Apple Lossless for Archival Purposes?

[TMusic]

So I've downloaded EAC and tried to set it up to rip into FLAC files but to be honest, using itunes and ripping to Apple Lossless is so much easier.

I've read that lossless is lossless, but am I losing out on anything by using itunes to rip for archival purposes? It's so much easier ripping this way and loading to my 80GB ipod.

Thoughts?

 

[HipHopScribe]

You're missing out on the error correction done by EAC, so there is a greater chance that you'll end up with ripping errors, especially if your CDs aren't in perfect condition.

 

[ingwe]

I'm also interested in this as I'm about to do a ton of needle-drop rips.

 

[Pangaea]

I have almost a TB of apple lossless. Wouldn't have it any other way. Easy, sounds great. But each his own.

 

[NiceCans]

Since you said you had trouble setting up EAC + Flac, may I suggest J.River Media Jukebox, a free program that will Rip using "Secure Rip" mode and encode to FLAC right out of the box? BTW it will also sync your iPod.

 

[LnxPrgr3]

What kind of shape are your CDs in?

I have no qualms about using iTunes to rip personally, though I have run into some trouble getting it to produce a clean rip from my more badly damaged CDs. Then again, past a point, not even EAC can help you

 

[penger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiceCans /img/forum/go_quote.gif Since you said you had trouble setting up EAC + Flac, may I suggest J.River Media Jukebox, a free program that will Rip using "Secure Rip" mode and encode to FLAC right out of the box? BTW it will also sync your iPod.

But iPods don't play FLAC... are you assuming one as been rockbox'ed?

 

[NiceCans]

Quote:

Originally Posted by penger /img/forum/go_quote.gif But iPods don't play FLAC... are you assuming one as been rockbox'ed?

perhaps, but if not then the software I mentioned will transcode on-the-fly as it syncs

actually not being an iPod user, I kinda overlooked the lack of flac support on the iPod

 

[TMusic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LnxPrgr3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif What kind of shape are your CDs in? I have no qualms about using iTunes to rip personally, though I have run into some trouble getting it to produce a clean rip from my more badly damaged CDs. Then again, past a point, not even EAC can help you

A lot of my cds are in poor shape, but I have been purchasing new ones as needed.

I did add rockbox to the ipod but after my configuration problems (with EAC and FLAC) I figured it would be easier to use the Apple lossless. My three children keep me very busy so time is very precious.

 

[Zanth]

There is always dbpoweramp. Easier to use than EAC and has error correction as well as comparing to other rips to see how far off yours was. It won't do the coolio offsets that EAC does but it is a very close second (and some say even better than EAC).

Personally I use EAC and follow this:

http://www2.firehose.us:81/~jiggafellz/eac/index.html

 

[HipHopScribe]

With a lot of CDs in poor shape, you'll definitely want to stick to program with error correction, like EAC or dbpoweramp.

 

[jjhatfield]

This is a personal choice that every digital music user has to make. I went the FLAC route, because I didn't want to be married to a proprietary file type.

As far as your ripper goes, I strongly advise you to use some program that employs error correction. A couple of others have been mentioned here if EAC (my choice) doesn't work out for you.

Good luck!

 

[dvessel]

FYI, there's a checkbox in iTunes for error correction.

Preferences > Advanced > Importing > *error correction*

I keep it off myself but it's there.

 

[pcf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMusic /img/forum/go_quote.gif So I've downloaded EAC and tried to set it up to rip into FLAC files but to be honest, using itunes and ripping to Apple Lossless is so much easier. I've read that lossless is lossless, but am I losing out on anything by using itunes to rip for archival purposes? It's so much easier ripping this way and loading to my 80GB ipod. Thoughts?

I agree.
I ripped all my cds with iTunes into my harddrive and put some of them to my ipod. It's so much easier than using EAC.
A lot of people say that ripping with iTunes is a bad idea and EAC is much better but I can't hear the difference even when I use my speaker system.

-Paul

 

[monolith]

I rip with EAC for optimal accuracy (it's not "archiving" if you're not getting accurate rips, audibly different or not), then convert to ALAC (which is just as good for archiving a given wav as FLAC) with dbpoweramp's batch file-converter.

If I ever need to go back to FLAC I can simply convert back from the ALACs.