FLAC support

its a free codec and superior to any other codec IMO please add it.

Agreed!  It's frustrating trying to search the web looking for good converters that *don't* install a ton of extra stuff I don't need.  With WMP I can install the codec and it plays fine, but you can't do that with your Zune.  Plus I would want to be able to downgrade the sample rate to 256kps when I move FLAC songs ot my Zune.

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I'm posting in online forums. Somebody shoot me.

yes a while back i had an album in FLAC and had to convert it.

I second that. FLAC is the best all around lossless codec, period. Sure there's WMA lossless support, but it will only work in Windows and most people who archive lossless versions of music (like any self respecting music lover should) probably would like it to be transferrable and usable on any platform or hardware. It would be nice to have playback without having convert to WAV and then AAC or MP3. FLAC is just sitting there, with beautiful open source code, waiting to be adopted by someone smart enough. If Zune adopted FLAC it could be a big draw to people who are serious about their music.

WMA Lossless is technically speaking an awesome format.  However, support for the WMA 10 codecs is completely limited to Windows.  I have all of my music encoded into WMA Lossless.  I have yet to find a codec which will play WMA Lossless on linux let alone any zune compatability with linux.

So here's my thoughts on a solution to these difficulties:  make wma pro codecs available for all operating systems or make the Zune compatible with flac.  Both of these solutions broaden the userbase of the Zune and make life easier for the users.  I could see some Zune users make the decision to buy a different media player if this as well as Zune being Windows only isn't resolved, myself included.

Thanks :)

no flac support is pitiful

 Whitesoxing wrote:

no flac support is pitiful

no WAV file support is just downright freakin' rediculous!!!!!  how hard is it to support a wav file?!?!?!?!? come on microsoft.... you suck and lost a customer because you don't support wav files....  yeah, flac is great and all... but it's still a bit of compression.  and i honestly don't care about being able to tag songs so long as i can have my music in the exact same quality as it came on the cd.  nor do i feel like re-encoding everything.....

 CaptnOHair2 wrote:

 Whitesoxing wrote:

no flac support is pitiful

no WAV file support is just downright freakin' rediculous!!!!!  how hard is it to support a wav file?!?!?!?!? come on microsoft.... you suck and lost a customer because you don't support wav files....  yeah, flac is great and all... but it's still a bit of compression.  and i honestly don't care about being able to tag songs so long as i can have my music in the exact same quality as it came on the cd.  nor do i feel like re-encoding everything.....

You realize that lossless and compression are not mutually exclusive? Sure, it'd be simple to support, but who would use it when there's WMA Lossless? No one. Except for some very silly people...

I must be silly.  I have lots of old flac and WAV files I would like to get Zune read...without having to convert them all.

One more "yes" vote.

Second this. It would be nice for the Zune to measure up to a more capable PMP like the Archos or Cowon rather than the iPod line.

And to comment on the WAV post; not sure if you were joking or not but it would be best to covert them to a lossless format instead of keeping them raw like that to save space. Having a WAV file is just wasting space but to each their own. I suggest BonkEnc to convert.

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There should be way more support for other formats.  Personally I don't really care about flac... I use flac exclusively for backup and storage on other media, but I would love ogg support!

The thing is that the Creative ZEN supports all of this. Not to mention the video support.  I really don't understand why M$ so stubbornly sticks to its own proprietary formats, refusing to play anything else.  I really do love the Zune itself as an MP3 player, but it seems to me that with minimal effort it could be 10X better by making a few small changes like those mentioned above and with file browsing support (mentioned elsewhere on these forums).

And is In Graphite right in saying that WMA actually has a lossless format?  I always thought it was exclusively lossy...

 LobotomyLunch wrote:

There should be way more support for other formats.  Personally I don't really care about flac... I use flac exclusively for backup and storage on other media, but I would love ogg support!

The thing is that the Creative ZEN supports all of this. Not to mention the video support.  I really don't understand why M$ so stubbornly sticks to its own proprietary formats, refusing to play anything else.  I really do love the Zune itself as an MP3 player, but it seems to me that with minimal effort it could be 10X better by making a few small changes like those mentioned above and with file browsing support (mentioned elsewhere on these forums).

And is In Graphite right in saying that WMA actually has a lossless format?  I always thought it was exclusively lossy...

http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Lossless_comparison#Windows_Media_Audio_Lossless_.28WMAL.29