[Uncledan]

Hi, since I stored more than 1000 CDs right now and I plan to rip them all to my computer, any suggestion of digital format I should use which gives the best sound quailty? Also, which program is the best to doing it?
I don't want to waste my time to do it all over again in future....

thx

 

[krmathis]

Sound quality wise any lossless audio codec will do.
Apple Lossless, FLAC, WavPack, LA, Monkey's Audio, Shorten, ...

For maximum software/hardware compatibility I recommend you go for Apple Lossless of FLAC.


Regarding programs, you don't mention you OS so its a shoot in the dark.
I use and highly recommend Max myself, so if you have a supported system I recommend you give it a go.

 

[Uncledan]

I am using MS Vista.

I heard that Apple Lossless is pretty good and same as FLAC, can I use FLAC in my ipod?

thx

 

[krmathis]

^ No, the iPod's don't support FLAC. Apple Lossless works fine though..

 

[Gollie]

Apple Lossless wins...

For my CD's that I know I will probably want to go in my ipod I just rip them twice. I do most of my listening through Flac > Foobar.

 

[nightfishing]

I agree with the recommendation of going lossless (I would go FLAC, but ALAC is fine).

What I WOULDN'T do is use lossless on an iPod.

Rip to lossless for archive and to mp3/mp4 for use on the ipod.

Lossless offers ZERO advantages when played on a portable and has many negatives.

 

[vegaman]

All my rips are done in EAC following jiGGafellz guide
That makes sure you have everything set up nicely and get perfect rips.
I'm not sure of the best method of going to ALAC is though... perhaps ripping to WAV then importing to iTunes, or to FLAC then running it through dbpoweramp (similar to what I do, but I use Max on my Mac for an ALAC copy)... Or dbpoweramps ripper (also a good one) should be able rip to ALAC.

 

[xxbaker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nightfishing /img/forum/go_quote.gif I agree with the recommendation of going lossless (I would go FLAC, but ALAC is fine). What I WOULDN'T do is use lossless on an iPod. Rip to lossless for archive and to mp3/mp4 for use on the ipod. Lossless offers ZERO advantages when played on a portable and has many negatives.

I wouldn't agree with this. it does offer advantages, they may be small and insignificant to you, but I wouldn't state that so absolutely. I will agree that for most people high bitrate mp3s are a far better choice.

 

[Hottentott]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vegaman /img/forum/go_quote.gif All my rips are done in EAC following jiGGafellz guide That makes sure you have everything set up nicely and get perfect rips. I'm not sure of the best method of going to ALAC is though... perhaps ripping to WAV then importing to iTunes, or to FLAC then running it through dbpoweramp (similar to what I do, but I use Max on my Mac for an ALAC copy)... Or dbpoweramps ripper (also a good one) should be able rip to ALAC.

Same here

 

[jonathanjong]

x3 on archiving in lossless and playing in mp3 or aac or summin.

 

[nismohks]

+1 on Flac on foobar, then Lame VBR for ipod

 

[nismohks]

hard drives are damn cheap now, so you can easily afford to have 2 separate sources of music

1000CDs + 700MB each = 700 000MB = 700GB

it's really not as much as it seems, and thats taking into consideration the maximum ceiling of 700MB per cd also.

 

[Detritusdave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nismohks /img/forum/go_quote.gif hard drives are damn cheap now, so you can easily afford to have 2 separate sources of music 1000CDs + 700MB each = 700 000MB = 700GB it's really not as much as it seems, and thats taking into consideration the maximum ceiling of 700MB per cd also.

Agreed - with hd prices so low, I don't see why some people have a prob with storing in a non-lossless format.... why limit your options?? And the 700 gb/1000 cd's ratio is much less if you compress to a lossless format...

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxbaker /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wouldn't agree with this. it does offer advantages, they may be small and insignificant to you, but I wouldn't state that so absolutely. I will agree that for most people high bitrate mp3s are a far better choice.

I totally agree!
Lossless certainly don't have "ZERO advantages when played on a portable". On a high quality portable rig its more than possible to hear a difference between lossy and lossless encoded audio. Most people are perfectly fine with a well encoded lossy file though (iTunes AAC, LAME MP3, ... at ~192Kbps).

 

[Oliver :)]

Another vote for ALAC in the given environment. 1000 CDs should end you up a at round about 350-400GB so get two drives of at least 500GB, one to rip to and one to clone/backup the first one to once you're done. If you are looking for a nice iIntegrated version of ReplayGain along the way, check out iVolume.