Ripping CDs via Apple Lossless

In anticipation of the launch of iTunes Match, I started ripping my CDs in Apple Lossless format. I ripped two CDs but then I notice that those tracks were not available on my Windows Media Player as well as for Amazon cloud drive. I then converted the files to AAC via iTunes, which made them compatible with Amazon (haven't tested the WMP yet). However, all the tracks were duplicated in iTunes. Is there any way to avoid this, basically have both Apple Lossless and AAC files in my machine, but not duplicate my iTunes albums? Thanks!

It is perfectly possible to get WMP 12 in WIndows 7 to accept Apple Lossless files, to play them, and even to read the embedded metadata including the embedded album artwork. I cannot comment about Amazon's cloud, however even Apple's own iCloud only supports AAC format in that via iTunes Match (when turned on by Apple) it will provide only 256kbit AAC even if your own iTunes copy is in something else like Apple lossless.
To get WMP 12 and Windows 7 to accept Apple Lossless you need to do the following
Install a directshow filter so WMP can play Apple lossless, there is only one such directshow filter available, it was written by Milenko Mitrovic and is based on a solution devised by myself. The easiest way to install this is as part of a codec pack for Windows 7, as this pack will also do the hard work of disabling the built-in AAC codec which otherwise would interfere, the directshow filter can play both AAC and Apple Lossless. This pack can be downloaded from here http://shark007.net/win7codecs.html
You now also need to install a plugin for WMP 12. While Apple Lossless uses exactly the same file extension, exactly the same file format, exactly the same metadata format as AAC which WMP 12 already understands, Microsoft deliberately chose to make life difficult and put Apple Lossless files in the other section instead of the music section. This plugin written by Tim De Baets tricks WMP 12 in to handling Apple Lossless just like AAC and therefore put them in the music section, see http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=75123&view=findpost&p=76 7947
I have my entire iTunes library in Apple Lossless and shared with WMP. Via WMP it even works in Microsoft Media Center.
If your syncing your iTunes library to an iPod, iPhone, or iPad, you can set iTunes to automatically convert to AAC format when copying to your iPod (or similar) device. Your iTunes library will be unaffected and just keep a single Apple Lossless version.
If you do want to have both AAC and Apple Lossless versions but not have both listed, you can create a second separate iTunes library by holding down the Shift key when you launch iTunes.

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Listening to CDs via Apple TV

What is the simplest way to copy CDs and listen to them via Apple TV?

Chenks wrote:
Alley_Cat wrote:
Realistically though I reckon using Apple Lossless you'd get over 2000-3000 albums on a 1TB drive, and you'd get one for the cost of a handful of CDs.
i would use lossless all the way.
the problem i have is that i have 2 iphones and an ipod classic as well, and of course using lossless on those is not really an option. (the ipod classic being in the car so that i have all my music available)
so i would end up needing duplicates of everything. i settled for 256Kbps AAC.
I rip all my CDs to Apple Lossless in iTunes, I also used to sync them to an iPhone but could not fit them all. However iTunes now (finally!) allows you to keep the tracks in Apple Lossless in iTunes but 'on the fly' convert them to AAC 128Kbps when syncing to an iPhone, iPod, or iPad.
As a result, I still have all my music in Apple Lossless in iTunes for use in the home, but can now also fit them on my iPhone in AAC format. I don't need to keep two copies of the tracks in iTunes.

Rip music with Apple Lossless but compress when sending to my Ipod

When I pull my music off a cd onto my computer via Itunes, I want to use Apple Lossless compression. When I want to sync the music to my ipod I want to compress down to 128kbps. How can I go about doing this?
Rob

I use two libraries - a 'Lossless' library and an 'iPod' library. I use a script (http://dougscripts.com/itunes/itinfo/ituneslibrarymanager.php) to toggle between them. This allows me to stream lossless at home over my network without being confused by two sets of each song.

