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iTunes file format trickery

M

maxanton

Guest
May 12, 2015
81
40
#1
Hello TalkBass

First of all, sorry if this is the wrong forum to post this in. I was going to post this in Offtopic originally, but, seeing as it's to do with music, decided to post it here instead.

Anyway, I usually buy my music on CDs and then import them into iTunes through the Apple Lossless setting. However, there are some albums (particularly of small bands) that I cannot get in CD format, but I can download them in FLAC (from BandCamp, nothing illegal here). Which iTunes doesn't support for some reason.

Now, I'm really obsessed with sound quality, so I'm thinking of burning the music onto a CD in FLAC quality and the importing it using the Apple Lossless encoder. However, I have a creeping feeling that I am horribly, *horribly* misguided in this.

Would it make sense to do this? Which format are CDs usually burned to? How can I get the best possible sound quality off of an album that I download from BandCamp?

Any advice would be much appreciated!
 
#2
maxanton said:
Hello TalkBass

First of all, sorry if this is the wrong forum to post this in. I was going to post this in Offtopic originally, but, seeing as it's to do with music, decided to post it here instead.

Anyway, I usually buy my music on CDs and then import them into iTunes through the Apple Lossless setting. However, there are some albums (particularly of small bands) that I cannot get in CD format, but I can download them in FLAC (from BandCamp, nothing illegal here). Which iTunes doesn't support for some reason.

Now, I'm really obsessed with sound quality, so I'm thinking of burning the music onto a CD in FLAC quality and the importing it using the Apple Lossless encoder. However, I have a creeping feeling that I am horribly, *horribly* misguided in this.

Would it make sense to do this? Which format are CDs usually burned to? How can I get the best possible sound quality off of an album that I download from BandCamp?

Any advice would be much appreciated!
Click to expand...
CDs are burned to uncompressed .wav

Can you just download wav files from Bandcamp? Or try looking up a FLAC converter app.
 
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#4
maxanton said:
Thank you for the info! I just checked BandCamp, and they do support wav files.
Click to expand...
.wav is completely uncompressed. Always be on the lookout for a wav file. Apple Lossless isn't a truly lossless CODEC, it simply cuts out less information than an mp3 CODEC. You should change itunes import settings to import wav files if you want the 'true' original quality of your CDs.
 
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#6
DWBass said:
Won't iTunes just convert them? I know it used to convert non supported formats.
Click to expand...
Not anymore. I've downloaded FLAC files and it won't convert them. Money grubbing BS, really. They want you to buy their streaming service, basically, so we can further move towards a society where nobody actually owns music anymore.
 
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#9
maxanton said:
Hello TalkBass

First of all, sorry if this is the wrong forum to post this in. I was going to post this in Offtopic originally, but, seeing as it's to do with music, decided to post it here instead.

Anyway, I usually buy my music on CDs and then import them into iTunes through the Apple Lossless setting. However, there are some albums (particularly of small bands) that I cannot get in CD format, but I can download them in FLAC (from BandCamp, nothing illegal here). Which iTunes doesn't support for some reason.

Now, I'm really obsessed with sound quality, so I'm thinking of burning the music onto a CD in FLAC quality and the importing it using the Apple Lossless encoder. However, I have a creeping feeling that I am horribly, *horribly* misguided in this.

Would it make sense to do this? Which format are CDs usually burned to? How can I get the best possible sound quality off of an album that I download from BandCamp?

Any advice would be much appreciated!
Click to expand...
Convert the .flac files with their .cue file to .wav files with a program like to wav converter which you can get on the AppStore. Bring the .wav files into iTunes. From there you can highlight tracks or albums and hit file - create new version to convert them to Apple lossless for use on iPods and such.
 
#10
J Posega said:
.wav is completely uncompressed. Always be on the lookout for a wav file. Apple Lossless isn't a truly lossless CODEC, it simply cuts out less information than an mp3 CODEC. You should change itunes import settings to import wav files if you want the 'true' original quality of your CDs.
Click to expand...

I see. How much heavier is .wav compared to Apple Lossless? I have quite a lot of albums, and, sadly, infinite-capacity phones aren't a thing yet.
 
#11
maxanton said:
I see. How much heavier is .wav compared to Apple Lossless? I have quite a lot of albums, and, sadly, infinite-capacity phones aren't a thing yet.
Click to expand...
Apparently, Apple Lossless is actually lossless, but the files are compressed. They get uncompressed when you play them, but they are bit for bit the same as wav files. So if space is an issue, convert away!
 
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#13
If you're on a Mac, look up XLD (X Lossless Decoder). It's INSANE it's so good - and free! I use it to rip CD's to FLAC, and I use it to convert FLAC to AAC (*.m4a). Remember that AAC is not Apple's codec, it's the successor to MP3 and half the bitrate of MP3 for the same sound quality. I rip all my CD's to FLAC as a proper backup, and then convert my FLACs to m4a's for my Android phone, iPad, etc.

In any OS you can always use VLC for FLAC playback.

If you're on Windows, there should be a ton of options but unfortunately I can't help ya - I'm all Linux and Mac now.
 
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#17
EAC is the best on windows. FLAC and WAV can also be converted freely, as .FLAC is simply a .WAV file compressed. Even though it's compressed, you can still get the original .wav file from the lossless .flac.
 
#18
Jeesh. CDs aren't in wav format. Apple lossless is compressed. So is flac. Lossless doesn't mean uncompressed files, it means uncompressed waveforms.

If you burn the flac files to a cd as audio then the cd will be as any other, and because flac is lossless it will be 100% the same as an equivalent cd when played back. You could then keep that cd safe as a backup and rip it to alac as you have with the rest of your collection.

I had a full alac library for years (iPhone is my listening device outdoors) but recently converted the lot to AAC 256kbps. Honestly can hear the difference with my best headphones in a silent room, which is about 0.000001% of real world listening so I saved half the drive space instead. also I currently have 3,728 songs on my phone - when I used alac I could fit about 1000. My moods are many, so I like to have a choice.
 
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#19
VinnyIuspa said:
Convert the .flac files with their .cue file to .wav files with a program like to wav converter which you can get on the AppStore. Bring the .wav files into iTunes. From there you can highlight tracks or albums and hit file - create new version to convert them to Apple lossless for use on iPods and such.
Click to expand...

static0verdrive said:
If you're on a Mac, look up XLD (X Lossless Decoder). It's INSANE it's so good - and free! I use it to rip CD's to FLAC, and I use it to convert FLAC to AAC (*.m4a). Remember that AAC is not Apple's codec, it's the successor to MP3 and half the bitrate of MP3 for the same sound quality. I rip all my CD's to FLAC as a proper backup, and then convert my FLACs to m4a's for my Android phone, iPad, etc.

In any OS you can always use VLC for FLAC playback.

If you're on Windows, there should be a ton of options but unfortunately I can't help ya - I'm all Linux and Mac now.
Click to expand...

RamblerKW said:
EAC is the best on windows. FLAC and WAV can also be converted freely, as .FLAC is simply a .WAV file compressed. Even though it's compressed, you can still get the original .wav file from the lossless .flac.
Click to expand...

I can rip my cd's into my compooter ok, but you people are making my brain hurt. ;-)
 

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