Converting ALAC to 320KBPS AAC. Same quality as CD > 320 AAC? - Page 2

 

Yeah they don't seem to care too much about open source... they like to keep stuff as closed as possible.

 

I would just think that by now they would at least have a FLAC converter for when you put songs into an ipod. I would have bought one if that was the case, because they are well built and very nice PMPs, but I instead went with another brand.

 

Ah that makes sense.

 

My PMP has 100+ hours of battery life so that's no big deal for me. Although if it runs out of batteries it can die for good due to ****ty engineering....

 

What is this magical device and how many kidneys would they take for one?

 

 

I can't see the 256 option though. Is the default for the mass convert option VBR?

I'm referring to FLAC, do they let you do that? I thought you had to hack itunes just to give it FLAC support.

 

Once you get to 320 cbr then vbr offers no tangible sq improvements.

Just a way to save space without losing any sound quality. 320 VBR AAC in iTunes is actually ABR, so it outputs really large and transparent stuff. 

Cowon X7.

 

They're like $350 I think for 160GB.

 

But seriously if you get one do not let your battery die... I left mine on sleep mode for like a month which slowly drained it, and it took me a few days to get it back on. Some people don't have such good luck and it never turns back on.

Ah. I like BBE, and it's actually cheaper than a Classic with a HD upgrade. That battery life sounds insane as well. Any reason why it would freeze like that though?

 

Oh, snap, Post #666! Must..not..ruin...perfect..number...must...stop..posting...

I have no idea, but fortunately it's really easy to prevent the battery from never dying. 

 

For the space you get they're a pretty good deal. They've probably got the best sound quality, and definitely the best amplification out of any PMP that I know of, and support nearly all file formats(ALAC can be iffy, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't). Their only flaws are the whole dying with the battery thing, the touch screen can be wonky, and they're HDD based so browsing through album art is too slow and the boot up time takes a little while. Plus it's pretty big, but that can be a pro if you're watching movies on it.

 

How's the screen look? From what I see, the stated resolution is a bit on the low side, not that it matters on a DAP, but if the colours aren't bright or sharp enough, it might be a hassle to see/navigate, what with all those different light sources when you're outside. And is it a "thigh-killer", with really sharp edges or anything of the sort? 

It has smoothed out edges.

 

It's screen looks fine, good contrast and brightness. Not the highest resolution though, yeah. However, they made a VERY poor design decision with the shortcuts menu. It's WAY too dim, you wouldn't be able to see it in the sun. They did this because the shortcuts are a normal amount of brightness if you remove them from the main menus.. so that you know that you can drag and drop the bright one's to the pages. Really bad design decision on their part, and most people are under the impression that it's just a quality control mess up.

 

Navigation takes a little bit to get used to. Definitely not the best, but it's fine once you learn it.

Hmm, definitely looks interesting. Either this or the Z2 at this point for me probably.

 

Love how we strayed way off OT though.  

FLAC is not known to be open source. Many believe that parts of the FLAC codec are, in fact, protected intellectual property, and those properties' owner(s) are waiting for a major manufacturer to infringe on those patents so the owners can sue. Since suing Apple appears to be a somewhat viable business model, Apple are wise to avoid FLAC (and, similarly, Vorbis) support until such time that its open source status can be fully verified.