Mp3 to apple lossless conversion

is there any audio advantage converting mp3 to apple lossless in iTunes?
Ken

No. You will get a much higher file size, but no additional quality.
The advantage of Apple Lossless (and other lossless formats like FLAC) is that it allows you to convert high fidelity sources (like CDs) to smaller file sizes without any loss in quality. This allows you to be guaranteed of CD audio quality, and it also allows you store a long-term archive of lossless file and convert them to different lossy formats to suit different needs, without additional quality loss.
If your source is lossy, like an MP3 file, than any additional fidelity that was present in the original source has already been lost. Apple Lossless will provide a lossless conversion of that MP3 file (meaning you won't lose additional quality, like you would if you converted an MP3 to an AAC file), but it cannot restore the already-lost information.

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Library size after Apple Lossless conversion

Hi,
I've converted my itunes library to Apple Lossless format in the belief that I could get more songs onto my iPod, however, even though I've deleted the old format song from the music library, my library has nearly doubled in size. Anyone got any idea how to slim it down?
Thanks

If you converted from MP3, the ONLY thing you did was increase the file size by about 5 times.
Once it is converted to MP3, the file size is ~10% of the original. A lot if data is thrown out. Converting that MP3 to Lossless will not get back any info since it no longer exists.
I'm looking for the smallest size with the least loss from the original
You need to RIP from the original CD to Apple Lossless.
Apple Lossless is still gonna be ~50%-60% of the original file size, which is usually ~30MB to 60MB.
AAC at 192 kbps is ~1.5 MB per minute and unless using a high end stereo equipment and a high end sound card, most users will not be able to hear any difference.
I suggest you RIP the same CD a few different way and compare them. Check the file size and audio quality.

128 to Apple Lossless Conversion?

I imported some CDs at 128k. iTunes gives me the option of converting tracks to Apple Lossless compression. Doing this changes the file from about 4mb to about 20mb. If I imported using 128k "lossy" compression, am I really regaining the data I would have had from an Apple Lossless import? It doesn't seem logical, but it would sure save me some re-importing of CDs. Thanks mucho for any insight on this.
Steve

Converting from any compressed format to Apple Lossless will gain you nothing but an increase in file size. It's not possible to get quality back from any "lossy" codec such as AAC or MP3; that data is permanently gone. So if you want the quality of your CDs with the file size reduction of Apple Lossless, you'll have to reimport from your original CDs.

AAC, Apple lossless, Mp3,WAV

I used to use AAC now I use Mp3 at 320kbps. What is the best way to import for the best sound quality. I use Serrato Scratch so I usually have to convert some songs when their not in Mp3 format. If anyone has any insight I would greatly appreciate it

AAC and MP3 are comparable in terms of size and quality since AAC is basically the newer version of MP3. They are both lossy and compressed though AAC is a more efficient compression so you should get higher quality at the same bit rate/size when compared to MP3.
Apple Lossless is compressed but, as its name implies, it's lossless meaning it retains all the sound information, whereas AAC and MP3 discard data that is deemed unnecessary by the algorithm.
WAV is essentially a straight copy of the data from the CD.
If disk space is not a concern, Apple Lossless should be the best quality/MB.
If you are concerned about disk space-over absolute quality-go with either AAC or MP3. MP3 is older and more widespread, thus may offer better 3rd party compatibility. AAC, as stated above, is by the same MPE Group and is the new standard created to replace MP3.

Apple Lossless gave me HUGE files

I just bought an Airport Express Base Station, so I converted my iTunes Library from .mp3 to Apple Lossless, since I understand iTunes temporarily converts each song to this format to send them to the Airport Express. The conversion process went smoothly, but at the end of it, my song file sizes have increased atleast 10x, sometimes more.
Is this normal? Is there anyway to keep the lossless format, but shrink the files? Should I just re-convert to mp3? Please help.

Completely normal. Lossless files will be much larger than MP3 or AAC, even if they're converted from compressed originals. Unless you deleted the MP3 originals, you should be able to just delete the Lossless copies. If you deleted the originals, you can convert back, but you'll lose even more quality. Convert just a few and check the quality and see what you think; it might be better to reimport your CDs.