Adding Ripped CDs via iTunes 10.5 on iPhone 4 iOS5 not working

Why can I no longer add my music from my ripped CD's to my iPhone's iPod player since upgrading to iTunes 10.5 and iOS5?? Is this a bug or is Apple now not going to allow people to add ripped music from CDs or downloads from the internet outside of iTunes unless you subscribe to their iCloud & Match service and their CD music into iTunes ver??
Anyone have any insight on this??
1st to clarify, I have never synced automatically my music to my iPhone. I always manually manage my music & thus the "manually manage music & videos" section on iTunes is always enabled.
Adding purchased iTunes music works fine, but when I add anything I've ripped from the 1,200 CD's I own or songs I've gotten from Amazon.com or other places, they show up in iTunes under the music section of my device and even on my device, but they're all greyed out and unplayable, with a little "sync" symbol to the left of the song info. See pic below:

This is beta software available legally only to developers. Please don't post here about beta software. There are confidential forums set aside for developers to use. Developer Forums.

Problems with sound quality when ripping using apple lossless

When ripping cd with apple lossless I have problems with parts of the songs falling out. It does not apply for all songs. I use a Mac Pro OS X 10.9.2 with iTunes 11.1.5. Does anyone know why this happens, and what I can do to prevent it from happening again?

Hi Amy:
Sorry that the Color Setting idea didn't do the trick. Since the occurrence is separate, that is, seeing one color view using Elements and a different color view using email view. I still suspect this area.
Calibrating a monitor to me (as the saying goes), is easier said than done. You may want to do a web search using Calibrate Monitor, or similar search words. This will find some interesting websites on calibrating monitors you can read and try out. If you do change some settings, write down what your original settings are before hand, so if you make it worse, you can go back where you started.
There are two areas to calibrate the monitor.
1. Using the monitor controls on the monitor itself.
or/and
2. Using the graphics card (software) control. Which is normally found (Win XP) DISPLAY PROPERTIES>SETTINGS>ADVANCED> then the TAB with your graphics card name.
3. Actually there is a third one, which uses a very expensive device that connects to the monitor. At the moment this method escapes me. Mainly used by professionals and serious photo editing people.
Good Luck!
Tony

Apple Lossless vs. AAC 256k - and best way to change

I originally imported all my 1500 cds as Apple lossless files figuring that would give me the best audio quality for playing back through my AppleTV. But I have realized that sometimes my bandwidth is not enough (when other are downloading from their computers in the house) and the playback stutters. I also want to be able to fit more songs on my iphone.
So now I am thinking about re-encoding using AAC 256khz - I do not think I can really hear much difference.
Firstly what are your opinion on the relative quality of AAV vs. Apple Lossless files....
and secondly is it best to re-encode by ripping all my cds again (please say no) or can I just select all the lossless files in itunes and have it convert them all to AAC - and if that is the best way how do it do it....?
Many thanks for your help...

Well, I have the same question. So last night I compared the original CD vs. Apple Lossless vs. AAC 256kbit/s.
And to be honest: I cant really hear a difference between AL & AAC@256.
When I knew which version I was hearing I felt that AL is a bit more clear in the highrange. But when I closed my eyes and asked my girlfriend to randomly pic a quality, I only guessed right in 6 out of 10 trys. So I guess I cant tell the difference.
My heaphones are Audio Technica: http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/e69d047fa2f50ad9/index.html
The tested music was electronic/trance & pop/rock.
In case I later start hearing classic music or jazz, I might do this test again.
Kind regards,
Jan
Message was edited by: Jan Riggert

Apple Lossless "ineligible" in iTunes Match

Hi,
so after successfully re-ripping most of my CDs in Apple Lossless and replacing the existing AAC files in my music library (thanks to fabulous Doug's Scripts), I recently purchased some high resolution music files and converted them from FLAC to Apple Lossless. The audio files show and play correctly as "Apple Lossless audio file" at 24-bit and 96k or 192k in iTunes. However, iTunes Match apparently doesn't know how to deal with them.
I searched discussions here and found a number of statements that iTunes Match should read and match music in Apple Lossless, match them with compressed AAC versions and use these compressed versions to play on mobile devices.
Any idea why the high resolution files aren't recognized?
Both albums exist on iTunes and should be matched.

