[undertow]

Hi,

Okay so I have Itunes which originally was used for portable music on Ipod etc... of course. I need some help.

I am looking to take this library and move it over to a high grade server type application. A few issues I can see beginning with the fact there are a few file types in the library ranging from AAC, MPEG, and AIFF.

Here are my Questions :

#1- Itunes has options to convert files even the MPEG(low rez) back up to AIFF and WAV(hi rez). I realize WAV, AIFF, and FLAC are your best options for sound quality. Unfortunately not all of these files are in these formats as some were ripped directly to the lower formats from disc. Am I screwed being forced to re-rip these discs directly to WAV? Or is the conversion up from the lower res files going to restore the same quality the AIFF, WAV etc... would provide without having to rip directly from disc again?

# 2- I have also seen arguments for file conversion stating Itunes is no good even for this and most recommend "dbpoweramp"? Is it really necessary to  use a better program for these conversions if they are even worth doing from low rez back up to hi rez?

# 3-  From what I can tell .Wav files are the rawest most bit for bit quality files. I also am reading that AIFF and FLAC are the same just a different format.
Is WAV the best way to go if I use something like Jriver or even Itunes for that matter in sound quality? Or is AIFF that I have most of these files in going to perform the same vs. converting back to WAV? I do understand going from AIFF to WAV for example is fine no loss.

# 4- I can go into the main media file in the existing itunes and find all the raw music files as regular windows files. First off is there a way to just select this main media file and drop them into some program for a mass conversion to the final WAV format to get them all finalized going into something like Jriver? In Itunes I can go in and convert files with the main interface of course, however this is only going to work going into each album separate. Not the most efficient for a couple hundred albums.

#5- To move the Itunes media file which is all just windows standard files anyway can I just that whole file with all converted WAV files on a large enough external drive to then drop into a new Jriver file or something on the new music server?

Hope this was not too confusing as I guess anybody that knows what they are doing can understand pretty clearly.

Furthermore, I am really hoping I am not stuck dumping 100 albums of MPEG or AAC files having to re-rip the source CD's in order to get them back to a lossless format for a hi-rez music server, but I guess I am forced if they are all garbage converting from MPEG to WAV for example.

Thanks!

[JerryM]

1.  Bits cannot be added back. No simple format change can make an iTunes 128 song sound like a higher-resolution sample.

[audioengr]

Hi,

Okay so I have Itunes which originally was used for portable music on Ipod etc... of course. I need some help.

I am looking to take this library and move it over to a high grade server type application. A few issues I can see beginning with the fact there are a few file types in the library ranging from AAC, MPEG, and AIFF.

Here are my Questions :

#1- Itunes has options to convert files even the MPEG(low rez) back up to AIFF and WAV(hi rez). I realize WAV, AIFF, and FLAC are your best options for sound quality. Unfortunately not all of these files are in these formats as some were ripped directly to the lower formats from disc. Am I screwed being forced to re-rip these discs directly to WAV? Or is the conversion up from the lower res files going to restore the same quality the AIFF, WAV etc... would provide without having to rip directly from disc again?

Yiou must re-rip these files.  The data is lost with lossy compression.

# 2- I have also seen arguments for file conversion stating Itunes is no good even for this and most recommend "dbpoweramp"? Is it really necessary to  use a better program for these conversions if they are even worth doing from low rez back up to hi rez?

Ripping and conversion should use the best program you can get.  The results do sound different.  dbpoweramp is really the best.

# 3-  From what I can tell .Wav files are the rawest most bit for bit quality files. I also am reading that AIFF and FLAC are the same just a different format.
Is WAV the best way to go if I use something like Jriver or even Itunes for that matter in sound quality? Or is AIFF that I have most of these files in going to perform the same vs. converting back to WAV? I do understand going from AIFF to WAV for example is fine no loss.

.wav files deliver the best SQ. The problm is that they do not retain all of the tags ad album art like FLAC files.

Furthermore, I am really hoping I am not stuck dumping 100 albums of MPEG or AAC files having to re-rip the source CD's in order to get them back to a lossless format for a hi-rez music server, but I guess I am forced if they are all garbage converting from MPEG to WAV for example.

Thanks![/size]

I'm afraid that this is your best option.  Get a good external USB drive and dbpoweramp and start ripping.