Moving to Apple lossless, impact on playlists

I am considering a move to Apple Lossless (instead of mp3). My concern is that I have a lot of playlists that specifically address the mp3 file names. This brings me to my questions: (1) Is there any way to swap the Apple Lossless format files for the mp3 ones (identical song), leaving all playlists with updated file addresses? (2) If not, is there a way to search playlists to see where a particular song is located? I could then manually replace each song before deleting the mp3). (3) Any other suggestions on how I can make this swap between mp3 and Apple lossless files?

There are two types of playlist that iTunes uses.
Ones where you drag tacks manually in to them
Ones where you define rules so that tracks are automatically added to them - so called 'smart playlists'.
For the former, if you re-import your tracks in a different format (in this case Apple Lossless) you would have to drag them again to the playlist and remove the old MP3 ones from the playlist. The later is easy as you can sort by 'kind' and select all the MP3 tracks in one go and remove them from the playlist.
For the 'smart' playlist, you can check the rules and they may already pickup the desired tracks, or you can edit the rules. For example your rule might say something like -
for this playlist add all tracks of Genre 'Country and Western'
you could add an additional rule to this to make
for this playlist add all tracks of Genre 'Country and Western'
and that are of kind 'Apple Lossless'

Converting from Apple Lossless to MP3: loss of quality?

Hi,
I have made the "mistake" of importing dozens and dozens of CD's using the Apple Lossless encoder. Nothing bad about the encoder, on the contrary. But my iPod is now full.
Is there a way I can convert all these tracks to MP3? Will there be a loss of quality from the re-conversion beside the one inherent to MP3? (since we are not starting from the original CD) And will I have to re-create my playlists?
Mmmhhh... doesn't sound too good, right?
Xavier.

Go to Preferences in iTunes. Then go to advanced and importing. In importing change the import using to MP3 encoder.
Quit out of this menu. On the top tool bar you have Advanced and under here you have convert option. If you select the songs that you want to convert and use this convert option they will go to MP3s

How to Convert iTunes Songs (Apple lossless audio file) to a MP3 for E-mail

How to Convert iTunes Songs (Apple lossless audio file) to a MP3 for E-mail?
My computer is Windows 7 and my Itunes software version is 1.0.2
Many thanks in advance...

iTunes 1.0.2 is +at least+ eight years old.
The current version is 9.2, and it's free.
If that was a typo, and you're using something more current:
In the iTunes preferences, change the import settings to mp3.
Then select the songs you wish to convert.
From the "Advanced" menu, choose "Create mp3 version".
When done, change the import settings back to Apple Lossless.
That's it.
BTW, this is the Logic Pro forum, which has absolutely nothing to do with iTunes.

ITunes conversion of Apple Lossless to AAC not working

Hello:
I have all my CD's ripped to Apple Lossless. I then use iTunes to convert to 192 kbs AAC for use on my iPod. When I do this, though, the size is barely changed. Instead of taking a 23 MB lossless file down to 1 MB, it rips to about 20 MB. Has anyone else seen this? Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks.
pmb

pbombach wrote:
Hello:
Instead of taking a 23 MB lossless file down to 1 MB, it rips to about 20 MB. Has anyone else seen this? Am I doing something wrong?
Even if it is working correctly, it does not shrink it by that much. AAC at 192 with constant bit rate uses about 1.5 MB per minute of music, or 6 MB for a 4 minute song. If you use VBR, it will be higher.
As Kay suggests, make sure that your import settings are correct. Also, note that conversion creates a new file and leaves the original in place, so make sure you are looking at the new file. Its Date Added will be the date of conversion, and its "Kind" will be AAC.

