Distinguishing between lossless and lossy Options

[Unrealmaster287]

Hey,

I would like to ask a question about lossless audio. How can you distinguish between a lossless song and one which has just been converted into a lossless format but isn’t actually lossless.

From what I understand you have to use a spectrum analyzer, but that is the extent of what I understand.

Thank you so much in advance

[Arnold B. Kruege...]

Hey,

I would like to ask a question about lossless audio. How can you distinguish between a lossless song and one which has just been converted into a lossless format but isn’t actually lossless.

From what I understand you have to use a spectrum analyzer, but that is the extent of what I understand.

Thank you so much in advance

Doing what you want to do ranges from easy to mission impossible, depending.

The first thing I look for in detecting .wav or .flac files that have in the past taken a tour through the land of lossy encoding is a brick wall filter someplace around 16 KHz.

Here's a picture of what a spectrum analyzer shows with some lossy encoded files:

.

YOu can see a clear step or break in what would otherwise be a relatively gentle roll-off.

BTW this is from an earlier HA thread on a related topic. The specific post was provided by Cavelle.