As far as I know, Apple Lossless is a compressed format (if it was not, the files would be the same size as the original), but compressed with NO loss of audio information (as the name says). In other words, it's compressed, but not reduced. So if you expand an Apple Lossless file back to either WAV or AIFF, you get a file identical to the original.

Regarding the appropriate AAC rate, it depends on your iPod's capacity and your collection's size. You can roughly go by "1 minute = 1MB" at a 128 rate. So a 160GB iPod would hold almost 2000 CDs at 80 minutes playing time.

handstand, July 20, 2008; 9:01 AM

cool. thank you for the help.

btw I also posted this on the apple discussion board. got no help but some guy told me I can't
own digital copies of CD's and sell the original CD's. that it is stealing if they are no longer mine.

gcowhey, July 20, 2008; 9:57 AM

hi,
I use APE or FLAC for backing up my CDs on DVD+-Rs. I use Microsoft Windows XP as operating system so I do not know if this is available also for MACs. APE or FLAC are lossless compressions (1:2 ratio). I use Winamp to play APE or FLAC files. APE and FLAC are freeware and very easy to use. I use EAC for copying audio data to my harddrive. EAC can also compress audio tracks directly into APE files without copying the tracks onto an HDD first.
take care!

red.bprd, July 20, 2008; 12:30 PM

would you rate them better than apple's lossless or equal to it?

gcowhey, July 20, 2008; 12:42 PM

"would you rate them better than apple's lossless or equal to it?"

I don't know since I don't have any experience with apple lossless. however, if it is lossless, I think it does the job. the question is the compression ratio. but you can judge for yourself. rip one track, check its capacity and compare it to the apple lossless file capacity after compression. or do a complete album, any.
one thing: do a .cue file (with EAC for example). the cue file saves track details such as pauses between tracks etc.

take care!


red.bprd, July 20, 2008; 5:51 PM

Thanks everyone.

gcowhey, July 20, 2008; 8:42 PM

I realize that I'm a bit late responding to this topic, but I wanted to chime in because I back up a lot of my soundtracks and
have done a ton of research on the matter.

First : yes apple lossless is indeed CD quality, so no degradation like AAC or mp3. However, I much prefer FLAC. It is open-
source (the code is available for anyone to use and peer review, so to speak) and it is platform neutral - works with Mac OS X,
Windows, Linux, etc. It also has the ability to "self-verify" so you could easily check if a file has become corrupted along the
way. Apple Lossless is a proprietary codec, as it is obviously owned by Apple. I really don't want to encode in a format tied to
one company when I want to archive long term.

FLAC has many GUI front-ends. I'm not sure what platform you are using, but I could use the following programs on my Mac
G5 running OS X: Xact, MAX, and X Lossless Encoder. All could import CD's (with a much better ripping engine than itunes
called cdparanoia) and all could convert and decode FLAC files. On Windows, I hear that Foobar2000 is the way to go. Also,
Window has this wonderful program called EAC (Exact Audio Copy). Since you are archiving, you really need a bit-perfect clone
of the original. Foobar is also a ripper, but I'm not sure if it utilizes EAC. In any case, EAC is a *must* for Windows users.

Neither itunes nor ipod could play or convert using FLAC, but there are plenty of good Flac players for all platforms. You could
also edit the Flac files "metadata," so the album, composer, label, etc, are embedded into the file. This is optional, of course.
Either way, the FLAC files are an exact clone of the .wav you input.

This is how I archive my (often pricey) Spaghetti Western soundtracks: First, I open the disc using itunes. Itunes usually
fetches the disc's information unless it is really obscure. If not, manually add all the information you like. I set itunes
preferences to import using the AAC encoder. 256 should be fine. I then create a playlist with the disc's name. You'll see the
CD and the playlist in the itunes sidebar. Simply drag and drop the CD icon onto the playlist and importing begins automatically.
When done, you could drag the playlist directly on to the IPOD, which, if connected, is also in the sidebar. So now you have the
music from the CD in both your ipod and itunes in a lossy format.

Now, to the true archiving. Depending on your operating system, find a program with a ripper that guarantees a bit perfect
clone of the source CD. Like I said, EAC is wonderful when it comes to this. It produces an extensive log that details the ripping
process. It would note any flaws that may occur from a scratched disc or imperfect rip. EAC also performs error correction. Save
the log into the folder that contains the ripped wav files. Use Foobar to convert these wav files to flac. I use level 8 compression
because it is the highest level (ie, smallest files). However, the higher the compression level, the longer it takes. Verify the
integrity, and once satisfied, delete the wav files. I normally find a jpeg of the album cover and throw it into the folder with the
flac files and log of the rip.

Note that there are programs that can save you some steps. For instance, Max (on os x) can rip straight to Flac (and possibly
AAC at the same time, so you need to rip only once). I can't test it cause I use a Mac, but I bet foobar could 1. rip 2. encode to
both flac and aac simultaneously 3. create a log file all in one step. If this is the case, all you need to do is drag the AAC files
onto the ipod icon in the sidebar of itunes and your portable needs are set! Also, you wouldn't need to use the itunes ripper if
you go this route. I'm sure the itunes ripper does a solid job, but I personally need to see a log that ensures that the rip had no
flaws.

Sorry about the length of this novel, but I'm (obviously!) a strong believer in creating a *bit perfect* clone of our precious
soundtracks . One thing I noticed about soundtrack collectors -- they'd spend hundreds of dollars and travel the globe for a CD,
yet when it comes to backing it up, they choose the easy route. Please...no messages telling me that perfection isn't necessary
and especially no posts telling me that there is no difference in sound quality between high bitrate lossy files and lossless. I
didn't write all this to debate the difference between lossy and lossless -- I wrote it for people who are serious about their
archival backups and offer my opinion in which lossless format they should use. Please go here to view all the lossless options
and their pros and cons: http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Lossless_comparison.

The original poster is likely long gone, but I hope this is useful to some people. If anyone has any questions, you can post here.
I've never posted here (I honestly don't even remember my user name, or if notifications are sent if someone responds to this
thread or sends me messages through this site). Okay, I just made my email addy "visible" so you are welcome to get in touch
if this site doesn't automatically notify members if someone responds to a posting. Apologies if my writing is crappy and /or
unclear -- I'm very, very tired.

best,

Anthony

ratcatcher, August 26, 2008; 4:25 AM