iTunes: How to rip and organize two formats, ALAC and 256/320?

[kwitel]

(This is on the heels of a previous post where I decided to start ripping into ALAC and then making a converted file at 256 for my IPOD.)

So I just imported my first CD into iTunes as an ALAC file (the new Coldplay). Then, i changed the setting back to 256 and downconverted the files to 256.
Now, I have two versions of the album back to back, one in ALAC and the other in 256.
The problem is, the number count is 1,1 then 2,2 then 3,3 etc.
How do you seperate your albums and identify which is which?
Also, how do you arrange it so that it doesnt affect the play order (not play song 1 twice, then 2 twice, etc)?
Is there a way for my me to rip all my cds as ALACS, "store" them for archival purposes, yet have them in a seperate "view" from my 256 files??

Essentially id like to have one whole library in ALAC and another in 256, and have the equivalent of two tabs at the top of the screen, allowing me to seemlessly switch back and forth from my ALAC library to my 256 library.

 

[Bones13]

Several methods.

1) rip on 2 computers - one to ALAC, another to AAC (my method, I do lossy on my laptop) You could always rip different directories/disks, and use the option key held down when starting iTunes, it lets you chose the target iTunes library to load for that session.

2) do what you are doing now, only intervene when ripping to add some notation to the file name about ripping method

3) there are some iTunes scripts which will help you develop "smart playlists" that will keep your lossy and lossless directories separate

4) there is a PC product - dbPowerAmp - which will convert your lossless files to lossy at your disgression, even do it on the fly (transcode) when loading your iPod (this takes your ALAC/FLAC file, converts it to MP3/AAC as it stuffs it into your iPod.

All these methods work fine, although they do require more effort. I basically do all my computer listening to ALAC, played back by iTunes, and Foobar on my remaining VistaPC. I use the AAC files for my iPod, and listening on the road with my laptop. The whole laptop hard disk is now smaller than my ALAC directory. My choice is to have a second library with AAC files and have all my music over having to choose which ALAC files to bring every time I head out. (to some degree I have started not putting all music in both directories, finding that there is certain music for certain activities, locations, mainly limiting what goes on the laptop.)

 

[kwitel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bones13 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Several methods. 1) rip on 2 computers - one to ALAC, another to AAC (my method, I do lossy on my laptop) You could always rip different directories/disks, and use the option key held down when starting iTunes, it lets you chose the target iTunes library to load for that session. 2) do what you are doing now, only intervene when ripping to add some notation to the file name about ripping method 3) there are some iTunes scripts which will help you develop "smart playlists" that will keep your lossy and lossless directories separate 4) there is a PC product - dbPowerAmp - which will convert your lossless files to lossy at your disgression, even do it on the fly (transcode) when loading your iPod (this takes your ALAC/FLAC file, converts it to MP3/AAC as it stuffs it into your iPod. All these methods work fine, although they do require more effort. I basically do all my computer listening to ALAC, played back by iTunes, and Foobar on my remaining VistaPC. I use the AAC files for my iPod, and listening on the road with my laptop. The whole laptop hard disk is now smaller than my ALAC directory. My choice is to have a second library with AAC files and have all my music over having to choose which ALAC files to bring every time I head out. (to some degree I have started not putting all music in both directories, finding that there is certain music for certain activities, locations, mainly limiting what goes on the laptop.)

Thanks for the info.
Unfortunately, I dont have two computers-and doesnt that seem incredibly time consuming?
I like option 2 (maybe ill put the number "256" next to the Album name), but I will still have doubles of the artists in the same view, albeit the albums will be different.
For some reason, I have never been able to figure out the whole smart playlist thing. For me it is anything BUT user friendly.

iTunes should have something that just allows you to library switch views which correlate to different directories, at the push of a button or tab. or, better yet, have one library connected to my laptops hardrive while the other is connected to an external HD (that is just velcroed to the back of my laptop).

man, there has to be an easier way...

 

[kilgoretrout]

You could edit the tag and add "Lossless" to the end of the album title. Not a perfect solution, but it's easy to identity which rip is which.

 

[gilency]

I am in the process of doing the same.
The easiest way is to have 2 libraries in 2 different locations.
I am using an external drive for my ALAC library since is quite large.
1. Open iTunes holding the option key down
2. Click create a new library when the options window appear
3. Specify the path for you new library.
4. Voila! When you start iTunes, you can choose either library by holding down the options key.

 

[kwitel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gilency /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am in the process of doing the same. The easiest way is to have 2 libraries in 2 different locations. I am using an external drive for my ALAC library since is quite large. 1. Open iTunes holding the option key down 2. Click create a new library when the options window appear 3. Specify the path for you new library. 4. Voila! When you start iTunes, you can choose either library by holding down the options key.

That all sounds close to ideal.
Which "options" key are you referring to?
Are you ripping CDS twice or converting the ALAC to a lower bitrate?
If the latter, wouldnt it just downconvert the ALAC and make another copy (for example, at 256) in the library you already have open?

