[ferday]

.m4a is just a container, ALAC files are stored inside, as are AAC files. You can check properties to verify they are ALAC files, which are lossless and just the same as FLAC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lossless

 

[curtisngl]

This is so weird. The files are m4a, aka MPEG- audio layer 4, but when I open them iTunes or look at properties, they're 128kbps and iTunes opens them as AAC files. I know the FLACs I'm converting from are 320kbps. They converted to high quality mp3s fine.

 

[curtisngl]

I know AAC is better, but it's lossy and the quality is low at 128kbps

 

[ferday]

This is so weird. The files are m4a, aka MPEG- audio layer 4, but when I open them iTunes or look at properties, they're 128kbps and iTunes opens them as AAC files. I know the FLACs I'm converting from are 320kbps. They converted to high quality mp3s fine.

True ripped Flac are normally much higher bitrate than 320. If iTunes opens them as AAC then they are AAC, not ALAC. The converter is doing something wrong.

AAC are also stored in m4a containers, that's why you need to check the files

 

[Byrnie]

   
My own ALAC files are all .m4a. According to the wiki page and several other sites ALAC files should be .m4a
 
I tried renaming several of my ALAC files to .alac and I can't drag them into iTunes as well. .m4a worked fine though. 

Ahh ok my mistake then.

 

[curtisngl]

True ripped Flac are normally much higher bitrate than 320. If iTunes opens them as AAC then they are AAC, not ALAC. The converter is doing something wrong.

AAC are also stored in m4a containers, that's why you need to check the files

Possibly it is. It opened them as AAC only when they were m4a, and the m4a files had low bittate. I'll have to investigate further. Maybe if I don't convert as same nitrate and all that and put it to convert at all highest settings it will work. I'll try it tomorrow after I play with my new headphones first

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I know FLAC files are the best for sound quality, but I can't get iTunes to open any as FLACs. For the time being I converted them to 320kbps mp3s. I have the default open with iTunes set and I can't drag the files into iTunes either. Help!

 
You can only sync FLAC files through iTunes if you're loading an iDevice using a FLAC-compatible app. On the current iTunes version, this is a baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad idea if you only use one computer. I used iTunes to sync my iPad - FLAC on my music player and PDF copies of academic journals I get through email - off my laptop. Then I updated to iTunes 11, and while playing music in Media Monkey, music stopped and I saw my music going grey and getting bypassed one by one (all this is FLAC). Uninstalled, everything went back to normal. Reinstalled, made sure to again assign a specifci folder for iTunes, and the same Hollywood action scene for hackers started happening again. iTunes knows that they're music files, claims ownership despite the fact that it can't play them because it thinks you should only have one music player and one ecosystem or you won't pass your evaluation for thetin levels or something then some alien in a volcano will bring Jobs back to life and judge all humanity at the end times.

Deleted iTunes for good on my laptop, and now, not only have I clogged my gaming desktop rig with a folder of my music, but I also use that one to copy PDF files into my iPad.

 

[eyal1983]

I used DBPowerAmp music converter to convert from FLAC to M4A when used iTunes for music.. no more, though