Steve N.

[undertow]

Hi Steve...

Got it, I was afraid of that.

Why not just start over directly with using Jriver program to rip right to .wav?

I assume Jriver is still needed to replace the actual Itune type player?

Or is dbpoweramp also an all in one solution to rip and use as a player interface?

I was going to buy Jriver simply as I can get the JRemote function for it on the old Itouch and at least the Jriver application is better than Itunes anyway right?

Thanks

[Brad]

dbpoweramp is great for ripping and transcoding (still can't put lost data back though)

Jriver is pretty darn good for library management and playback.  The remote functionality (I use an Android device) works well.

[undertow]

Brad are you saying buy both then?

Setup files via dbpoweramp, and then transfer the files into Jriver?

Also, my other concern is backups. I know now Itunes sucks for backup, so I manually do it via going into the media file of itunes and just copy it over to another drive, then just move one album at a time to update the backups when I need to add a new album etc...

So does Jriver or this dbpoweramp have a good and easy way to do dynamic backups to a second drive without manually figuring out which albums need to be added to the backup?

Thanks again.

[audioengr]

Hi Steve...

Got it, I was afraid of that.

Why not just start over directly with using Jriver program to rip right to .wav?

Because the rips will not be as good as dbpoweramp.  Its $39.  Just do it.

I assume Jriver is still needed to replace the actual Itune type player?

Yes

Or is dbpoweramp also an all in one solution to rip and use as a player interface?

No, you need both.  JriverSQ beats iTunes.  You should never use iTunes on a PC anyway.

Steve N.

[audioengr]

Brad are you saying buy both then?

Setup files via dbpoweramp, and then transfer the files into Jriver?

Also, my other concern is backups. I know now Itunes sucks for backup, so I manually do it via going into the media file of itunes and just copy it over to another drive, then just move one album at a time to update the backups when I need to add a new album etc...

So does Jriver or this dbpoweramp have a good and easy way to do dynamic backups to a second drive without manually figuring out which albums need to be added to the backup?

Thanks again.

Just purchase a RAID1 external drive and you will not have to worry about backups.

Steve N.

[undertow]

Okay I downloaded the dbpoweramp program.

I put the CD ripper in Wave as suggested for best results.

A few things I am not sure about is do I just leave the Wave encoder set for [as source]?

I assume this just means if it is a 16/44 recording it will just do a perfect 16/44 file for playback, or if the source CD is a 24/96 recording it will simply make a perfect 24/96 file for playback?

Why would somebody set it to a specific one don't you want it to copy perfect to the original? I don't see how putting a 16/44 into a 24/96 etc... could help.

Beyond that I was reading on the site some of the special correction modes. I can't figure out in the program where and what to set for the best fault protection during ripping.

Also, where can you set the destination file? In other words I don't see if its default to the C drive, or where I can set to the External D drive for the rip.

Anyway if somebody could just give me the best settings suggested for the whole program and where the settings even are for some off this it is appreciated.

Thanks

[audioengr]

Okay I downloaded the dbpoweramp program.

I put the CD ripper in Wave as suggested for best results.

A few things I am not sure about is do I just leave the Wave encoder set for [as source]?

I assume this just means if it is a 16/44 recording it will just do a perfect 16/44 file for playback, or if the source CD is a 24/96 recording it will simply make a perfect 24/96 file for playback?

That is correct.

Why would somebody set it to a specific one don't you want it to copy perfect to the original? I don't see how putting a 16/44 into a 24/96 etc... could help.

With the right upsampler (not dbpoweramp), the SQ can improve with upsampling, mostly because your DAC sounds better with 24/96 etc.

Beyond that I was reading on the site some of the special correction modes. I can't figure out in the program where and what to set for the best fault protection during ripping.

Error correction is standard in many drives. Make sure you have a drive with "C" correction.

Also, where can you set the destination file? In other words I don't see if its default to the C drive, or where I can set to the External D drive for the rip.

There is a pulldown at the bottom left that allows you to set the destination folder.  It can also make one with the artists name on it automatically.  This is what I do.

Steve N.

[undertow]

Got it.

Thanks Steve, will take some experimenting.

I realized that 24/192 will kill the hard drive space in no time!

[undertow]

Double post, see above.