Converting to lossless

Hello!
does anyone know if there a better way of converting albums downloaded using the standard bit rate to lossless than what I'm doing at the moment?
It creates a second copy of each track on the hard disk with a "1" suffix but the tracks are not named differently on ITunes, so Im having to manually delete the "1" files and then "see" which one to delete on iTunes.
Like I said, there MUST be a better way!!
Ideally I'd like to covert in bulk without having to worry about having to delete the old files - it makes no sense that ITunes doesn't delete the old file after it coverts it - the reason you covert n the first place is because you want a better copy than the one you've got.
Thanks in advance!

Thanks John
They're not tracks downloaded from the store, they're CD's I blindly loaded without checking the import settings beforehand when I first got my IPod. I've now got more disk space so I figured I could make the file quality "better", particularly as I'm about to get a sonos system and wil obviously use the music that makes up the iTunes library as its source.
The file name suffixes I refer to are not the file types, like .wav or whatever - best if I gve you an example:-
Imagine.xxx and imagine1.xxx
I guess The only ther option is to simply load the (or some) CDs again now I've got the lossless import setting selected.
Maybe just do mine and not my wife's ....
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to reply

Similar Messages

Converting my Lossless Format music to lower setting for burning/Ipod use

I have all my music saved to a HD in the lossless format and it unfortunately takes up a lot of memory when I want to burn to my IPOD and I don't get as many songs on the IPOD as I should. Is ITUNES set up to allow for a conversion to a lower setting when burning music to back to CD or IPOD so that I can get more songs on the device?
Thanks.

You can convert your lossless songs to a compressed format in iTunes. It can't be done "on the fly" while updating an iPod. Unfortunately the option to "Convert higher bit rate songs to 128 kbps AAC" is only available on the Shuffle. For the larger iPods the files have to be converted in iTunes first or indeed have to been imported in a compressed format prior to transfer.:
How To Choose Import Settings
How to convert a song to a different format

Converting "Apple Lossless" back to "AAC" - More than 1 track at a time...

Hello,
Short version: I have hundreds of tracks that need to "Create AAC Version", and I can't right-click 8,536 songs in my library one at a time to find them all. Is there a method to sweep the entire library and convert all songs to this format if they are not already?
The problem with this is it still creates a duplicate of the song and the other original needs to be deleted.
Note - the file name changing (it appends a "1" on the M4A file), the "tag" displayed in iTunes retains the song name.
Thanks!,
Joseph
Long version: For the benefit of people facing the same problem and combing the forums for help, here's the rest of the story...
I'm not entirely sure when this changed (and I've reset my Import settings back to AAC 128-bit now), but I've managed to import a good number of CDs at this higher quality "Apple Lossless" format. Essentially, that's overkill - I listen to an iPod classic with headphones the majority of the time (98%) and I won't hear the difference.
CHECK: Edit | Preferences | "General" tab | "Import Settings" button
Essentially my hard-drive space has been disappearing at a rapid rate. I downloaded a tool (WinDarStat) and found my iTunes folder is 50% of my 200GB used. (Yes, I'm on an older laptop -- HD=220GB -- and am getting the 'out of space' warnings.) I found some folders for recent CDs were over 1GB alone and started digging.
I happend to have REM's studio "Man on the Moon" on here twice. The IN TIME version is AAC 128-bit and only 4.9MB in size, whereas the PART LIES version is Apple Lossless 1068-bit and 8x's larger at 39.9MB.
If you right-click a track, it provides option to "Create [other] version.", depending on going to/from ACC to Lossless or vice-versa.
Once I did this for "Man on the Moon", I got 75% of the song's space back ... from approximately 40MB to 11MB.
It does create a second copy of the song, so the original has to be deleted - be certain to "Move the song to the Recycle Bin" when warned.
A better option - all be it more time consuming - is to re-import the CDs.

For backup see this user tip.
The Create <Format> version tool uses whatever the current import settings are.
You can create a playlist of things that need converting as Ed says above.
To ease the conversion process, and keep your current ratings, playcounts, and playlist membership, plus recyle the old files automatically see my script ConvertFormat. Test on say a single album first to make sure it works as you expect/need.
tt2

Just Updated iTunes - No Longer Able to Convert Apple Lossless Format

I just installed the newest version of iTunes, version 9.1.0.79. I have a bunch of songs in the lossless .m4a format and I would like to convert them (or at least create versions of them) that are in mp3 format. The simple right click menu in the new version of iTunes no longer includes the option to convert anything! My iPod does not have the capacity to hold too many of these songs, how can I convert them to mp3 to actually use them? Is this feature permanently removed? I would rather not have to download and install an older version of iTunes just for this purpose.

