Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
Thanks Mark that answers my question. Rips are pretty quick with dBpoweramp Reference in one pass when AccurateRip verifies the data. The discs that I have put in which are not recognised are, as you say, probably a different pressing. In this situation the software falls back on the Ultra Secure rip and multiple passes, still reporting the AccurateRip error at the end. So, I should in conclusion, gain reliable rips... Simon -- scoughlan scoughlan's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=11583 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
I found a tool in Nero that reports there is no support for C2 error reporting on my HP drive. Oh well, I suppose I have time, and I can always listen to my MP3's until I get around to re-ripping everything to FLAC. With dBpoweramp Reference, I currently have AccurateRip and Secure Rip on, with Ultra Secure checked. I notice that if AccurateRip verifies the rip on the first pass, the software forgoes the second and third pass. Am I safe to rely on this feature? Or, would I be better off disabling AccurateRip and forcing multiple passes with Secure Rip? I'm sorry to ask this here, but I'v seen conflicting opinions on the dBpoweramp forums; and if I'm going to spend hours re-ripping everything I'd like to get it right this time. -- scoughlan scoughlan's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=11583 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
scoughlan;203061 Wrote: I notice that if AccurateRip verifies the rip on the first pass, the software forgoes the second and third pass. Am I safe to rely on this feature? Or, would I be better off disabling AccurateRip and forcing multiple passes with Secure Rip? AccurateRip compares the checksum of your rip with other people. If it says it's accurate, it's saying each and every bit of your rip is identical to a group of other people. The odds of everyone having errors in the exact same bits in the exact same spots are astronomical - there are 10 584 000 bytes per minute of CD, the odds of a random error being at the same exact bytes for two people are just non-existent. So *if* you have AccurateRip data, it's safe to rely on it. Note the big *if*. From what I understand, it's a majority-rule database. If you have a disc pressing (i.e. Australian pressing in your case) that differs from the pressing most of the world has (American pressing) then AccurateRip will report an inaccurate rip, but you will be able to tell when every single track is inaccurate - the odds of that are very low even on severely damaged discs. You will also find a lot of discs that aren't in the database or that have an extra track or two at the end which indicate Track not present in database. BTW I'm basing my comments on the EAC version of AccurateRip. I understand dBpowerAMP's verbiage is slightly different but it's pulling from the same database. -- Mark Lanctot 'Sean Adams' Response-O-Matic checklist, patent pending!' (http://forums.slimdevices.com/showpost.php?p=200910postcount=2) Mark Lanctot's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2071 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
willyhoops;202597 Wrote: well take one of the cds you got a rip on already and scratch it and try again! or buy one and scratch! it's vital you test dbpoweramp for this feature or you are waisting lots of time! for 200 cds it's worth it! assuming you value your original CDs you could always make a copy onto CD-R and then scratch the CD-R. Even easier, install EAC and it will tell you during the configuration routine whether or not your drive supports C2 -- egd Transporter SCA2 SCM100SLAT via balanced XLR Linux and loving IT! egd's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3425 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
FLAC it is! Many thanks for making that clear. :) Now, I'd better get going if I'm to re-rip 200 CD's... -- scoughlan scoughlan's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=11583 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
I'm new to these forums too, and have just purchased my first Squeezebox. I also use iTunes, though mainly to rip and organise my collection. I've followed this thread interestedly. My question is this: Why not use iTunes to import with an uncompressed format which it does support? Such as AIFF or WAV. After all, storage is cheap these days. Is there a problem streaming the larger file size wirelessly? -- scoughlan scoughlan's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=11583 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
Do a search for WAV and FLAC on the forums and you'll see the shortcomings of wav expounded at length (biggest drawback: no tags). -- smc2911 smc2911's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4388 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
Think it's important to add that for Squeezebox users using flac instead of apple lossless will minimize cpu usage on your server. Because the squeezebox does not speak apple lossless the server has to decompress on the fly before wireless transmission. The same point applies to wma lossless. So for squeezebox users use flac whenever possible. Try to maintain your collection in flac and batch convert from flac to other formats when required by other devices. Eg for acc or apple lossless on an iPod use dbPowerAmp or foobar. For an iPod, aac at 256kbps will give much better battery life than lossless for no noticable reduction in quality on that (less than audiophile) device. -- willyhoops willyhoops's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=10563 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
adamslim;199169 Wrote: Really? Even if they are, are they going to continue to support their products when the next big thing comes along? ... So far they did, and you will always be able to convert from ALAC to FLAC and other formats. Even if ALAC isn't supported by Apple, decoding will be possible. Your own Slimserver does it.. Or? -- Audiotic Mac G5-DP w. 250+ GB GB of ALAC music - Black Transporter (analog) - Harman Kardon AVR 8500 HK PA2200 Signature - 6 x Mission 780SE 78C REL Strata III Audiotic's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=5912 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