What do you mean by "supported"? Supported to do what? Match it against music that's available on iTunes? Why not? I understand if iTunes Match wouldn't upload files with more than 24/48 resolution for their size. But if the album is known, it wouldn't have to be uploaded to be matched. So why this restriction?
Maybe there's another (technical) reason?

Synching and re-encoding Apple Lossless tracks

Hi,
I'm a brand new apple customer and first time poster - bought my first ipod recently - 80gb version. Anyhow, am brand new to ipod and itunes. To kick off my relationship I ripped about 200 of my favourite CDs using apple lossless. Now, it's all wonderful and being a bit of an audiophile(i'm not really that smug!), it sounds pretty good. So, I'm surprised to find that it really chews batterly life. Three hours or so is all I can get. This brings me onto my question;
Is it possible to resize a track when synching. I ask because in the past I've used Windows Media Player with a Sony Ericsson Walkman phone and I could resize and re-encode tracks as I transfered. I've searched all that I could and there's nothing glaring at me to suggest that I can or cannot so I'm a little unsure. Perhaps I'm missing something.
Anyhow, hope someone can advise....
Thanks
VR

Is it possible to resize a track when synching.
Only with the iPod Shuffle.
And you are correct in resizing the songs will most likely cure the problem.
The iPod has a buffer of ~32MB, which is about 8 songs in AAC 128 kbps. With Apple lossles, it's about 1 song.
If a song is longer than the buffer, the HD will spin continuously until it will all fit into the buffer. Or spin when it needs to load more data. In your case, it will likely spin up for every song.

When will Apple Lossless Music be Available from the iTunes Store?

I have recently rediscovered the wonders of uncompressed music. I bought my first CD player in 1984. The best vinyl records were better then than the best CDs, and still are, but the average CD was a lot better than the average vinyl. The CD average has probably gotten better since then. At some point, I imported the CDs I listened to into my Mac, initially as 128K AAC, and later as 256K AAC, and thought I was still getting good quality. A couple of months ago, I bought an external USB DAC (NuForce Icon µDAC) and some better-than-the-usual-computer-speakers powered monitors (M-Audio AV40). And I reimported my CDs in Apple Lossless format. Oh! Sweet new music!
The difference between 256K AAC and Apple Lossless is subtle, but through good equipment it's still very noticeable. I have lots of music I bought from the iTunes Store over the years, in 128K and 256K AAC. Some of those I've replaced with CD rips, but I don't have all those CDs. I sure would like to be able to upgrade to Apple Lossless through the iTunes Store. I'd be happy to pay the HDTracks.com prices of $12/album or $1.49/track for the privilege, but it isn't available. The best Apple will sell me is 256K AAC. So now I'm getting all my new music from HDTracks.com, who have wonderful recordings, but a small selection, or as CDs from Amazon.
Apple, when are you going to step up to the plate for the audiophiles in your market and sell us Apple Lossless (or FLAC) music? I realize that we aren't nearly as big a market as the teeny-bopper iPod users out there, but we ARE a market, and I for one would happily return to the iTunes Store if I could buy full-resolution music there.