The simple right click menu in the new version of iTunes no longer includes the option to convert anything!
The option is still under the Advanced menu. It is simply removed from the right click contextual menu.
iTunes 9.1 has the option to automatically convert to 128 kbps for all iPods now (instead of only the iPod shuffle).
Select the Summary tab.
No need to convert before loading the iPod.

Play Count problem after converting to Lossless

I've converted a few albums to the Apple Lossless format via iTunes but am noticing that I'm losing all my play counts.
Anybody know how to keep the play counts during the conversion?

This might get a bit long, but here goes...
If you want to re-rip your songs as lossless (or any other format) and retain playcounts, artwork, last played info, etc, follow these steps:
• Insert the CD you want to rip.
• When it comes up in iTunes, makes sure all these items EXACTLY match the corresponding items that are already in your library:
-Artist
-Album name
-each song name
-whether or not it's a compilation
-and the disc number (ie disc 1 of 2).
• Once you're sure, then click the 'import' button. iTunes will ask if you want to replace the existing items. If you say OK, it will rip at the new settings and transfer all the track details over to the new files. It can optionally delete the old files when it's finished.
If it doesn't ask you if you want to replace, then the info doesn't match exactly and it will rip a new set of files, all with 'virgin' track info.
Also, if any individual song has info that doesn't match, you'll end up with a duplicate of that song (the old one, with the details, and a new one without.) If that happens, wait till the whole CD is done ripping, eject the disc, delete the NEW duplicate, put the disc back in, correct the mismatched info, deselect the songs on the CD that you've already ripped successfully, and re-rip the one(s) that didn't work the first time.)
For tracks that you've already re-imported that now have incorrect playcounts, there is a script available to help you set the playcounts to any desired value. You can find it here:
http://www.dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=newplayedcount
I'm happy to try to explain further if this is unclear.
Mike

Copying/converting apple lossless to aac in a different location?

I have ripped about 1000 cd's or so in apple lossless format to run on a sonos player.
I want to convert those tracks to aac so i can run on an ipod. but i do not want to store them in the same location on NAS.
any suggestions how to do this?
thanks.
textunes
Windows XP Pro

You can create a new library.
1. Hold shift when starting iTunes. Choose Create Library and select the location for the new library.
2. You'll start off with a blank library. Open iTunes Preferences and turn off the option (on the Advanced tab) to copy files to your iTunes library when adding files.
3. Change the location of your library (also on the Advanced tab) to the place you want to save AAC files.
4. Set the import prefs.
5. Add the lossless tracks to the library. (These will remain in their current location)
6. Convert tracks to aac. These will be in the new library location.
Hope that helps

How do I convert WMA lossless to apple lossless

I've recently switched from Windows and I have over 400 cd's ripped in WMA lossless format. Is there a program (free or reasonably priced commercial) that will run on the mac and batch convert these files without loosing tags or album art? I used goldwave on my last PC to convert to MP3 however it didn't support apple lossless.
                                                                                                                                                                                         Thanks

I have had this same exact problem for about 4 years now. I keep checking online every few months but never have any luck. What gives? Is there nobody out there that can program an application to transcode efficiently while maintaining metadata including album art?
I bought and owned over 1,000 cd's by 2003 when I decided to rip them all with WMP (Windows Media Player 9) on a PC into WMA Lossless without DRM (Digital Rights Management). I used the slow but detailed error correction so it took a long time to complete this project. Many of the CD's were from different countries (as I had been living in different countries) so some had different songs and album art than the US Versions. As a response I had to continually over-ride the built in suggestions for metadata from WMP and had to manually type in song titles and search for album art online, then copy and paste it into the folder the files were in. WMP would then import that file into the WMA metadata. It took a lot of evenings but it was worth it and I had the best music collection I knew of while traveling for another 5 years.   I was ahead of the curve as far as digital music went.
In 2008 I switched to a MacBook Pro and haven't had easy access to my music collection sense. In 2011, I ripped another batch of about 150 new CD's I've bought into Apple Lossless but now have to keep 3x music collection folders. 1) WMA Lossless, 2) VBR MP3 (converted for itunes without art), and 3) Apple Lossless.   I have thought about switching back to a PC but I do like my mac so I'm stuck with no options.
There are very few applications that can transcode WMA Lossless to Apple Lossless, less that can do so without bloating the file size to almost double, and none that keep the size similar to WMA Lossless while maintaining the album art already saved in my music collection's folder hierarchy. (To clarify itunes on mac doesn't, Flip4Mac doesn't help, Auditri does not, VLC does not, Song bird does not, Pro Audio Converter does not, easyWMA does not. I've even installed VMware (virtual machine to run Windows on my mac) to try dbpoweramp and no luck.) And with all these trials I've also noticed it takes just as long to transcode on my Intel i5 MBP as it did on my AMD Athalon XP PC in 2003.
I'm very confused so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Converting from lossless to aac4

