-audio.com/ Official website]  
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* [[Lossless_comparison|Lossless Codec Comparison]] originally by Rjamorim, with links to comparison tests.
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* [https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php?topic=114989.msg948073#msg948073  HA forum thread describing how to decode LA files with foobar2000 using la.exe instead of the buggy plugin]
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{{navbox audio codecs}}
  
 
[[Category:Codecs]]
 
[[Category:Codecs]]

Latest revision as of 13:05, 10 January 2022

Lossless Audio (La) is a lossless audio codec developed 2002 to 2004 by Michael Bevin, for the Windows and Linux/x86 platforms.

La is available as closed-source freeware with a graphical front-end and plugins for Winamp/XMMS and foobar2000; its foobar2000 plugin truncates the end of files and should be avoided. The developer has left this issue unfixed since 2004, indicating that La could be considered abandonware.

La might have been the highest compressing lossless encoder, though in some comparisons rivaled by OptimFrog at its highest and even slower settings (and also Sac, an ultra-slow experimental compressor never used for playback). Both encoding and decoding are CPU-intensive. It is limited to 16 bit input. Whether this is a limitation to the format or to the current encoder is unknown but - hardly relevant, with the software being closed-source and unmaintained and no format specification being available.


Additional Reading