Wonderful question, would be nice if Apple was not so hush-hush about new developments, but alas, that is what they must do to stay on top of the game. I cannot wait for the day when I will open iTunes and see the phrase, "All Downloads now in Full CD Quality Apple Lossless!" Woohoo, what a momentus occasion that will be. Fortunately, we can hope that they will allow upgrades to Apple Lossless just like they did for iTunes Plus (and why wouldn't they, it's a money maker).
I too have only been purchasing cds mostly from amazon to rip in Lossless, and just came across an album of interest to me that is unfortunately only available through iTunes and Amazon. The hard copies of Steve Jablonsky's Transformers Score are only found in highly marked-up quantities on amazon and ebay, so i am left to bite the bullet and purchase the adequate 256kbps AAC version from the iTunes store. At least I don't have to buy Amazon's MP3 coded versions(typed with a smirk).
With the capacity of most iPods ranging between 8 and 160 GBs, I think it is safe to assume that storage space is not really an issue anymore. Let us cross our fingers for Apple Lossless soon(or use those fingers to raise typed awareness).

Ripping in Apple lossless, random beeps in file created. genius bar no help

Just began downloading my CDs to an external firewire drive attached to my new Macbook w/ Leopard, using iTunes w/ Apple Lossless. This will be for my hi-fi stereo. I'm using the latest versions of all software.
After about a dozen CDs, I have done some listening. At the end of some tracks there is an electronic beep that lasts about one second, starts in right channel and moves to left channel.
Only some tracks have this beeping, but consistently occurs at end of tracks, from CDs released last year, five years ago and even ten years ago.
Tested these same CDs on my Thinkpad w/ Windows XP and iTunes, using apple lossless. NO BEEPS at the end of the same tracks that had beeps on the Mac.
Any idea how to get rid of this?

I have a MBPro and have been experiencing dropouts and blips when ripping with Apple lossless. Having dropouts does rather defeat the purpose.
I was ripping to an external USB drive. Based on this, I'll try to my very fast internal 7200rpm drive. Anyone else but us two experiencing this, and have any workarounds or feedback? It's VERY frustrating...

Streaming Apple Lossless Music via Aiport Express

I'd like to rip my cd collection to my desktop and then stream it to another room via the Airport Express. I'd like to store the music in Apple Lossless. My question is does the streamed music get compressed lower than Apple Lossless in order to stream to the Airport Express that will be attatched to my stereo?

Jazzman (that's funny since I am a professional Jazz
musician...:-)),
since I use iTunes and AirPort Express I have
upgraded my stereo system way up. I'm using a DENON
AV Receiver and Klipsch Reference RF-7 loudspeakers.
The AAC 128 kb/s file sound is awesome!! As a
by-product of the psycho-acoustic compression the
sound is warmer and wider than the original; a little
like vinyl albums (if you have a good turntable). I
have made a lot of blindfold tests among friends
playing iTunes over AE with optical cable connected,
an average CD player and a very good DVD player (just
using it as an audio player). iTunes always sounded
best - with AAC 128 kb/s streaming!
I would even go so far and recommend the compression,
since it gives you a more natural sound than the
original. I know it sounds odd, but that's the way it
is. AAC compression is invented by Dolby
Laboratories, one of the most renowned professional
studio suppliers.
Best regards
Roman
Roman, I'm old enough to remember the great sound of LP's on an AR turntable using Shure III cartridge and Koss Pro4a headphones driven by a Pioneer Integrated Amp. I have to give it a try again with the ACC 128 as opposed to lossless.
I'll add one more thing the iPod does sound great with a headphone amplifier driving Sennheiser 600/650's. I'm using a Emmeline SR-71, and a Headroom Headcase Bag by Headroom. No, I don't work for these companies. I just thought those seeking the ultimate in mobile sound might be interested.
Thanks for your help!

Which is better: Rip from CD or Audio Apple Lossless file

Wich is better for ripping?? For example ripping AAC 320 kpbs, is it better from CD or is it the same from an Audio Apple Lossless File ??
Thanks

The quality you will get from ripping a CD or converting from an Apple Lossless file to 320kbps would be indistinguishable, at least without sophisticated spectrum analysis (if even then). So I would say to do whatever is most efficient for you.
Regards.

