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Keepin' it simple, but ripping cd's to Apple Lossless...

post #1 of 15
1/18/10 at 4:46pm
Thread Starter 
Using iTunes, I have been ripping my cd's, ever since this weekend, into Apple Lossless. Previously, I have most all of my library in AAC at 320 kbps. My only thing is, I would like to make/store duplicate copies of my discs in both AAC and Apple Lossless formats, one for quanity, and one for the quality, and for use on different devices. Is this possible? and once again, keeping it simple.
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post #2 of 15
1/18/10 at 6:35pm
You can maintain several libraries in iTunes by (I think it is) holding down the SHIFT key when you start iTunes so could have one for alac and one for aac and then just ripping the cd's twice. That is probably the simplest way. Otherwise you have to get into ripping to alac and then transcoding to aac and copy files manually.
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post #3 of 15
1/18/10 at 6:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nc8000 View Post
You can maintain several libraries in iTunes by (I think it is) holding down the SHIFT key when you start iTunes so could have one for alac and one for aac and then just ripping the cd's twice. That is probably the simplest way. Otherwise you have to get into ripping to alac and then transcoding to aac and copy files manually.
Is that Mac or PC? I know it's ALT on Mac, never worked out how to do it on PC though.
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post #4 of 15
1/18/10 at 6:43pm
You can keep two versions of the same file in the same library. Not an issue, you then select which one you wish to transfer to a given iPod. Or better yet make different playlists and sink an iPod to a playlist as you see fit.
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post #5 of 15
1/18/10 at 6:52pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Menisk View Post
Is that Mac or PC? I know it's ALT on Mac, never worked out how to do it on PC though.
Yeah, I am on a Mac. Thanks for the info, I just have an iTunes library of about 100 gigs on my Mac hard drive...re-ripping this much music is no small undertaking. Thankfully it is winter!
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post #6 of 15
1/18/10 at 8:11pm
All you need to do is import them in AAC, change the import settings to Apple Lossless, then import them again (don't click "yes" if it asks you want to replace the existing files.)

You'll need to change some playlists so you don't for instance get a lot of files that won't transfer to an mp3 player.

I prefer Apple Lossless just because I'm locked into itunes But apart from iPods I can't find any good players that support Apple Lossless! Why oh why doesn't Sony do it I don't know...
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post #7 of 15
1/18/10 at 9:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nc8000 View Post
You can maintain several libraries in iTunes by (I think it is) holding down the SHIFT key when you start iTunes so could have one for alac and one for aac and then just ripping the cd's twice. That is probably the simplest way. Otherwise you have to get into ripping to alac and then transcoding to aac and copy files manually.
IMHO this is the way to go. By keeping the files in separate libraries, I avoid confusion. You can rip once to Apple Lossless, and then import the Lossless files to your 320 library and convert them down. I think that would be faster than ripping twice.
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post #8 of 15
1/18/10 at 9:14pm
I usually rip a bunch of albums in lossless, and then convert to AAC. No real need to rip twice. Just change the import settings to AAC, select everything you just ripped in lossless and the popup menu will have an option to Create AAC Version. Not sure how you get the popup in Mac.

I usually start the conversion right before going to bed so it can do it while I'm not using the computer for anything else.

I also have a smart playlist of lossless added in the last 1 days, which makes it easier to select what you just ripped.

I've done this for 1800 albums so far.
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post #9 of 15
1/18/10 at 9:27pm
On a Mac, just right click the files. There will be a "create an AAC version" option. I totally forgot about that lol, I assumed the OP already had AAC and wanted lossless versions as opposed to the other way round.
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post #10 of 15
1/18/10 at 10:00pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by a_recording View Post
All you need to do is import them in AAC, change the import settings to Apple Lossless, then import them again (don't click "yes" if it asks you want to replace the existing files.)

You'll need to change some playlists so you don't for instance get a lot of files that won't transfer to an mp3 player.

I prefer Apple Lossless just because I'm locked into itunes But apart from iPods I can't find any good players that support Apple Lossless! Why oh why doesn't Sony do it I don't know...
I was under the impression that you do't want to import something in to a "lossy" format and try to convert it into a lossless format? That there is something, sonically, lost in that transition...

I do have most of my files in AAC...and want to upgrade to lossless and back and forth, depending on my storage and sound needs.
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post #11 of 15
1/18/10 at 10:34pm
I rip to lossless first and then either re-rip or create lossy from that. Afterward I use different playlists to keep them straight so that I can transfer to iPods, etc.

Mooch
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post #12 of 15
1/18/10 at 10:36pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the thoughts and advice everyone! Keep it coming!
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post #13 of 15
1/18/10 at 11:21pm
Just remember, you can always sort by type of file in itunes.
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post #14 of 15
1/19/10 at 12:07am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tarkovsky7 View Post
Just remember, you can always sort by type of file in itunes.
How do you do that?
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post #15 of 15
1/19/10 at 12:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by uncle b View Post
How do you do that?
Display the column and click on the header.

I keep things straight by using smart playlists though.

A lossless playlist with Type contains lossless
A lossy playlist with Type does not contain lossless and Playlist is Music

Playlist is Music is important. Otherwise you get Podcasts and videos in the playlist.

I have 20 or so Smart Playlists, both for playback and organization.
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