[Pinnipeds]

Hi guys,

I'm going through the task of ripping my CD's to FLAC on a Mac in preparation of getting a Sansa Fuze (which won't take AAC iTunes files).

How I do it is, I rip my CD on iTunes in a AIFF format, then convert it with FLACer, then put it into Songbird (I know that Songbird won't really effect anything, I'm just putting in the whole process).

Will this be true FLAC sound, or will it still be a lossly format coming from AIFF? (is this a lossly or lossless format?)

Also, is there an easier way to rip CD's into FLAC on a Mac?

Thanks,

-Pinnpeds

 

[Currawong]

AIFF is a lossless format. Make sure you have error correction switched on in iTunes. Max might be able to do direct rips, as it converts any common audio formats.

 

[slytown]

I used Max and ripped direct to my Songbird folder as FLAC. Others have suggested using EAC but I think Max works just fine.

 

[Pinnipeds]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slytown /img/forum/go_quote.gif I used Max and ripped direct to my Songbird folder as FLAC. Others have suggested using EAC but I think Max works just fine.

I'm converting right now using Max

2 down, ??? to go!

 

[krmathis]

AIFF do not introduce data loss, so your FLAC files are true lossless.
As for easier ways to rip into FLAC, check out:
Rip from sbooth.org
Max from sbooth.org
X Lossless Decoder

 

[etiolate]

i use XLD. it's really nice and fast and works well. in preferences for XLD, you can choose how many CPU threads the program uses. so, if you just wanna convert a bunch of files while leaving the computer idle, max out the threads and the CPU will convert a bunch at a time (up to 16 at a time for me, but I can't do anything else while uses all the threads).

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by etiolate /img/forum/go_quote.gif i use XLD. it's really nice and fast and works well. in preferences for XLD, you can choose how many CPU threads the program uses. so, if you just wanna convert a bunch of files while leaving the computer idle, max out the threads and the CPU will convert a bunch at a time (up to 16 at a time for me, but I can't do anything else while uses all the threads).

One thread per cpu (or cpu core) is all you need to set. Any more will have no benefit. The reason your computer ends up un-usable is probably due to disk I/O being heavily loaded.

 

[etiolate]

I understand how it works... (I'm an electrical engineer). I was just commenting that you CAN commit extra threads to the program if you want. That is, if you don't plan on doing anything else on the computer (ie, you want to convert a bunch of files overnight or something), might as well convert 16 at a time. I think 16 is overload, but I bet 4 threads wouldn't bottleneck the hdd I/O... If you're running SATA that's like 3 gb/sec if I'm not mistaken. The bottleneck is only using one CPU thread.