i have copied my cds into itunes using lossless as i wanted a high quality copy of them. however, i want to sync onto my iphone at aac4 quality so that i can have my entire library on my iphone. i don't mind having two completely seperate copies of the music if that is required as the main purpose of the lossless is to have a permanent copy of the tracks.
I appreciate your help.
kind regards
james

Take a look here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1550
You can also use the "Convert higher bitrate songs to 128 kbps AAC" option you'll find on the Summary page when you select your iPhone in the iTunes sidebar. Synching will take quite a bit longer since iTunes will be compressing on the fly, but it would save you from having to keep two different versions of each song.
Regards.

Where is the old option to Convert a Lossless Leader file to AAC?

Hi,
I seem to remember there was an option in Controls that would take a Lossless leader or other high quality file and add an AAC version. This way I had a high quality copy for my home audio system and a smaller file for my wifes smaller capacity iPod.
Obviously I could reinsert the cd and import all over again which is time consuming and tedious. I dont have access to all of those cds right now.
Future imports could be done twice at different settings but waht about then 4,000 high quality files I have now?
Thanks in advance for your help.

Just found "Create New Version" under the File pulldown menu.
When I select a Lossless file from my library, the only option is to Create lossless version.
The other options, to Create iPod Version, are greyed out.
I am using 11.1, haven't upgraded to the latest but pretty darn close.

Stopping duplicate files when converting to lossless

Subject says it all.

When you convert a file iTunes always stores it in the iTunes Music folder as set in Edit Preferences>>Advanced>>General. Even if the original is not in the designated iTunes Music folder.
In some ways it would be easier to manage what you want to do with the smart playlist approach and only have one library.
Are you trying to create separate libraries each with their own iTunes Music folder? If so one approach (I am not certain it is the best) would be to create your separate library with it's own iTunes Music folder (call it Music folder 2). Then add the other iTunes Music folder ( call it Music folder1). Then do the conversion and the converted files will end up in Music folder2, leaving the originals in Music folder1.
With iTunes Closed, drag iTunes Library.itl from the iTunes folder of library2 ( one with the converted files).
Now open Library2 and an empty library will be created. Now you can add your iTunes Music folder (Music folder2) with File>>Add folder to library.
You should end up with the second library just containing converted files and the original one intact.
All a bit of a fiddle.

Converting Lossless to ACC

New to the forum...so, hello...
OK. I've archived my CD collection in lossless on an external hardrive which also contains all iTunes library info. etc. There is nothing on my laptop apart from iTunes software itself.
I know I can convert the lossless files to ACC using iTunes (for my iPod), but what I want to do is put the ACC files either on the HD of my laptop or on another (smaller) external HD.
How (can?) I do this? If so, where will iTunes put the "new library" for the ACC files?
Many thanks for any help.

When iTunes does the format conversion, it puts the converted file into your iTunes library, as you have specified in Edit > Preferences > Advanced > General. (Convert one file and watch how this works.) If that is not where you want them, you can (a) let it convert and then move them, or (b) use a conversion program that lets you specify where to place them, such as Switch.
Note that the use of iTunes to support parallel libraries (e.g. one lossless and one compressed) is not well supported so you will have to improvise a bit.

How can I convert FLAC to ALAC with no loss?

I am looking for a reliable and relatively easy to use software or app to convert FLAC to Apple lossless so I can import into ITunes. I have searched far and wide and cannot get a straight answer. I am using an IMac and I just want something that will do this relatively simply without blowing up my shiny new Mac.

Hi Dave,
I am starting my second or third round of research on how to convert a large library of FLAC formated album into some high fidelity format specifically to sync to an iPod for use while on the road ( my car, my cabin, my other house, etc. - these are just ideas but you get the idea ).
Just now I tried Max again.... I can figure out which of the format is actually a lossless format that will work with iTunes. I don't see ALAC in the list of formats.
I have also tried XLD which throws an error as it converts each track.
Flax seems to be broken with iTunes 10.1.1
I am not a technical audiophile but I am pretty much a computer expert, certainly a very experienced Mac users for a decade or more.
This is really making me crazy. Can you or some other user who has done FLAC conversion to iTunes very recently please let me know what trick is to get one or the other app to do the right things.... 1) convert to lossless format ( either directly compatible with iPods or 2) also automatically creates a compatible format for iPods, iPads, iPhone, iETC....
I would like to do this mass conversion right the first time - commercial software is fine ..... doesn't have to be freeware or shareware. I just need it to do the busy work and do it well.

