iTunes - format for ripping CDs when intending also to use iPod

Hello James 

I'm not a WAV fan ... the tags don't work for me. 

I do what you are doing ALAC for streaming and AAC for the iPad (I've haven't got a pod). 

The PCM music data is the same in ALAC as WAV ... however, lots of people will tell you WAV sounds better and perhaps it does to them on their systems, but on mine ALAC is fine. If you are thinking ALAC compression makes a differences then use AIFF (WAV with tags). When I say compressed I mean like a zip file ... nothing is lost. With AAC it attempts to make the file very small by leaving out bits of the sound you won't notice: the idea is your brain fills the gaps. 

AAC 256 and MP3 320 can sound pretty good, but I can clearly hear and improvement using ALAC, AIFF, FLAC or WAV ... can I hear the difference between these formats containing identical PCM music data .... no I can't ... and I'm as sure of that as I am that Mick McCarthy will lead us from the wilderness. 

All the best, Guy. 

A good enough recommendation for me! Thx!

I agree with Guido, except to suggest that you use AIFF in iTunes! Worth the effort to try Alac vs Aiif in my view. If you cannot detect a difference, then use Alac ...

ATB from George

Hello James,

i have the following workflow....:

1. I put Rip´s and/or Highresdownloads as FLAC in NAS/Music 

2. I convert all FLAC into mp3 (128k) in NAS/iTunes

3. Add NAS/iTunes to iTunes Media

4. iTunes Match provide the music via cloud as AAC 256k (good enough for mobile use)

i use this workflow because i want all my music as a FLAC at home. Don´t want to ALAC etc. because it is not a free standard. I think FLAC is the best choice. So i feel well prepared for the next future.....

Greetings

On an iPod Classic 160GB I hear a significant difference between Apple Lossless and uncompressed WAV.  iTunes is not good at handling metadata with WAV though - so AIFF a good alternative. 

Suggest you try ripping the same album in different formats and pick one that gives you the SQ / file size trade-off you are happy with. 

I just rip to AIFF using XLD for Mac. Then I use iTunes to downconvert to 256K when syncing to iPod/iPad/iPhone.

The AIFF files are streamed to my ND5 XS in the listening room using Playback for Mac, or to my Squeezebox Touch for the office system.

Yes it is ... ALAC is open source now(that changed recently). You can't play FLAC with iTunes so if you want to use iTunes then it is not an option (one day maybe Apple will do it). Nothing wrong with FLAC though if iTunes comparability is not needed. I don't like WAV because I have problems with Tags. Ideally, I think players should play everything and make it sound great .... AIFF is fine too, of course. 

Agree totally that AAC 256 sounds good enough on the iPad/Pod 

I want ALAC on my iPod as a means to overcome the fact that I cannot stream ALAC directly from my macbook pro to my Uniti. I can maintain quality by plugging in the iPod to the Uniti. I can stream from Mac to Uniti via Eyeconnect but I lose ALAC in the process.....as I understand it. Can someone please confirm that this is correct. I must say that the streaming via Eyeconnect is often difficult to get started.

I tried EyeConnect for about a day before tossing it out (it didn't support FLAC for one). Playback for Mac is much better, and supports all the formats that can be streamed to the Naim network devices.

Why what does Eyeconnect do ... i could never get it do anything reliably, but if it is worth anything it should stream ALAC ... however, if you have an older Uniti it may not understand it. A new one should without problem - not sure of the upgrade process. 

However, if you plug your MacBook in to the Uniti with an optical cable (think you can do that, I have a UQ) then you can play anything ... ALAC or some other format if you want. 

Or yes you can do it with the iPod - the iPod turns ALAC into PCM and feeds the Uniti, this will work for sure. 

Yazsoft Playback will definitely stream ALAC to a Uniti, but it is up to the Uniti what happens next. 

Streaming is getting to complicated ... I'm at the point where I just want a player that plays anything ... I don't care what format it is in ... I don't even want to know ... the technology should sort that out. 

I used to say vinyl is a PITA but worth it. Now I'm thinking digital is a bigger PITA and not so worth it. I keep getting half tempted to sell my ND5 and just use my Squeezebox Touch and Arcam rLink. It's a lot cheaper, works more reliably, and the iPhone software is better than n-Stream (which is a PITA to use if you don't stream from an iTunes library).

+1.

However I use i-tunes to rip. 

Storage is cheap and you only want to rip once so always opt for uncompressed (i.e., AIFF).

Race,

I can see that you also have a Squeezebox. Therefore you must also be running Logitech Media Server. As of build 7.x.somthing it also includes a UPnP renderer. Have you ever tried using LMS as the UPnP server for your ND5? Is it any better than Twonky?

I didn't know about the UPnP renderer. I will look into it. No reason to run two servers if one will do. Thanks for the heads-up.

Edit: found the plugin, installed and started it, and stopped Playback for Mac. I'll see how it works for me later today after I return from work. It looks like switching also solves a problem with Playback where the "Play from this track" option of n-Stream didn't work for non-iTunes folders.

The OP's "pretending he's got the slightest idea of what you're now all talking about" face...!

Sorry for that, JWM. We are just abusing your thread to evaluate the option of a certain UPnP server software to act as a renderer for Naim equipment. This has indeed no relation to your query. Sorry again.

James .. what you are doing now is 100% fine. If sometime in the future you decide some other format is better than ALAC then you can get a free program that'll turn it in to that format ... but I do exactly as you are doing and it sounds great. 

All the best, Guy 

Not just the OP 

I keep it simple by ripping in iTunes as AIFF. I then just load the albums I want to take out and about with me into my iPhone in AIFF format. No converting or messing about but you need a decent amount of storage in your iPhone/iPod, I have a 32GB iPhone.

Absolutely correct in my experience.

Though converting from ALAC is just as good.

No other system improves on the quality, and no system comes even remotely close to the iiTunes user interface ...

ATB from George

I originally did that, and switched to down-converting to 256K for synching to i-devices. I didn't see the point to wasting all that space on the iPhone when I couldn't hear any difference. I'd rather get more music on it. Ditto for the 60 GB iPod Classic I use in the car.