[aamefford]

It looks like at least a few of the Mac / iTunes folks have chimed in here, so this looks like a good spot for this question:
 
I've been ripping my library to Apple Lossless for two or three years now, with mostly excellent success.  On some CD's, the end result will have some significant crackle and "grainy" sounds, almost like worn vinyl crackle in places.  I notice it on male vocals such as the 3 tenors, Andrea Boccelli, etc. mostly.  I originally thought it was some of the well used CD's I'd gotten from the library, and that may be some of it.  I ripped a half dozen virtually new CD's last night, and have spotted the crackle in at least two.  All I did diferent from usual was to have my macbook pro in one of those stands that holds it vertically upright, such that the CD slot is facing up, and rip them in this position.  I can't quite see that causing the issue, either it reads and rips, or it doesn't?  I'll experiment with re-ripping the disks.  I'll also experiment with playback hardwired from macbook pro to dacmagic - currently streaming from mac mini to airport express to dacmagic to dynalo to D7000's.
 
I have noticed the graniness on the speaker rig as well - mac mini to airport express to Peachtree Nova to Fritz Grove towers.
 
Any thoughts or similar experiences? Solutions?  I'm about to head over to the windows side and try out foobar and flac or something, but I'd really rather stay with iTunes and mac, just plain easier.

 

[grokit]

Quote:

It looks like at least a few of the Mac / iTunes folks have chimed in here, so this looks like a good spot for this question:
 
I've been ripping my library to Apple Lossless for two or three years now, with mostly excellent success.  On some CD's, the end result will have some significant crackle and "grainy" sounds, almost like worn vinyl crackle in places.  I notice it on male vocals such as the 3 tenors, Andrea Boccelli, etc. mostly.  I originally thought it was some of the well used CD's I'd gotten from the library, and that may be some of it.  I ripped a half dozen virtually new CD's last night, and have spotted the crackle in at least two.  All I did diferent from usual was to have my macbook pro in one of those stands that holds it vertically upright, such that the CD slot is facing up, and rip them in this position.  I can't quite see that causing the issue, either it reads and rips, or it doesn't?  I'll experiment with re-ripping the disks.  I'll also experiment with playback hardwired from macbook pro to dacmagic - currently streaming from mac mini to airport express to dacmagic to dynalo to D7000's.
 
I have noticed the graniness on the speaker rig as well - mac mini to airport express to Peachtree Nova to Fritz Grove towers.
 
Any thoughts or similar experiences? Solutions?  I'm about to head over to the windows side and try out foobar and flac or something, but I'd really rather stay with iTunes and mac, just plain easier.

It could be part of the hardware chain, perhaps the toslink cable between the Express and the Nova. Did you have error correction activated when ripping? Streaming with the Express, there could be network issues at play as well.

 

[Skylab]

Did you go back and confirm that the distortion you've heard was not on the CD's themselves?  Every now and again I will hear what sounds like clipping distortion on my Lossless rips, but every time I have gone back to the CD's to check, that clipping distortion was present on the original CD.  There is a lot more of that these days than there used to be, as recordings have fought the :loudness wars and the signal level on them pushes digital full-scale.

 

[aamefford]

Good points. I think I need to a/b with cd and ripped file directly from computer, then with streaming vs cd vs computer to see if it is a cd issue, ripping issue or streaming issue. I guess otherwise I risk fixing something unrelated to the problem. Thanks! I'm happy to hear further comments as well.

 

[yosemitesamiam]

I have to say...lossless sounds much better anything I have heard through the built in speakers on my iPhone 3GS. Just sayin'!

Lol. Ok. Couldnt resist. Off to bed.

 

[Destroysall]

Don't mean to re-bump an year old thread, but I did want to share that I use a PC and use iTunes with WASAPI enabled.  I also use both ALAC and AIFF files as of now and I love it!  I did use FLAC and did notice a few differences, but I prefer iTunes and have stuck with it.  =P