[Arion]

Hello, So I just got my setup together (HRT Music streamer II+, Schiit Asgard, and Ultrasone pro 2900) And my question is how do I get all my music from iTunes which is all mp3 to apple lossless files? Is there anyway to do this in the iTunes program or do I need to get another program? Any help will be greatly appreciated so I can start listening to great quality files instead of those not so great mp3's Thanks, Arion

 

[Arion]

Nevermind I found the answer to my question.
But just checking what type of files they are they are all m4a but I am sure that that is still mp3 quality.
Anyway for CD's to Alac should I be using iTunes or should I use another program?

Thanks,
Arion

 

[Jaywalk3r]

M4A could mean AAC, which is similar to MP3, or it could mean Apple Lossless (ALAC), which is similar to FLAC. The easiest way to find out which one:

In iTunes, view your music library.
In the iTunes menu bar, click on View -> View Options…
In the pop-up menu, check "Kind" and click OK.

Now, in the kind column, iTunes will tell whether an M4A file is AAC or Apple Lossless. (You may need to scroll to the right to see the contents of the column.)

iTunes is fine for importing music from CD's. If you want to import in the ALAC format, you will need to specify that in the iTunes preferences. I also recommend using error correction when importing CD's.

For the truly paranoid, a free application called XLD (aka X Lossless Decoder) can be used to rip CDs and verify the ripped files with the AccurateRip database. It will ensure that the rips are perfect, but in practice, this is not typically an issue when ripping with iTunes. XLD is also an excellent application to quickly and easily convert FLAC files to ALAC (actually it will convert to and from many lossless and lossy filetypes).

 

[Sardonyx]

Quote:

Hello, So I just got my setup together (HRT Music streamer II+, Schiit Asgard, and Ultrasone pro 2900) And my question is how do I get all my music from iTunes which is all mp3 to apple lossless files? Is there anyway to do this in the iTunes program or do I need to get another program? Any help will be greatly appreciated so I can start listening to great quality files instead of those not so great mp3's Thanks, Arion

 
Jaywalk3r missed the key part of the question.  Once in mp3 lossy compression, quality can NEVER be improved.  Conversion to a lossless format just makes the file bigger, not better.  Conversion to a different bitrate or lossy format makes the sound quality worse.  (That's in theory, in reality you may or may not hear the difference.)
 
The only thing you can do is buy the CD's and rip those to ALAC.  I suggest getting a few used cd's that represent your favorite genres, and test if you can hear a difference from mp3.  If so, you will have to decide if it is important enough to replace your entire collection. Even if you hear it in ABX testing, where you can switch back and forth, it might not be noticeable in a normal listening setting when you play a song once through without any reference,

 

[Jaywalk3r]

Hello, So I just got my setup together (HRT Music streamer II+, Schiit Asgard, and Ultrasone pro 2900) And my question is how do I get all my music from iTunes which is all mp3 to apple lossless files? Is there anyway to do this in the iTunes program or do I need to get another program? Any help will be greatly appreciated so I can start listening to great quality files instead of those not so great mp3's Thanks, Arion

Jaywalk3r missed the key part of the question.

No, I didn't. :rolleyes: I read the next post, where the opening poster stated, "Nevermind I found the answer to my question," said that his files are all M4A (not MP3, as he had originally thought), and then proceeded to ask, "for CD's to Alac should I be using iTunes or should I use another program?" The question I addressed was the one for which the OP still sought an answer.