[Mediahound]

I'm about to place an order from HDTracks and am wondering which file format I should choose. 
 
On my Mac I mostly play Apple Lossless files (ALAC) when I rip from CDs into iTunes.
 
I do have XLD, which is an app that can convert FLAC files to ALAC or AIFF.  
 
Would there be any difference between me purchasing FLAC files (or AIFF files) and then converting them to ALAC, versus just purchasing the ALAC files directly to begin with?

 

[MrScratch]

It won't make any difference.
In lossless to lossless conversion you will always get the same exact copy of the file.
I would avoid AIFF as it is a lossless and uncompressed file format, it will just take longer to download the same exact files you could get with FLACs. If you are planning to convert these files to ALAC for iTunes/iOS use just download the files in the m4a format, it will save you some time.
 
The only advantage I see here in using XLD is its ability to re-tag all the files in just a few clicks.

 

[Mediahound]

Quote:

It won't make any difference.
In lossless to lossless conversion you will always get the same exact copy of the file.
I would avoid AIFF as it is a lossless and uncompressed file format, it will just take longer to download the same exact files you could get with FLACs. If you are planning to convert these files to ALAC for iTunes/iOS use just download the files in the m4a format, it will save you some time.
 
The only advantage I see here in using XLD is its ability to re-tag all the files in just a few clicks.

Thanks for the info., ALAC it is. 

 

[scottcocoabeach]

I am a MAC user as well but I get all my tracks in FLAC as it seems to be the most universal in general, then I convert to other formats as needed.  My Denon receiver can play back flac files as well as a number of streaming devices, and then I can convert for the MAC stuff.  As long as it's a lossless format and you are using a good converter it shouldn't matter to much.  I ripped my whole collection some time back into FLAC so that's another reason I went with that file format.

 

[Mediahound]

Quote:

I am a MAC user as well but I get all my tracks in FLAC as it seems to be the most universal in general, then I convert to other formats as needed.  My Denon receiver can play back flac files as well as a number of streaming devices, and then I can convert for the MAC stuff.  As long as it's a lossless format and you are using a good converter it shouldn't matter to much.  I ripped my whole collection some time back into FLAC so that's another reason I went with that file format.

Yeah, i downloaded the XLD app, which can convert the FLAC files to ALAC. 
 
My only issue is that since I don't play FLAC regularly, it seems like a bit of a waste to build up a separate folder to store them all on my Mac.