Best option for lossless (FLAC) conversion on PCs

[admin_exported]

Hi everyone,

I am new to lossless format....What is the best way to rip CDs into lossless format on a PC? I have been looking into Apple Lossless, FLAC via Winamp, FLAC via Exact Audio Copy (EAC) etc. Is FLAC better than Apple Lossless since its more widely supported? I have an ipod but I can always stuff it with mp3s.

If I go with FLAC, what software is the best option? By best I mean fairly uncomplicated to install and operate and high quality enough that I won't regret 10 years from now! I just tried latest Winamp version for a extremely easy conversion to FLAC but not sure if this is the best option...

Oh, and I will be playing the music via Beresford 7520 or CA DacMagic (amp not decided yet).

Please advise!

 

[John Duncan]

Personally I'd stick with apple lossless and iTunes (with error correction on). Easy to use, great support, convertible in the future if you change your mind.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks John.

Does everyone else agree?

I guess the downside is I use Winamp a lot and it will not play Apple Lossless.

 

[VoodooDoctor]

I use dbPoweramp to convert to Apple Lossless and then MediaMonkey for playback and library duties.

 

[John Duncan]

chainrock:
Thanks John.

Does everyone else agree?

I guess the downside is I use Winamp a lot and it will not play Apple Lossless.

Aha! Well if you;re set on that as a player, you need to look elsewhere - EAC, Foobar?

Guess you need a Windows practitioner to step in here.......

 

[The_Lhc]

If you don't need to use iTunes or an iPod then FLAC is the only choice IMO, I convert with dbPowerAmp, bizarrely the ripped files sound better (significantly) played back through media monkey than through dbPowerAmp itself, I find media monkey a bit "big" for playback though when I'm just sat at the PC, dbPowerAmp is a much smaller player, so I use that, ultimate sound quality isn't really that important for me when I'm just mucking about on the PC.

Plus FLAC is supported by loads of streamers etc (Sonos for example which is what I primarily use) and the high-end companies are releasing music in FLAC as well (be aware though, Sonos doesn't play 24-bit FLAC files, or 24-bit anything for that matter), so having the capability wouldn't be a bad idea.

And there's no DRM or licensing issues with FLAC either. It's easy to encode into ALAC, but not so easy to convert from ALAC to anything else as, I believe, Apple charge for the decoder (but not the encoder of course!), there was an ongoing argument about this on the Sonos forums because some guy had encoded into ALAC and now couldn't change them to FLAC, so decided that FLAC was rubbish, when actually it was Apple's fault because the decoder isn't available.

 

[Anonymous]

Winamp can play Apple Lossless. You just need a system plugin called "alac.w5s". You put the file in winamp/system folder and everything is set. The plugin also supports tagging (the first version couldn't change tagging info).

 

[John Duncan]

the_lhc: It's easy to encode into ALAC, but not so easy to convert from ALAC to anything else as, I believe, Apple charge for the decoder (but not the encoder of course!), there was an ongoing argument about this on the Sonos forums because some guy had encoded into ALAC and now couldn't change them to FLAC, so decided that FLAC was rubbish, when actually it was Apple's fault because the decoder isn't available.

Wrong way round - the decoder is available free, the encoder is not - hence you can only create them with iTunes, but plenty of things can play them (otherwise Sonos and Squeezebox wouldn't). I think that things like Max have sussed the codec so that they can convert from FLAC to ALAC though.

Doesn't help you if you want an all-in-one solution obviously, and then FLAC is your best bet, yes.

 

[Anonymous]

Nejc - super! I just installed the file and now Winamp plays Apple Lossless.

Is there any downside to using Winamp's built-in FLAC encoder? (It doesn't seem to have error correction from what I see....)

 

[Anonymous]

Glad I could help!

I am used to Winamp, so when I bought an iPod I didn't want to switch to iTunes, just to manage my iPod (I also wanted to have lossless files on it).

 

[PJPro]

Just for the record, foobar2000 also supports Apple lossless playback.

 

[cram]

I believe there are also plug ins available for winamp to allow playback of apple lossless

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks a bunch everyone. I have decided to go with Apple Lossless for simplicity and iPod compatibility. I will be using Winamp for playback though as I can't stand iTunes....