Ripping 24-bit CDs (Reference Recordings) on a Mac
Oct 27, 2013 at 4:22 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 11
vkalia

vkalia

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Hi guys -
 
Need some help on the best way to rip 24-bit CDs on a Mac to ALAC.  I am using XLD, and in the "options" settings for ALAC, I have chosen to rip at the same sample rate and bit depth as the original.
 
However, when I play back the file on VLC to test, it is showing as 16 bit/44.1k Hz.
 
I could manually select the bit depth and sample rate, I suppose, but I dont always know what it is for a CD, and it would be quite tedious to have to keep looking it up.
 
Does anyone have any suggestions?
 
Thanks!
 
Oct 27, 2013 at 4:44 AM Post #2 of 11
vkalia said:
  Hi guys -
 
Need some help on the best way to rip 24-bit CDs on a Mac to ALAC.  I am using XLD, and in the "options" settings for ALAC, I have chosen to rip at the same sample rate and bit depth as the original.
 
However, when I play back the file on VLC to test, it is showing as 16 bit/44.1k Hz.
 
I could manually select the bit depth and sample rate, I suppose, but I dont always know what it is for a CD, and it would be quite tedious to have to keep looking it up.
 
Does anyone have any suggestions?
 
Thanks!
Click to expand...

 
Hmmm.. Red book CD's ... those are always 16bit/44.1kHz so there's no reason for to try make 24-bit rips from them.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Disc_Digital_Audio
 
If you really want to convert your16-bit rips into 24-bit just grap some software for to do it.
jiiteepee
 
Oct 27, 2013 at 8:22 AM Post #3 of 11
Doh.  I was confusing 24-bit mastering with the belief that the RR CDs were recorded in something higher than 16/44.1.  
 
Dont really feel a need to upsample to 24-bit or higher, if the recording itself is 16/44.1.
 
Oct 27, 2013 at 9:11 AM Post #4 of 11
Oct 27, 2013 at 2:16 PM Post #5 of 11
Arent Reference Recordings HDCDs?  
 
However, Wiki has this to say:
"HDCD encodes the equivalent of 20 bits worth of data in a 16-bit digital audio signal by using custom dithering, audio filters, and some reversible amplitude and gain encoding; Peak Extend, which is a reversible soft limiter and Low Level Range Extend, which is a reversible gain on low-level signals. There is thus a benefit at the expense of a very minor increase in noise"
 
So it really is a 16-bit recording after all?
 
Nov 2, 2013 at 5:24 PM Post #8 of 11
vkalia said:
Arent Reference Recordings HDCDs?  


However, Wiki has this to say:


"HDCD encodes the equivalent of 20 bits worth of data in a 16-bit digital audio signal by using custom dithering, audio filters, and some reversible amplitude and gain encoding; Peak Extend, which is a reversible soft limiter and Low Level Range Extend, which is a reversible gain on low-level signals. There is thus a benefit at the expense of a very minor increase in noise"


So it really is a 16-bit recording after all?
Click to expand...

 
With the right software, e.g. dBpoweramp, you can extract the 20-bit audio stream from an HDCD rip.
 
Nov 3, 2013 at 12:23 AM Post #9 of 11
Anyone know of a Mac equivalent that does this?
 
Nov 3, 2013 at 5:36 PM Post #10 of 11
vkalia said:
  Anyone know of a Mac equivalent that does this?
Click to expand...

There may be one out there, but if there is, I am unaware of it. I believe it is possible to run hdcd.exe under wine. The issue is that HDCD is a Microsoft tech, and they like to keep it a feature of Windows, and while I think hdcd.exe was compiled for other platforms, release was kept limited and on the hush-hush, because of MS restrictions.
 
Nov 3, 2013 at 10:48 PM Post #11 of 11
Ah ok, thanks.  I'm going to have to commandeer a friend's Windoze machine for this, then. 
 
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