The ONLY reson I can see to choose ALAC over FLAC is if you're going to abandon the Squeezebox altogether and go with an Apple TV device (which does have a very slick interface, BTW). But, you'll need a TV next to it, and some of us still keep our Hi-Fis and home theaters in seperate rooms. On a related subject, I hear tell that QuickTime on Leopard will support FLAC natively. -- jonheal Jon Heal says: Have a nice day! http://www.theheals.org/ ~~~ SB3 (wired - 6.3.1) | Home-brew PC running XP Pro | DENON DRA-395 | PSB Stratus Bronze (2) | Outlaw Audio LFM-2 (1) | DIY Speaker Cables | Dayton Audio Interconnects jonheal's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2133 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
jonheal;201549 Wrote: On a related subject, I hear tell that QuickTime on Leopard will support FLAC natively. I saw that rumour also. The suggestion is that, if this were to happen, then it would be logical that iTunes would also be upgraded to support flac which would give a big boost to those wanting to stream flac to the SB but use the convenience of iTunes to manage their music. Getting really left field now one could imagine the iTunes Store offering downloadable flac versions of parts of their catalogue - albeit at some kind of a premium. davep -- davep davep's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=61 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
davep;201554 Wrote: Getting really left field now one could imagine the iTunes Store offering downloadable flac versions of parts of their catalogue - albeit at some kind of a premium. iPods would also have to be updated for this to happen. I can't see them selling FLAC files, but i wouldn't be surprised at seeing ALAC being sold at a premium. I would have laughed at the idea a few months ago, but since the Apple/EMI announcement of non-DRM tracks, it is now possible i think. -- funkstar funkstar's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2335 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
All my music is in FLAC format for use on the SB3 and converted to MP3 for use on the iPod. This way I can manage my MP3 music in iTunes. You do not need to have anything to do with ALAC or AAC unless you really want to. It does surprise me how many people think buying an iPod limits you to Apple format music. -- Heuer Heuer's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2543 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
I agree with Heuer, except in my case I use REACT2 to rip CDs simultaneously to FLAC and M4A (AAC) formats. After a lot of testing, I concluded that at similar bitrates, most M4A tracks sounded slightly better than Lame-encoded MP3 tracks (either CBR or VBR) on my iPod. -- Balthazar_B Balthazar_B's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=7366 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
I don't understand the arguments against ALAC on the basis that it's closed and therefore Apple may cease to support it. Is it really reasonable to suppose that all of a sudden all software capable of playing ALAC will disappear, leaving ALAC users up a creek? The free open-source program foobar2000 will batch-convert ALAC to FLAC, making it the work of a few moments to tell your computer to convert your entire music collection (which could take a few hours with current CPU speeds, but so what - let it run over night). Personally I use FLAC, but I hate to see all this FUD being spread about the dangers of ALAC. -- opaqueice opaqueice's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4234 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
opaqueice;201616 Wrote: I don't understand the arguments against ALAC on the basis that it's closed and therefore Apple may cease to support it. Is it really reasonable to suppose that all of a sudden all software capable of playing ALAC will disappear, leaving ALAC users up a creek? Is there any possibility that Apple would pull a M$ and render old files incompatible with newer versions of the encoder/decoder? M$ does it ALL the time with their so-called upgrades to their OS and Office Suites. The only reason to do it is to force the masses to spend the money on the upgrade to a 1000 more features that they don't need anyway. TD -- tyler_durden tyler_durden's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2701 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
tyler_durden;201617 Wrote: Is there any possibility that Apple would pull a M$ and render old files incompatible with newer versions of the encoder/decoder? M$ does it ALL the time with their so-called upgrades to their OS and Office Suites. The only reason to do it is to force the masses to spend the money on the upgrade to a 1000 more features that they don't need anyway. TD I guess that's possible - but if it happened, couldn't you just download the appropriate version of foobar2000 and convert your old files over to FLAC or whatever? It just seems to me that if ALAC is more convenient for some people, that gain is probably worth what seems like a pretty minimal risk. -- opaqueice opaqueice's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4234 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
I hate to spread FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) but I'll do it anyway... ALAC is closed. That means you don't know what they put in there. Is there a switch that allows apple to turn off files so they won't play any more or can't be copied more than x times? Is there something that sends a message to apple every time you play one of those files on your Mac/PC? I recall that a couple years ago itunes switched off or reduced copy capability in people's paid-for libraries without permission (other than that afforded by the purchase contract that said they could modify the terms at their will any time) or prior notice. Were those file ALAC encoded? Proprietary formats suck. TD -- tyler_durden tyler_durden's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2701 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
