User level: Level 1 (4 points)Final cut pro and FFmpeg.
ive been using Final Cut Pro for a year now and I used ffmpeg sometimes so my question is which have vastly superior sound quality the -c:a copy from ffmpeg or linear pcm ProRes 422 from Final Cut Pro? I just need a clear answer because google ai says that ProRes 422 linear PCM sounds superior to ffmpeg -c:a copy and then it says -c:a copy sounds more superior than linear pcm?
Posted on Nov 2, 2026 5:33 PM
User level: Level 6 (14,029 points)Nov 3, 2026 12:50 AM in response to 007valentin
My first question is, when and why are you transcoding audio in the first place? What is your goal?
From what has been discussed so far, in a nutshell, you won't hear any quality difference in the audio no matter which way you go (except mp3 which is sort of obsolete now, or should be). ProRes audio is only superior on paper. The old saying, garbage in, garbage out, applies. Also "Lossy" and "Lossless" are very misleading terms. Lossy only means compressed, not bad, not inferior. ACC compression is amazing and keeps sound quality really well. I've taken original WAV audio files, converted to each, and can never hear a difference (and I have worked as an audio engineer in the past). I'd save time, not worry about Ffmpeg. It will not give you "vastly superior sound quality". Your sound will be what it was when originally recorded, nothing will improve it during a transcode. You can only improve original audio with post-processing filters, or avoiding MP3. WAV, PCM, ACC are all great audio codecs and you'll loose nothing using any of them.
User level: Level 7 (27,833 points)Nov 6, 2026 6:37 AM in response to 007valentin
007valentin wrote:
... my question is which have vastly superior sound quality the -c:a copy from ffmpeg or linear pcm ProRes 422 from Final Cut Pro?
There is no way the audio would be "vastly superior" using ffmpeg regardless of the source audio codec. Transcoding will not improve the audio, it could even reduce the quality depending on how you transcode. What source audio are you using/asking about?
And be careful about how much you trust anything you "find on google."
User level: Level 6 (14,029 points)Nov 4, 2026 11:37 PM in response to 007valentin
I personally would never say ffmpeg was better than Compressor/FCP. It's not as easy to use, it's a geek app (my own term). Again, use either, the audio will be the same.
User level: Level 7 (22,314 points)Nov 2, 2026 11:07 PM in response to 007valentin
'ffmpeg -c:a copy' just losslessly copies whatever audio happens to be in the input.
PCM audio is lossless uncompressed audio whereas aac audio is lossy compressed audio.
'ffmpeg -c:a aac_at' (built-in to macOS/iOS but can be used in other OSs) should be slightly better quality than 'ffmpeg -c:a aac' (ffmpeg default) or 'ffmpeg -c:a libfdk_aac' (Fraunhofer FDK AAC).
'ffmpeg -c:a pcm_s16le' encodes signed 16-bit little-endian PCM.
User level: Level 1 (4 points)Nov 3, 2026 1:05 PM in response to BenB
you once told me final cut pro has transcoding engine better than FFMPEG before? So should final cut pro sound better than ffmpeg? some say ffmpeg sound great and it can sound better than final cut pro?
User level: Level 1 (4 points)Nov 3, 2026 1:08 PM in response to BenB
Thank You Ben
User level: Level 1 (4 points)Nov 7, 2026 8:42 AM in response to MartinR
Import image + .wav and .aiff exporting linear pcm
Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256387868