Converting to apple lossless

[munchpants]

Hi,

My itunes library is currently set at 320kbs. I have just invested in a top set of Shure earphones and have been advised to use the lossless format to fully appreciate their quality. I have a 60gb ipod so space shouldn't be an issue. Will simply converting my library to lossless achieve the desired result or will I need to re-burn my cd collection. I don't want to run the change to find the quality doesn't improve when I would now be using way more disc space. Your thoughts would be most appreciated. Cheers

 

[The_Lhc]

Unless you burn again you won't hear any improvement, the idea of loseless is that nothing is lost (guh!). You've already lost info by burning at 320kbps, converting to loseless now won't add back the info that's been lost. So yes, you will have to re-burn everything.

Of course you could just listen to the 320kbps stuff with the new headphones and see if you think it sounds good enough before you start re-burning.

 

[Anonymous]

You would need to import your cd collection again I'm afraid, the data was lost when you imported your files at 320kbps MP3, so you will not be gaining anything by transcoding to Apple lossless. If I was you though I would try one or two albums first though to see if you think the audio gains are worth the extra disk space with your set up.

 

[ianandyr]

I'm afraid to get true lossless you will need to re-rip your CD collection. Converting a compressed file (mp3, m4a?) to lossless won't restore the information that was discarded during the original compression.

Whether the improvement will justify the effort is something you could easily check before you start re-ripping everything.

 

[ianandyr]

LOL - nice to get a consistent set of answers !

 

[Anonymous]

Jinx

 

[Anonymous]

Hi munchpants,
Its my understanding that simply converting your existing songs to lossless will give you no benefit. Starting from scratch and re-burning using lossless is the only way. I use lossless and it does make a big difference to sound quality (especially through your new shures).

 

[munchpants]

Thanks folks. Message understood loud and clear.

 

[Anonymous]

yes you will need to re-rip your collection!ÿ

but it's a big job and to be honest i would just start with your fav CD and see if you can tell a difference.

some tracks i can hear a difference with lossless and other's it quite difficult.ÿ

ÿLet us know how you find the differenceÿ

 

[russ74]

Agree with Shimminator, no need to rip all your cd's again, 320kb is still a high quality bitrate and sounds good. Just re-rip you favourite albums to lossless.