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FLAC or Apple Lossless? - Page 2

post #16 of 47
6/17/09 at 10:56pm
I just became a believer in FLAC....

The ALAC file was bigger and had a tiny bit bigger bitrate but there was better sound/instrument differentiation with the FLAC (ripped w/ EAC, playing through winamp). In "theory" there should be no difference, but I heard what I am still hearing. =/

Not to say you should listen to me vs. Krmathis who's been on these boards for a while, I'm simply posting what I hear.

+1 for FLAC =)
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post #17 of 47
6/17/09 at 10:59pm
sorry to partially threadjack here, but if I purchase a song or album from itunes is it automatically saved in Apple Lossless?

Most of my cds were ripped (re-ripped after I joined head-fi and got a clue), in FLAC, I want to purchase my music online and itunes seems the easiest choice.
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post #18 of 47
6/18/09 at 3:09am
Quote:
sorry to partially threadjack here, but if I purchase a song or album from itunes is it automatically saved in Apple Lossless?

Most of my cds were ripped (re-ripped after I joined head-fi and got a clue), in FLAC, I want to purchase my music online and itunes seems the easiest choice.
If you downloading from itunes or amazon your only getting 256-Kbps. That is a long way from lossless. That is called lossy. Lossless will run some where around 1000Kbps. The only way to get lossless is by ripping a cd to your harddrive or download it from one of the few lossless sites like music giant.(limited selection and havent been able to get the site to work lately.) A good alternative which is what I do is order used cds from amazon for 4 -10 bucks which is cheaper than itunes and you can rip it to lossles/flac/wav and have a hard copy if something ever goes wrong with your computer. You can still browse amazon like the itune store but you can select to look for a used cd instead. You end up getting better quality for a cheaper price.
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post #19 of 47
6/18/09 at 3:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by KingStyles View Post
The only way to get lossless is by ripping a cd to your harddrive or download it from one of the few lossless sites like music giant.(limited selection and havent been able to get the site to work lately.)
HDGiants (Music Giants) filed for bankruptcy at the end of May. We'll have to wait and see if they can continue operations.
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post #20 of 47
6/18/09 at 3:56am
Quote:
HDGiants (Music Giants) filed for bankruptcy at the end of May. We'll have to wait and see if they can continue operations.
Thanks for the info, that explains a lot of things. bummer, it was of the best sites.
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post #21 of 47
6/18/09 at 4:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by freakydrew View Post
sorry to partially threadjack here, but if I purchase a song or album from itunes is it automatically saved in Apple Lossless?

Most of my cds were ripped (re-ripped after I joined head-fi and got a clue), in FLAC, I want to purchase my music online and itunes seems the easiest choice.
Sadly not!
iTunes Store sell lossy files, AAC @ 256kbps to be exact, and no Apple Lossless. Hopefully that change in the future though..
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post #22 of 47
6/18/09 at 5:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by KingStyles View Post
Thanks for the info, that explains a lot of things. bummer, it was of the best sites.
It is a bummer. They were (are) one of the sites that I wanted to see succeed. Quality lossless music and services. They aimed for a more upscale clientele than me (They were based in Incline Village, did custom music libraries for multi-millionaires with $50,000 media systems). They also sold HD music online along with some subscription services.

Some of their music was DRMed. If they cease operations the people with DRMed music are probably SOL.
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post #23 of 47
6/18/09 at 2:11pm
If only amazon or itunes would step up to the plate and offer lossless, I would be a happy camper. Untill then, I will continue to rip away.
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post #24 of 47
6/18/09 at 2:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by spideyman409 View Post
I just became a believer in FLAC....

The ALAC file was bigger and had a tiny bit bigger bitrate but there was better sound/instrument differentiation with the FLAC (ripped w/ EAC, playing through winamp). In "theory" there should be no difference, but I heard what I am still hearing. =/

Not to say you should listen to me vs. Krmathis who's been on these boards for a while, I'm simply posting what I hear.

+1 for FLAC =)
There is literally no difference in the sound file.
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post #25 of 47
6/18/09 at 9:35pm
There might be a small difference since they both use different compresion techniques. Go with uncompressed wav if you really want to go lossless and its much easier on the processor/harddrive/battery because it isnt constantly decompressing the files on the fly.
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post #26 of 47
6/18/09 at 9:49pm
No there really isn't a difference. Both are bit-perfect and sample exact
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post #27 of 47
6/19/09 at 12:50am
I started out with FLAC. But in the endI ended up ripping all my CDs again in ALAC. Just because of a new IPOD 120GB Classic.

It's a matter of convinience. if you see yourself buying new ipods soon then start w/ alac. Rockbox plays alac relatively well too.

But if you won't touch Apple products FLAC would be very good as is. =)

Btw, I'd go w/ KingStyles' recommendations on CDs from amazon. It's so nice that its very cheap in the US to buy CDs online. So just follow that route. You can also sell the CDs bought to take back some cost later.

Wish we had the same convinience here though.
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post #28 of 47
6/26/09 at 10:19pm

Real Audio Lossless

I use Real Audio Lossless (.ra) 705Kbps. Sounds exactly like the CD to me. Real Player converts everything to MP3 when I download music to my phone. I've never tried the other formats.
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post #29 of 47
6/26/09 at 10:25pm
I mainly have used Apple Lossless but most lossless downloads, in fact every lossless download i have ever found-over 300Ghz have been in FLAC. I have always converted them but now I am using Foobar and don't need to unless i put them on my ipod or want to burn a cd.
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post #30 of 47
6/26/09 at 10:46pm
I use FLAC myself. There should be no difference between the FLAC and Apple Lossless as far as audible sound is concerned.

The only reason I don't like Apple Lossless is mainly because it's an Apple creation.
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