How to rip CDs into iTunes from several machines, simultaneously

I have about 300 CDs that I'm re-ripping into my library for two reasons (1) I had a hard drive failure that corrupted / lost some of the files and (2) I'm shifting from MP3 to Apple Lossless format.
Setup: MacMini is linked to entertainment center for iTunes playback but I ahve 2 other Macbooks on network. iTunes library is on an external hardrive connected to mini via firewire --accessible to macbooks via network.
Issue 1: Can I load the iTunes library from the external hard drive on each of the three machines, then have each of the three re-rip CDs simultaneously to overwrite the old files? After the CDs have been re-ripped, I'd just tell iTunes on the MacMini rebuild the library so that it knew the actual file types for the CDs imported by the macbooks.
Issue 2: I want to overwrite existing songs (1) to avoid duplicate files and (2) I've misplaced / stored a couple hundred other CD's, so I can't just erase the old library, rip from three machines, then import into the mini b/c that would be a large loss of CDs.
My plan would as follows, but I'm not certain if it will work or if it's the best way:
1. Erase the iTunes library (not the files) on all three machines for a clean start.
2. On Each machine, Preferences -> Advanced -> General: Set the iTunes music folder to the external drive where the current music files are located. Also set each computer to "Keep Music Folder Organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Music Folder..."
3. on Each machine, select File -> Add to Libary: to add all of the current music files.
4. Start simultaneously shoving my CDs into the three machines and re-importing using lossless / telling it to overwrite existing files when prompted.
5. When done re-importing the CDs, erase the macbook libraries (I don't listen to music on them), tell the mac mini to erase it's library, then re-add all the newly ripped files and the preexisting/not-overwritten files to the library to rebuild it, so that the mini becomes aware of the files that were added / rewritten by the other two machines.
While none of the three machines would be ripping the same CD or trying to overwrite the same music files at the same time, my concern is that all three machines would run into problems if trying to update / write to the same iTunes non-music file, for example the iTunes Libarary Database file of the iTunes Library.xml file on the external drive.
Comments? Suggestions? Experiences?
Thanks,
mjc

I have about 300 CDs that I'm re-ripping into my library for two reasons (1) I had a hard drive failure that corrupted / lost some of the files and (2) I'm shifting from MP3 to Apple Lossless format.
Setup: MacMini is linked to entertainment center for iTunes playback but I ahve 2 other Macbooks on network. iTunes library is on an external hardrive connected to mini via firewire --accessible to macbooks via network.
Issue 1: Can I load the iTunes library from the external hard drive on each of the three machines, then have each of the three re-rip CDs simultaneously to overwrite the old files? After the CDs have been re-ripped, I'd just tell iTunes on the MacMini rebuild the library so that it knew the actual file types for the CDs imported by the macbooks.
Well, yeah, this wold work, in 1/3 the time. If you have changed ANYTHING about a song title, album title or artist, iTunes will not see it as a duplicate.
Issue 2: I want to overwrite existing songs (1) to avoid duplicate files and (2) I've misplaced / stored a couple hundred other CD's, so I can't just erase the old library, rip from three machines, then import into the mini b/c that would be a large loss of CDs.
So, some of the MP3's won't be AAC's in the end?
My plan would as follows, but I'm not certain if it will work or if it's the best way:
1. Erase the iTunes library (not the files) on all three machines for a clean start.
Right Click/Duplicate first, just in case. OR (better method) hold the Option key while opening iTunes and choose create new library.
2. On Each machine, Preferences -> Advanced -> General: Set the iTunes music folder to the external drive where the current music files are located. Also set each computer to "Keep Music Folder Organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Music Folder..."
3. on Each machine, select File -> Add to Libary: to add all of the current music files.
4. Start simultaneously shoving my CDs into the three machines and re-importing using lossless / telling it to overwrite existing files when prompted.
If you have changed ANYTHING about a song title, album title or artist, iTunes will not see it as a duplicate.
5. When done re-importing the CDs, erase the macbook libraries (I don't listen to music on them), tell the mac mini to erase it's library, then re-add all the newly ripped files and the preexisting/not-overwritten files to the library to rebuild it, so that the mini becomes aware of the files that were added / rewritten by the other two machines.
On the three machines, hold the Option Key while opening iTunes and choose the original library, then delete the new library file you created for this adventure. Then do the same to create a new library on the MacMini. If you have created playlists, first export each playlist as a .xml file and import it when finished.
While none of the three machines would be ripping the same CD or trying to overwrite the same music files at the same time, my concern is that all three machines would run into problems if trying to update / write to the same iTunes non-music file, for example the iTunes Libarary Database file of the iTunes Library.xml file on the external drive.
They will each be creating their own unique library database, missing what the other two machines are adding to the iTunes Music Folder. They will not be re-writing the .xml file on the external hard drive. Each computer will have it's own .xml file on it's hard drive.
Tracy