 

[gilency]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwitel /img/forum/go_quote.gif That all sounds close to ideal. Which "options" key are you referring to? Are you ripping CDS twice or converting the ALAC to a lower bitrate? If the latter, wouldnt it just downconvert the ALAC and make another copy (for example, at 256) in the library you already have open?

I am re-ripping my CD's again to a new ALAC library.
I have a Mac and hold the option key when starting iTunes.
If you have a PC, hold the shift key when starting iTunes.
As far as how to separate 256 from ALACs using the same library, I am not sure. Have not tried that. I have a lot of old CD's without art work (either in iTunes or when I google it). The ones I don't have I have been scanning then adding to each album. I know, a lot of work, but enjoying it so far. Have a few hundred more CD's left.

Perhaps somebody else can tell us how to do it the way you are asking.

 

[eKT]

You could also create a 'Smart Playlist' and have one of the discriminators as bit rate <=256 that way you will have a listing of only those tracks with the lower bit rate.

 

[Rlynn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eKT /img/forum/go_quote.gif You could also create a 'Smart Playlist' and have one of the discriminators as bit rate <=256 that way you will have a listing of only those tracks with the lower bit rate.

You can also use:

Kind contains Lossless
and
Kind contains aac
or Kind does not contain Lossless

When you are in iTunes, select the playlist instead of "Music".

These playlists can also be used as a qualifier in other smart playlists:
Playlist is Lossless (or whatever you named it.)

You could also have a playlist called "Created Today" where
Date Added is in the last 1 Day. Then after you do a bunch of imports, go to that playlist, select all the tracks and convert to aac.

It's worth reading up and finding examples of smart playlists. They are amazingly useful and one of the reasons I use iTunes.

Hope this helps.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

I'd just use foobar2000 to rip the CD into WAV or FLAC (preferably the latter, because its file size is smaller), and use iTunes to rip the CD into whatever MP3 bitrate you wish.

 

[Nicolas2305]

What I determined to be de the best and fastest way is to import into your preffered lossless format and then use dbPowerAmp to batch-convert into your lossy preffered format. If I am not mistaken dbPowerAmp also organize your music file while converting.

As for the library splitting I go with the following logic:
<format>/<album artist>/<album>/track(named <track number> - <track artist> - <track name>)

each of those between "<>" are informations contained in tags and in order to have all this done correctly you should at first tag all your lossless files properly.

As for organisation you can also use MediaMonkey wich is more user friendly than foobar2000.

 

[carlosgp]

I do not like using 2 different libraries. I mainly use alac files with aac copies for ipod use. Maintaining two libraries with different formats just for the ipod is too complicated for me. I prefer adding an asterisk (*) to the album name in AAC format. An asterisk is not too intrusive and it separates the "copy" album from the "original" one. iTunify may help you with mass renaming inside iTunes.
From time to time, you may search for albums containing a * and delete those you do not want anymore.
I use too smart playlists with a codec filter. For example, you could configure a "CD quality" playlist to select alac albums only.

 

[trickywombat]

To the OP:

Smart playlists are not that bad when you get used to them.

Let's create a smart playlist for lossy or MP3 files. The criteria we'll use is that their bitrate will be below, say, 600 kbps. With a smart playlist, we will gather files with bitrates below 600 kbps.

In iTunes, click on File -> New Smart playlist.
You'll be presented with a dialog box to let you pick the criteria you want for your smart playlist. We will specifiy a bitrate below 600 kbps as shown below:

Click OK, and in the Right panel of iTunes, you can name the playlist (say lossy or MP3, for example). Now every time you add a file to your iTunes library, it automatically appears in this playlist if the bitrate is below 600 kbps. It's "smart".

Note that video files will also appear in the playlist if they fit the bitrate criteria. We can add more rules to exclude video files, but that's a different topic.


Now let's create a playlist for lossless files. I'll assume files with a bitrate greater than or equal to 600 kbps are lossless. The process is the same as above, except I'll have to add another criteria, so I'll click on the (+) plus button to add the second criteria and, importantly,
change the "Match ____ of the followiing" to "any".

Files with the following criteria are automatically added to this new smart playlist, which you can call Lossless
Bitrate > 600 kbps
OR
Bitrate = 600 kbps


More examples of smart playlists can be found here:
Lifehacker Top 10: Top 10 iTunes Smart Playlists
Revenge of the Smart Playlist: 5 tricks for packrats & power users | 43 Folders


If you want to have a visual indication of what is lossless, you can provide a cue in the album art - for example, album art for Lossless files can have a red border.

Hope I wasn't too confusing.

 

[Oliver :)]

I second the notion of employing smart playlists for the given endeavour. It is easy and painless. Then you just need to get away from the idea to browse iTunes from the main "library" window locally. Just use the playlist collecting lossless instead, it will look & feel just the same.

 

[krmathis]

I see to ways to achieve this:
1. Use two Libraries (press and hold "Alt" while launching iTunes).
2. Using two smart playlists (filter by "Kind" (aka codec)). One for ALAC and one for lossless (MP3 or AAC).