The "24-bit FLAC vinyl rip" takes the concept of high-resolution audio a step further. It involves playing a vinyl record on a high-quality turntable and recording the output directly to a computer at 24-bit resolution, typically at a high sample rate like 96 kHz or 192 kHz. The result is a digital file that aims to capture the unique sonic characteristics of the vinyl playback experience.
: The 20th-anniversary versions were remastered by Grammy-winning engineer Emily Lazar at The Lodge and cut at London’s Air Studios .
This is where the format comes in. Unlike lossy formats like MP3, which discard audio data to save space, FLAC compresses the audio without losing any information. It’s akin to a ZIP file for music—the original audio can be perfectly reconstructed from the FLAC file. This makes FLAC the ideal format for storing and sharing high-resolution audio, as it cuts file sizes roughly in half while maintaining bit-perfect integrity. A 24-bit FLAC file is, for all intents and purposes, an exact digital copy of the original high-resolution source.