SoundCloud Premium Quality - MP3 FLAC Or WAV Format

soundcloud to mp3 SoundCloud is introducing high quality audio streaming to its ad-free and Go+ tiers. This is good news because many mixmasters complain about how their tracks sound after they have been reduced to mp3 by streaming services and digital retailers. The problem is usually swirly and garbled-sounding high frequencies.

The key to avoiding this problem is to export your mixes in a lossless format from the start. This article will cover how to do this.

File Formats

SoundCloud is an online platform that allows users to upload and share their music with the world. The site has become a big part of the music industry, having launched the careers of many popular artists and spawning new genres. The service offers users the option to upload their tracks in a variety of file formats. It is recommended that users choose a lossless format such as FLAC or WAV for best results. This is because the process of converting a lossless audio file to a lossy one like MP3 or OGG will degrade the quality of the music.

When choosing the right file format to use, it is important to consider the needs of your audience and the type of equipment that you will be using to playback your track. For example, if you plan on uploading your track to a streaming service or digital retailer, it is important to submit a mastering of the highest quality. This is because the process of converting high-quality files to a low-resolution file can cause issues with the sound quality of the song, especially in the higher frequencies.

The most common file format used by people to upload their music is the MP3 or ogg (Ogg Vorbis) file. These are known as lossy formats because they compress the original audio data to save space. However, during the encoding process some of the audio information is lost, which can cause artifacts that can be heard as unwanted noise or "bubbling" in the audio. These artifacts can be noticeable even at lower bit-rate settings.

While mp3s are convenient for mobile devices and streaming, recording pros prefer to work with uncompressed audio files such as WAV. These are also referred to as hi-res audio, meaning that they have superior sound quality to standard CDs. However, they do have a much larger file size than mp3s.

The best choice for submitting masters to online distribution platforms is to work with WAV files that have been mastered at the highest possible resolution, such as 24-bit or 32-bit. This ensures that the master will not be reduced to a mp3 or AAC file during the re-encoding process (known as transcoding) by streaming services or digital distributors. This can often result in swirly-sounding high frequencies, which is very obvious and detrimental to the overall sound quality of the song.

Compression Settings

SoundCloud has different audio compression settings, allowing you to control the quality of your uploaded music. The higher the bit rate, the better the sound quality, but it comes with a bigger file size. If you’re using a lossless format like FLAC, this won’t be an issue.

For those who want to upload their music at a high-quality level, SoundCloud offers High Quality streaming. This feature has a maximum bitrate of 320kbps and offers high-quality listening on both mobile and desktop devices. This feature is only available to users who subscribe to the service with a Go+ account.

If you’re not a Go+ subscriber, the best option is to use a lossless file. This will not only provide you with the highest-quality listening experience, but it will also allow you to download your tracks for offline playback. The downside to this is that it will take longer to upload your files to the site.

When you upload a song to SoundCloud, the platform automatically compresses the file to reduce bandwidth usage and speed up uploads. This process can cause a loss in audio fidelity and detail, particularly if the track is already mastered too loudly. If you’re uploading to SoundCloud, it’s recommended that you keep your mastering levels around -18 LUFS to avoid distortion caused by compression.

Alternatively, you can opt for a lossy file format such as MP3 or OGG. These are 'lossy' formats that compress the audio to save space, which can lead to unwanted artifacts such as ‘underwater sounds’ or ‘bubbling’. While these are fine for streaming and mobile devices, many film and audio producers prefer to work with uncompressed, 'lossless' WAV files.

You can set the FLAC compression setting in Logic Pro by clicking File > Share Song to SoundCloud. You can choose between 0 and 8 to set the amount of compression, with 0 being the fastest but resulting in a larger file size, and 8 offering a slower compression with smaller files. You can also set the Bit-depth of your FLAC file, although this does not affect the sonic quality of the final output.

Bit-Depth

MP3s were extremely popular in the early days of the internet, since they offered flexibility for compression at various bitrates. This allowed music to be shared across slow internet connections without sacrificing quality. However, the trade off is that they can suffer from low-frequency artifacts when played back on a high-quality system. The lower bit-depth of MP3 files also means that they can have trouble handling high frequencies, which leads to a swirly sound or an underwater effect. This can be a significant problem if you’re using the file in production or want to play it on HiFi equipment.

A higher bit-depth will reduce the risk of this issue. This is because a higher bit-depth will allow for a much more precise representation of high-frequency information, which is the area most susceptible to these artifacts. Generally, you should aim to use a bit-depth of 24 Bit for all your production files. This is a good standard to keep in mind when comparing different audio formats.

The other main option is FLAC, which has a slightly lower bit-depth of 16 Bit. Unlike MP3, FLAC is a lossless format, which means that it will not lose any data when the file is encoded. This is an important factor to consider, as it will make a big difference in the overall sound quality of your track.

Tidal offers better streaming audio quality than SoundCloud, which is mainly because it uses FLAC instead of MP3. The majority of its library has a bitrate of 1,411 kbps, allowing listeners to hear the music exactly how its creators intended it to be heard. This is a huge improvement over the typical Spotify streaming quality of 160 kilobits per second, and it also makes a difference when listening to music on high-quality headphones or speakers.

Soundcloud offers a range of subscription options that vary in audio quality. The ad-free service offers 128 kilobits per second, while the premium version provides 320 kilobits per second. You can upload a wide variety of file formats to SoundCloud, including lossless formats such as WAV and FLAC, or high-quality formats such as AIFF and ALAC.

Lossless Formats

SoundCloud is a popular platform for DJs and musicians to upload music that can be streamed by listeners. The site offers both free and paid tiers for users to use, with premium users able to download high-quality versions of the audio files. If you want to keep the quality of your recordings as high as possible, it is important to upload them in a lossless format.

Lossless formats, such as FLAC and WAV, contain a full set of audio data that is uncompressed. These files are also known as hi-res audio, meaning that they provide a higher quality than standard CD audio and can be used to create perfect loops without any gaps or artifacts. In addition, lossless formats can be reconstructed with exact precision from the original audio signals, which allows for accurate reproduction even if some of the information is lost during compression.

To optimize streaming and reduce bandwidth usage, SoundCloud uses compression on all uploaded music. This can lead to a loss of audio fidelity and detail, especially if the original track was mastered properly. In some cases, the compression may be so severe that the audio is distorted and unlistenable.

Fortunately, the service does offer a lossless streaming option for its top tier users. Currently, the top tier is $20 per month and includes unlimited downloads of hi-res audio files. However, the company is considering reducing the price to compete with services like Tidal, which charge less for its hi-res streaming subscription plan.

In the future, SoundCloud might change its encoding codecs, so it’s best to export your mixes as raw WAV files from the start. This way, you can avoid having to re-encode your songs into the new format. If you do re-encode your music, it’s important to understand that this will degrade the overall quality of your recording, so try not to make drastic changes to your file size if you can help it.

Keeping a copy of your audio in a raw form will also be useful if you’re working with other professional producers. They will likely expect to receive a WAV file for editing, as it’s more flexible than a compressed file. This is because the WAV file contains more information about the original source recording.