Itunes with Apple Lossless and mp3

I have a Mac mini with iTunes.
How can I configure and the system such that:
- I want to play HD music in my living room so I will have Apple Lossless tracks for this purpose.
- I still want the same tracks in MP3 (because it takes much less space) and sync those on my iPhone.
Obviously I can have different playlists for the HD tracks and MP3 tracks.
Is there an application that can automatically discover newly imported HD tracks and convert them in MP3?
Is there a way to sync those MP3 (wired and wirelessly) to different iPhone/iPod without having them in iTunes?
Thanks in advance.
Paul

It doesn't do MP3, but iTunes has the abilty to automatically convert higher bit rate tracks, such as ALAC, to 128/192/256 AAC files on sync. There is no reason to keep multiple copies of the same track.
Just connect your iPhone and select it in iTunes. Click the Summary tab and select the option to "convert higher..." then select the bit rate you want.
Or, you can use one the new cloud syncing services such as iTunes Match, Google Music or Amazon Cloud Play. All these services will convert or "match" ALAC files to either 256 AAC/MP3.

I am downloading a digital album and i have to choose between apple lossless, flac, and high quality mp3. i am using itunes and i have a pc running windows 7 does that make a difference?

I am downloading an album and I don't know which format to choose. Flac, apple lossless, or high quality mp3. I want to play it in itunes, on my iphone and i have a pc running windows 7. Does that make a difference?

Go with Apple Lossless. It will play readily in iTunes vs. FLAC. You can convert it later to mp3 if you wish but you cannot convert mp3 to ALE or FLAC and get back the quality that was lost. You can also convert ALE to FLAC if you need to.

How can i convert my whole library to flac or apple lossless

how do i convert my whole library to flac or apple lossless?!!?!!?!?!?!

First, FLAC is not supported by iTunes and the same probably applies to the iPod.
Second, are all your files currently in AIFF or WAV format, or on CDs? If you have mp3 files or AAC files the only thing that will happen by you converting them to lossless is you will use up more space for the music with no gain in quality. Quality is lost when you convert to mp3 or AAC and converting it to lossless won't get it back.
It looks like current ipods support Apple Lossless. Still, the whole idea behind ipods is to use compressed format so you can fit on the most music. Read http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=85227
If after doing all that you still want Apple Lossless, you need to set the preferences to ALAC in your iTunes preferences, then convert with the Advanced menu command. Mind you, I use an older iTunes so you may have to explore a bit to find where they have those features now. This conversion will place a copy of the file in iTunes in the new format but also leave the old one there, so you'll need to delete the old ones if you don't want them.
Message was edited by: Limnos

Can't Import Songs To iTunes Using Apple Lossless Encoder

I have about 4,000 songs in FLAC format (which is a lossless format) on my external hard drive. I want to import them into iTunes using the Apple Lossless Encoder. I called Apple support and asked them how to do this, and they told me to go under "Preferences" in iTunes and chose to import using Apple Lossless Encoder.
I did this using Preferences>General>Import Settings, and then went to File>Add Folder to Library, however, it still imported my songs as AAC Audio Files. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Thanks.

iTunes cannot read nor import FLAC files - not without third-party plugins, anyway, and I don't know of any that will allow iTunes to convert a FLAC file to another format - so I'm a bit confused as to the procedure you're following. If all you're doing is using the Add to Library command and choosing the FLAC files, it's quite possible that iTunes is misinterpreting the format and adding what is in reality an invalid link with erroneous format information.
If you have some sort of third-party plugin for FLAC for iTunes, please post that information and perhaps someone here can determine whether iTunes can do a conversion successfully.

How do i convert my exsisting itunes library to apple lossless?

Also whrn i do this will i have duplicate files(original/lossless)? If so what is the best way for me to delete them form my macbook? Thanks

Not to pile on here, but the only point of Apple Lossless is to have a slightly compressed version of the an original CD (AIFF). I have converted my full CD collection (too many disks to even count) to Apple Lossless. The sound quality is indistinguishable from the original CD. Because the files are rather large for use on an iPhone or smaller iPod, I then convert them to 256 AAC (for my iPhone) or 160 MP3 to burn MP3 disks for my cars. I keep the Lossless files as the original content.
However, lately, I'm just purchasing 256 AAC iTunes Plus files. I'm losing quality, but it's just not worth the time to purchase CD's and convert them any more.
There is absolutely no reason to convert 256 AAC files to Lossless. In fact, I'm sure it might degrade the sound quality in that a lot of information just isn't in the 256 AAC file. However, don't quote me on this.

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

Mp3 to apple lossless conversion

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