[ZLS]

    Hello,

    Is it worth doing,

              and

    If so, what is the best way of going about it. 


                                    Thank You

[dB Cooper]

I vote no. Lotta work for nothing. I am increasingly in the 'bits are bits' camp. No doubt others might disagree, and who knows, they might be right  If you wanna go with 'majority rule', you can add a poll to the thread. It might be interesting to see what others think.

If you decide to do it, XLD or MediaHuman Audio Converter would be good places to start.

[Crimson]

    Hello,

    Is it worth doing,

              and

    If so, what is the best way of going about it. 


                                    Thank You

Is it worth it? Only you can answer that. 
Convert an album and see what you think.

iTunes can do it pretty effortlessly as well. Just change your import settings to AIFF, select an album, right click, and choose convert to AIFF.

[srb]

iTunes can do it pretty effortlessly as well. Just change your import settings to AIFF, select an album, right click, and choose convert to AIFF.

iTunes doesn't actually convert files, it makes copies of them (the menu choice is "Create xxx Version") in the format you select under Preferences > General > Import Settings.  iTunes creates the copy in your designated Media Folder Location, so you will need to have enough available hard drive space for the copies. When you are satisfied with the newly created files, you can delete the originals.

If you prefer, you can also select multiple albums and create copies in one process, rather than for each album individually.

Steve

[skunark]

At this point I would say hold-off if using iTunes.   There is a bug with how iTunes 11.x tags AIFF files by failing to pad it to an even block and other applications will assume the tag is invalid and ignore it.   Best way IMO is iTunes though, you can filter what is converted and what isn't with the smart playlist.   Besides most music players on Macs use the Core Audio library anyway so the quality will be the same.

A while back I did convert from ALAC to AIFF because of a bug with the MPD crashing on the same song (with my Bryston BDP-1).   I've reported the issue but not sure if it ever got fixed.   Otherwise I would have stayed with ALAC.

[srb]

There is a bug with how iTunes 11.x tags AIFF files by failing to pad it to an even block and other applications will assume the tag is invalid and ignore it.

I wasn't aware of a bug.  AIFF files that I tag in iTunes all seem to read correctly in JRiver Media Center 18.

Steve

[skunark]

I wasn't aware of a bug.  AIFF files that I tag in iTunes all seem to read correctly in JRiver Media Center 18.

Steve

JRiver still uses iTunes for management correct?  The bug is still with iTunes then.   

The issue is mostly with opensouce libraries like MPD, id3tag, etc.   I first noticed it with the Bryston BDP-1 a few weeks after iTunes 11.x was released.    Easy issue to work around for a small amount of files though, use another app to rip, or retag with another app, or ask the app developers to support odd-block sizes.

Jim

[ZLS]

    Thank you all for your answers. 

    In terms of playlists, does iTunes treat the AIFF as a new file, so that the existing playlist won"t recognize it?

    In other words, if I create an AIFF version of an album, and delete the ALAC version, do I have to create an entire new playlist?


                                                                               Thank You

[srb]

In other words, if I create an AIFF version of an album, and delete the ALAC version, do I have to create an entire new playlist?

Yes.

Steve

[skunark]

Yes.

Steve

Maybe, If you created a smartplaylist they can adapt based on the filters, but for normal playlists, then yes.

[abernardi]

This is what I've noticed on my Mac Mini sourced system, ALAC sounded very similar to AIFF.  However, converting to WAV had a bigger impact.  The stage got a little wider and things seemed placed differently and overall things seemed more effortless.  The difference was small but noticeable.  However, I'd be hard pressed to be able to listen to one today and the other tomorrow and tell you which was which.

[Pete Schumacher]

This is what I've noticed on my Mac Mini sourced system, ALAC sounded very similar to AIFF.  However, converting to WAV had a bigger impact.  The stage got a little wider and things seemed placed differently and overall things seemed more effortless.  The difference was small but noticeable.  However, I'd be hard pressed to be able to listen to one today and the other tomorrow and tell you which was which.

We had the same experience in the Empirical Audio room at T.H.E. Newport Beach Audio Show.  WAV simply produced a bigger, more engaging sound.  We even expanded a compressed file back to WAV and then played the two files one after the other, and the differences weren't just picked up by those of us running the room.  We did that demo for a number of visitors and they too were struck by the difference in presentation.  Steve Nugent was using iTunes with Amarra.  WAV just plain sounded better even though it was created from the same lossless file.

[ZLS]

    When I started with computer audio (2005), you could not get meta data with WAV.
    Has this changed? 
    Is there a consensus (which would be the first time) as to what program would be the best to convert 600 GB of music that are in ALAC?


                                                                                             Thank You

[abernardi]

I know Pete, that's where I first heard the difference, I was there.  And when I tried it at home, I got the same results.  I still don't know if it's more "accurate", but it was more pleasing.  As far as consensus, ZLS - YEAH RIGHT!  But you're correct WAV hasn't changed, and that sucks for metadata.  However, iTunes will assign some info to it, and then it can get the cover from the online store and store it as a separate file, as long as that album is in there store... crap shoot.

[jMelvin]

JRiver still uses iTunes for management correct?  The bug is still with iTunes then.   

The issue is mostly with opensouce libraries like MPD, id3tag, etc.   I first noticed it with the Bryston BDP-1 a few weeks after iTunes 11.x was released.    Easy issue to work around for a small amount of files though, use another app to rip, or retag with another app, or ask the app developers to support odd-block sizes.

Jim

JRiver doesn't use iTunes (which is part of the appeal I believe).