Hello everyone,
Since using this wonderful device with my Sony 1am2 and Sony WI-1000x, I finally have a hi res on-the-go and home listening setup! The home sound system doesn’t exit yet lol but I hope to start that this year too.
I’ve exclusively used iTunes out of ease being that I have a MacBook Pro and an iPhone. But, I have a handful of AIFF albums purchased via Bandcamp and HDTracks and just purchased two FLAC albums for the first to truly have hi res audio while saving space. The FLAC sound is IMMACULATE - the album I can really hear the difference in is Sampha’s “Process” (2017). I had the MP3 purchased via Google Music before. My gawd, how much more do I love this album now that I can actually FEEL it!!!!!
The problem is - I’m still trying to wrap my head around audio codecs and Mac compatibility. I’ve been reading off and on about these subjects and I’m slowly getting a grasp of it. Still gray in lots of areas - especially since my CD collection was downloaded as ALAC and at 48khz (I don’t remember why I did that). I’ve kinda been suckered into desiring the eye candy of seeing the HR symbol on some of these tracks on the A55 and now I want to re-download my CDs to maintain the highest quality while also saving space on my hard drive and microSD card that’s in the A55.
Based on a rec from one of y’all that I saw one one of these threads, I downloaded an audio converter software (the name escapes me - currently writing this post on my phone) and that’s what I used to write the tags for those FLAC albums I purchased, hence why I actually purchased them as FLAC in the first place. Me likes it! I NEED to see album art and have ALL accurate tags for my music. It’s something that soothes and satisfies my brain when I’m able to oogle at album art and listen to music. That’s why last week, after hours of frustrating Googling, I learned of and chose do try a free trial of Aurdivana since I still have a way to look and listen.
I was able to upload my entire library via iTunes and did basic visual customizations. For some odd reason, I tried to open it again last night after not using it for like 3 days to see if and how it reads CDs but it wanted me to purchase the full version weeks before my free trial will be over :/ so I’m going to contact customer support tomorrow.
Question - what music management app do you use on your Macs? I installed the free version VOX - looks cute but apparently I can’t burn CDs and I think I’m very limited since I just have the free version. I also downloaded VLC but... ehh.
But, I digress. What should I do to make sure I have gotten as much quality ripped from my CDs? What format is the best overal for my needs? Is it FLAC since I want to save space but also maintain hi res sound? Should I purchase the full version of Audirvana?
Super important question also - can someone also explain what and how Sony’s DAP categorizes hi res audio? What is it about the file that makes it so? What are the musics’ “numbers” that determine it’s hi res-iness? Lol
FYI, I don’t stream but if I do eventually want to stream, what apps should I download to also access my full library and maintain quality? I understand that I’ll most likely have to use the A55 as a DAC for my iPhone.
Thank you for your patience and understanding that I may have a bunch of redundant questions and thank you all so much again for any input. It’s much appreciated!!!
- Mesha