Convert Higher Bitrate Songs for Regular iPod

I recently switched to a mac from a windows pc and now I'm finding some of the key features of the software that I was using, (Media Center from JRiver) missing. I have converted all of my music from flac to apple lossless, (200GB) and the key workflow for me is:
1. Convert from apple lossless to a smaller codec when importing music to my iPod. This can be done on the shuffle with the, "Convert higher bit rate songs to 128 kpbs aac for this iPod" option. It would be great to include this functionality for regular iPods, and the ability to select the codec used for conversion if a higher bit rate is desired.
2. Synchronize my iPod with iTunes and have the track information like My Rating synchronize from the low bit rate song on the iPod to the high bit rate song in the iTunes library.
The current workflow requires a duplicate version of the high bit rate tracks in the lower bit rate, which can take up quite a bit of space when using a 60GB iPod. These simple options made using Media Center very nice and I'm sure they would make your clients happy.
Thank you for helping me direct my request to the right place!
Marc

Has anyone found a way of easily converting Apple Lossless files into those of a lower bit rate for use with any iPod other than the shuffle (the iTunes for the shuffle has the nice option to convert to 128kbps on syncing).
My Nano isn't much use as it can only hold 3 Albums imported in Lossless and I can't work out how to change them into a lower bit rate without having to re-import the album from the CDs and selecting the appropriate bit rate to encode at.
Thanks

Converting files to 128kbps AAC

Nearly all of my music is in Lossless format, so when I sync music to my iPhone 4 using iTunes, I click on the box that says "Convert higher bit rate songs to 128 kbps AAC. Works perfectly as it has for years.
Except, iTunes used to convert the lossless files into 128 kbps AAC then store it in my iTunes music library before transferring it to my iPhone. These 128kpbs AAC files made it easy for me to burn CD's or DVD's with all of the 128 AAC songs for my car. Now, I can't find those files, so I think iTunes is doing the conversion on the fly, without actually creating the 128 kpbs file. Am I right? I can't find any info on it, though I might be not be searching correctly.
Anyways, this isn't exactly a problem, just more of a question so that I can proceed correctly for my cars AAC player (yeah, it plays AAC files, not just MP3, like in the old days).

Good to know. That's actually much more efficient for HDD space, because I transfer over about 2500 songs to my iPhone. That's nearly 10GB!

WMA lossles to Apple Lossless

I have the same problem and the wish like this guy:
"I’ve also been migrating of my music library from WMV Lossless to AAC Lossless.
I initially tried to drag a big folder full of nested album folders containing WMV Lossless media from a networked drive (SMB) over to iTunes on the Mac, but it did… absolutely nothing. So now, my $700 Dell is cranking away at 95% CPU on both cores, converting a list of more than 5,000 songs, many of which are long, classical tracks. It is maintaining a conversion rate of 11.8x, which Victor says is pretty fast.
At 3am this morning, iTunes had converted more than 3,000 songs in 26 hours when Windows forced a reboot due to software updates. ARGH! So I had to dig around to find the 2,000 songs hadn’t been converted yet and drag them over again. Needless to say, I have disabled Automatic Updates.
Keeping both lossless and compressed versions of music is not easy. I was telling Victor last night that I wished iTunes supported “stacking” of music not unlike what Aperture does with photos. My main music library should be able to track compressed versions alongside lossless versions, or at the very least, have an option to auto-compress when sharing music or transferring music to portable devices (like what iTunes does when you attach a Shuffle). What I want to do is to have access to my lossless media at home and my compressed music on the road."
http://echeng.com/journal/2006/09/13/converting-wma-lossless-to-apple-aac-lossle ss/
is there any hope to have this features ???
I need something like this too
Thank you

Thanks Bottlerboi - a useful distinction between lossless compression for space saving, and lossy compression. I am partly interested in this because of my general interest in hi-fi, and Naim Audio in particular. Naim are just launching a new product which is essentially a CD player with 2 hard drives (albeit one is a back up of the other). The Naim HDX is said to store approximately 600 albums on 400Gb hard drives while making bit-for-bit copies, which I assume from what you have said, to be in WAV format (clearly even Apple Lossless would be many more albums than this). A great piece of kit until they tell you it costs £4,500 sterling...

Converting to lossless

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