Streaming apple lossless

I have an Airport Extreme base station, 2 years old (n), with three Airport Expresses of the same vintage. Can this system stream Apple Lossless format or do I need a Sonos system to get the better quality?

Surya K. wrote:
The Apple TV is due for another update very soon now. I sure hope it includes 24bit / 96kHz audio this time around.
I wouldn't bet on it.....they could have added this to AppleTV1 if they'd wanted to.
The problem with AppleTVs is that Apple push design/interface and so forth over quality considerations that might appeal to audiophiles or videophiles.
Surya K. wrote:
.... And they should add an option for Apple Lossless downloads to the iTunes store while they're at it. This is 2013.
I quite agree.
This is my biggest annoyance with iTunes Store - I do not want to buy physical CDs, rip and physically store them but that's the only way I can get lossless CD quality audio into iTunes. Again, most people don't care, and I'm no particular fan of CD to begin with to be honest but I'll buy a CD and rip lossless when it's about the same price as the compressed download - amazon's Autorip is a great feature in my view > buy CD and get immediate access to an MP3 version of the album before the CD arrives at your door - best of both worlds.
It seems to me Apple have a golden opportunity to offer 24/96 lossless audio downloads via itunes store - an album might be 2-3GB but that's nothing compared when we are downloading 5-8GB movies in 1080p from them (actually I'd rather be able to download better quality video but that's another story).
I would be quite happy for there to be DRM on lossless audio, especially for better than CD quality lossless.
AC

Kbs and apple lossless

Is Apple Lossless the best format to import your music onto your library. How many Kbs would equal Apple Lossless. I can re import my CD's if lossless is going to improve the sound quality. Most of my music was imported around 300 Kbs and I don't want to waste my time if the sound quality is not much different.
I listen via airplay on an expensive speaker
Any advice is warmly welcome re these formats.
Thanks

fred quimby wrote:
Is Apple Lossless the best format to import your music onto your library. How many Kbs would equal Apple Lossless. I can re import my CD's if lossless is going to improve the sound quality. Most of my music was imported around 300 Kbs and I don't want to waste my time if the sound quality is not much different.
I listen via airplay on an expensive speaker
Any advice is warmly welcome re these formats.
Thanks
Fred,
Apple Lossless does not use a fixed bitrate. It uses an adaptive algorithm that uses more or fewer bits depending on the sonic complexity of each portion of the music. On average, a file encoded with Apple Lossless will be around 700 to 1000 kbps.
Because it is lossless, it provides equivalent audio to the CD the file was ripped from. Whether it is sufficiently better is a very subjective decision. If you still have the original CDs, rip some tracks in Apple Lossless, and see if they sound better to you than your MP3 or AAC files. Try tracks of a few different musical styles, and use your usual audio equipment and your usual listening conditions.
If it sounds better to you, then you can proceed to re-rip your collection. Given that you have a good quality speaker system, you may well enjoy the better audio.

Ripping CDs via Apple Lossless

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