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How well does iTunes work for ripping/encoding Apple Lossless?

post #1 of 9
10/21/09 at 2:05pm
Thread Starter 
If the discs are in new condition, how well does iTunes rip/encode Apple Lossless as compared to dbPowerAMP? I have dbPowerAMP but not the Apple Lossless add-on or whatever it's called. Just wondering..
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post #2 of 9
10/21/09 at 2:38pm
IMO, not very well. I use an USB external plextor drive to Rip...

all things equal (computer, settings, drives, cd, etc) Itunes rips cd's
extremely fast, almost... uncomfortably fast. One time I put a disc
in and went to grab my pizza from the oven; by the time I came
back, all 16 tracks had ripped. That always made me uncomfortable.
God forbid any scratches on the Cd... itunes makes no effort to correct
these.

using the same system, I now rip with EAC and receive far better results.
EAC takes its time, always results in an accurate, great sounding file.
I convert the file to Apple lossless after so I can use it in my ipod.
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post #3 of 9
10/21/09 at 4:16pm
I've spent the last three days ripping and re-ripping CD's as both AAC, Apple lossless & MP3's evaluating each track carefully before I rip my entire CD collection, using both iTunes and EAC.

Bottom line is I prefered the sound of the EAC / Lame vbr encoded MP3's at 320kbps for use on my Nano, my ears were unable to differentiate between the iTunes Apple lossless file or the EAC / Lame encoded 320kbps MP3 file. Of course MP3 has the advantage of being truly universal, rather than be solely tied to an iPod
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post #4 of 9
10/21/09 at 4:33pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys. I have some decisions to make.

Question for those of you using dbPowerAMP.. when I click Apple Lossless for the encoding it asks me if I want to d-load the codec. When I click "yes", it has 4 things you can d-load on that page:

-m4a Release 8 1049KB
-m4b Release 1 339KB
-AAC Release 1 474KB
-m4a Utilities Release 1 515KB

Now I have no clue what they mean even after reading the descriptions under each. Do I just need to click that first d-load that is 1049KB, or is there others I need to be able to encode in Apple Lossless?
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post #5 of 9
10/22/09 at 10:03am
Thread Starter 
I downloaded just the first 1049KB file. Please let me know if that's all I need.
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post #6 of 9
10/22/09 at 2:42pm
It should do quite well.
Since you most probably will not run into reading errors when ripping those 'new condition' CDs. Apple is the inventor of the Apple Lossless codec as well, so certainly do not see any problems in that area either.

Go for it!
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post #7 of 9
10/22/09 at 10:06pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks
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post #8 of 9
10/23/09 at 3:18am
i would use EAC to rip and then use Itunes to encode, but thats just me,
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post #9 of 9
10/23/09 at 11:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by CrisG View Post
IMO, not very well. I use an USB external plextor drive to Rip...

all things equal (computer, settings, drives, cd, etc) Itunes rips cd's
extremely fast, almost... uncomfortably fast. One time I put a disc
in and went to grab my pizza from the oven; by the time I came
back, all 16 tracks had ripped. That always made me uncomfortable.
God forbid any scratches on the Cd... itunes makes no effort to correct
these.

using the same system, I now rip with EAC and receive far better results.
EAC takes its time, always results in an accurate, great sounding file.
I convert the file to Apple lossless after so I can use it in my ipod.
You can choose to include error correcting when ripping in iTunes.
Reply
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