[nature boy]

I recently picked up a current generation iPod classic.  I plan to use this primarily in my car to store CD's for playback on my car stereo.  I would appreciate any suggestions for settings, file storage, etc. along with links.  I plan to use iTunes for transferring/linking using WAV files.

Also, most of my CD's have been downloaded to FLAC files using my Plextor PX880U and dBPoweramp software.  Is there an easy way to convert the FLAC files to WAV files to store within iTunes??? I would like to get this done before Friday so I can get everything download into iPod and iPhone for an upcoming trip.

Thanks in advance fellow AC'ers you are the best. Also please keep this simple - I am of simple mind when it comes to all things computer audiophile.

Cheers,

NB 

[mcgsxr]

Not that long ago I went through converting my 800GB of FLAC to ALAC and used dbpoweramp.  Thread was here - http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=100805.0

Worked great, and was able to do it in batches.

I am sure you could use it to convert FLAC to WAV.

But, won't you lose the tagging when you convert to WAV?

[toddbagwell]

If you plan to use this to listen to music on the go, I'd recommend using AIFF or ALAC instead of WAV files.

they are both lossless and can later be switched to wav.

especially if time is important to you, you'll waste large chunks of time sorting through wavs due to limited tagging support.

If you have dbpoweramp, use batch converter, set up a new folder for the output and have it convert to your chosen format.

to file convert in itunes, you need to set your import settings to ALAC or AIFF, then you can highlight and right click (windows) to get to "create AIFF or ALAC version"



you can do the wav conversion with dbpoweramp, but importing and tagging them in itunes would require a large amount of effort and time.


later
todd

[nature boy]

Great thanks.  So does AIFF or ALAC sound better??  Remember this will be used primarily for storage on an iPod with playback through a custom installed after market car stereo system (Alpine CDA-117 head unit , Linear Power LP2150 amp w/ Blues Car Audio BL6.5C 6.5" component speakers (front) and MB Quart 6.5" component speakers (rear).  Should be a great set up for my listening pleasure:)

If you plan to use this to listen to music on the go, I'd recommend using AIFF or ALAC instead of WAV files.

they are both lossless and can later be switched to wav.

especially if time is important to you, you'll waste large chunks of time sorting through wavs due to limited tagging support.

If you have dbpoweramp, use batch converter, set up a new folder for the output and have it convert to your chosen format.

to file convert in itunes, you need to set your import settings to ALAC or AIFF, then you can highlight and right click (windows) to get to "create AIFF or ALAC version"



you can do the wav conversion with dbpoweramp, but importing and tagging them in itunes would require a large amount of effort and time.


later
todd

[mcgsxr]

I did some reading on AIFF vs ALAC on Computeraudiofile and it seems they are close.

A resolving system might have you notice that ALAC is not quite as good, but for a car system I would think it fine.  I use it at home, with headphones on the go, and in my car.

[toddbagwell]

Great thanks.  So does AIFF or ALAC sound better??  Remember this will be used primarily for storage on an iPod with playback through a custom installed after market car stereo system (Alpine CDA-117 head unit , Linear Power LP2150 amp w/ Blues Car Audio BL6.5C 6.5" component speakers (front) and MB Quart 6.5" component speakers (rear).  Should be a great set up for my listening pleasure:)

I would use alac in a car, or even aac compressed simply due to all the other noises and distractions on the road. I have a 60gb ipod that is full of 128 kb/sec aac files. Occasionally something sounds kinda bad, but i find having more available music outweighs the quality loss for me in the car.

At home, i found AIFF to sound slightly better than ALAC, but in a brief blinded test, i was not able to reliably ID a difference between the two. As space for storage was not a problem, i went with AIFF.

Hope this helps.

Ps- i think wav sounded best, but i wasn't willing to forgo all my tags or rename all my files. Just my choice.

[nature boy]

Thanks.  I will use ALAC and batch convert my FLAC files with dbPoweramp per suggestions.  I should be able to get a large number of CD's onto the iPod 160GB hard drive.  Nothing like a portable music server!

Can't wait for my new car stereo system!

Cheers,

NB