Hello, first post so be gentle. I am giving serious thought to buying a Transporter (this will be my first Slim Devices purchase - jumping in at the deep end). Partnering equipment will be Jeff Rowland Concentra II amp, Focal Lab 1027be speakers. My (soon to be redundant?) CDP is a Marantz SA11-S1 and I also have a much loved Linn LP12 TT. My PC is on it's last legs and I may buy a IMac to replace it. My question is this: Is there a considerable difference in sound quality between FLAC and Apple Lossless? I downloaded EAC / FLAC / Mediamonkey during the weekend and experimented ripping and tagging files. Not difficult to do, but ITunes seems so much easier, but is it at the expense of quality? Nice forum by the way. I'm heartened and encouraged to see fellow audiophiles using a Transporter! -- Ray70 Ray70's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=11408 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
Ray70;199074 Wrote: Hello, first post so be gentle. I am giving serious thought to buying a Transporter (this will be my first Slim Devices purchase - jumping in at the deep end). Partnering equipment will be Jeff Rowland Concentra II amp, Focal Lab 1027be speakers. My (soon to be redundant?) CDP is a Marantz SA11-S1 and I also have a much loved Linn LP12 TT. My PC is on it's last legs and I may buy a IMac to replace it. My question is this: Is there a considerable difference in sound quality between FLAC and Apple Lossless? I downloaded EAC / FLAC / Mediamonkey during the weekend and experimented ripping and tagging files. Not difficult to do, but ITunes seems so much easier, but is it at the expense of quality? Nice forum by the way. I'm heartened and encouraged to see fellow audiophiles using a Transporter! I run my TP through a J Rowlad amp as well. Make sure you use XLR out from TP as it sounds much better than RCA IMO, YMMV :-) Alac sounds great . No difference at all from flac. But do go into server settings in the slim software and uncheck the box that allows slim to convert alac to mp3. That might degrade the SQ. I allow slim to convert alac to either flac or wav before it sends to TP. -- tomjtx tomjtx's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=7449 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
No difference in quality between ALAC and FLAC but you will find most people favour FLAC because it is non-proprietary code unlike Apple's. Lots of user support and development going on with FLAC as well, hence the following. Choose carefully as once you have ripped in one format it is a pain to change. I started out ripping my CD's to ALAC as I thought the iTunes interface was better but eventually succumbed from the weight of opinion and re-did everything in FLAC, and have not regretted it. All my FLAC music files can be converted to MP3 to use on my iPod using foobar2000 or batch processed using the FLAC2MP3 script. As the SB3 does on the fly FLAC decoding it will also use less bandwidth. EAC is supposed to produce more accurate CD rips, or at least tell you if there are deficiencies whilst iTunes will go blindly on. If you are thinking of trading music FLAC is the defacto lossless standard. So a case of an easy Apple life or follow the 'in-crowd' for a bit of fun! -- Heuer Heuer's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2543 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
The point of FLAC and Apple lossless is that they are LOSSLESS, so there is no difference in the bits presented to the DAC regardless of whether it is stored as FLAC, ALAC, or uncompressed WAV. As has been pointed out iTunes may not be the best way to rip your CD collection. I have been very happy with EAC and a Plextor PX-230A drive. There have been a couple discs that didn't work in the Plextor, not because there was any visible damage, but I also have a Teac DV-516GA DVD drive, which read the discs the Plextor would not with no problem. So it appears that the best situation is to try a second, different type of drive for stubborn discs. -- Timothy Stockman Timothy Stockman's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=8867 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
I have been using Apple Lossless since it came out and I find iTunes very easy to use and manage my music. I am not worried about its being proprietary, Apple is very likely to be here longer than I will be. I find all the extra steps for FLAC time consuming whereas with iTunes I just select my preferences and settings and do nothing more but put a disk in my CDR drive. I like iTunes for playlists and compilations. The music through my SB3 and Electrocompaniet DAC sounds identical to that through my Linn Unidisk 2.1 and Marantz SA-1. -- sc53 sc53's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=8690 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
Recently iTunes deleted 10% of my .m4a library without any reason to do so. Thumbs up for FLAC! -- michel michel's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4393 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
sc53;199144 Wrote: Apple is very likely to be here longer than I will be. Really? Even if they are, are they going to continue to support their products when the next big thing comes along? Will you end up having to buy an apple.tv, apple.house and get an apple.wife to get it all to work? I prefer the notion of small enterprise and free software, so use FLAC. It's also much better to use (MP3Tag and) multiple tag fields, which Apple does not do. As soon as your library really grows, you may find iTunes lacking - I did. Combine that with the knowledge that you are -really- in control, and the decision is easy. Oh and Rockbox on the iPod :) Adam -- adamslim Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others http://www.last.fm/user/AdamSlim/ 'Last.fm group: people who don't listen to any of last.fm's top artists' (http://www.last.fm/group/People+who+don%27t+listen+to+any+of+last.fm%27s+top+artists) adamslim's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=7355 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
Re: [SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Flac or Apple Lossless?
The choice is simple, FLAC is simply more flexible than ALAC. From Flac you could go back to WAV, AIFF, and to CD From Flac you could go to MP3 Flac support 24 Bits, Multichannel, etc... Flac is supported on Windows, Linux, MacOS... Flac is easy to broadcast (ex:Squeezebox) For me Flac is simply the best invention for audio after the Compact Cassette and the Compact Disc, and best of all it's robust and free. Long life to Flac. -- mftech Tête à FLAC mftech's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1586 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34953 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
