Electronic Music For Dummies Please

[Benedict_Arnold]

Can someone please post up a "Janet and John" version of what the various digital music formats are, the basic pros and cons, where to buy / download them from etc.?

I'm still trying to figure out how to rewind my CDs......

 

[amcluesent]

Gramophone's guide to computer-stored music, from downloading and ripping to streaming and playback
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/focus/listening-wirelessly

 

[CnoEvil]

Here is another guide: http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/index.html

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Right, so if I've got this right, MP3s are about the lowest of the low (thanks Amazon |( ), ripping CDs to loss-less (or at least no more loss) FLACs good, WAVs better, but not so if you're just ripping from CDs?

Now, where do I buy stuff (legally) to download in the best possible format? i-tunes?

Can I convert i-tunes stuff into FLACs or WAVs so I can play on something other than an i-thing? I think my Onkyo NR-TX717 will read iTunes but ultimately I want to replace this receiver-based system with a pukka Cyrus-based system like I used to have in the UK.

 

[hammill]

WAVs are not better, FLACs sound just as good( they are like zip files and restore to the original uncompressed form), take up less space and are better for tagging. It is still often cheaper to buy the CD and rip it yourself into the format(s) you require - certainly for the music I buy from Amazon. Converting the already compressed itunes files into WAV or FLAC is fairly pointless - the data is already lost.

 

[The_Lhc]

Right, so if I've got this right, MP3s are about the lowest of the low (thanks Amazon |( ), ripping CDs to loss-less (or at least no more loss) FLACs good, WAVs better, but not so if you're just ripping from CDs?

You don't gain anything using WAV over FLAC (or other lossless format), you just use more space and lose the tagging ability, WAV is largely pointless these days.

Now, where do I buy stuff (legally) to download in the best possible format? i-tunes?

AHAHAHA! No. iTunes is currently lossy only, lossless download sites tend to be something of a genre thing, typically classical and jazz, although a recent development has seen individual bands start to offer new releases in FLAC or other lossless formats direct from their websites (ie Muse, My Bloody Valentine to name two recent ones). Otherwise sites tend to be related to high-end audio manufacturers, Linn, for example have their own label. Google is your friend.

Can I convert i-tunes stuff into FLACs or WAVs so I can play on something other than an i-thing?

Well, you can but there isn't any point, downloaded iTunes files are lossy, as mentioned, so there's no point converting them to lossless formats, you can't get the lost data back and you'll just be using more space. If you've ripped CDs in iTunes to ALAC or AIFF (Apple's lossless formats) then yes you can convert them to other lossless formats easily enough. Do you actually have any Apple gear? If not, do yourself a favour now and stay away from iTunes.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

If not, do yourself a favour now and stay away from iTunes.

I avoid anything with an i- prefix like the plague.

As my American friends say, you can't chrome a t*rd, but you can dip it in sprinkles (hundreds and thousands in English English).

And that's how I regard anything with an i- prefix - a t*rd dipped in sprinkles.

 

[Alec]

I download from itunes rarely but they have a built in facility to convert to MP3 (which is not that bad; you wont hear the difference most of the time, if ever - try a comparison some time).

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

I download from itunes rarely but they have a built in facility to convert to MP3 (which is not that bad; you wont hear the difference most of the time, if ever - try a comparison some time).

Is that because the two formats are equally as bad or because their converter/conversion is of the "no more losses" variety?

 

[Alec]

It's because, imo, MP3 isn't all that much (if at all) different in sound to lossless.

 

[manicm]

I've had some excellent results with purchased/downloaded MP3s, but ripping them myself has brought no joy whatsoever. It could be the latest version of LAME perhaps - it currently seems to roll off the high frequencies.

For lossless/uncompressed I am firmly in the camp - and I stress I am in no way alone in this, at least on other forums besides WHF - that believes pure uncompressed WAV sounds best. And I use the free EAC to rip them - its rips are a bit slow but the resulting quality is well worth it. And to prove I'm not a raving lunatic, Peter Bartlett from Cyrus also believes in WAVs.

Yes, WAVs are wholly inconvenient in that tagging is not supported, but a good streaming system i.e. streamer/NAS/media server will still serve up album art.

At the end I can live with it because ultimately I want to be moved by the music.

Also, none of us have the same audio taste, nevermind in music, so as always experiment and make up your own mind.

 

[psurquhart]

"If you've ripped CDs in iTunes to ALAC or AIFF (Apple's lossless formats) then yes you can convert them to other lossless formats easily enough."

For those of us that do use i-turds - found that quite funny actually.

Can someone enlighten me further and tell me the differences or benefits of ALAC as oppossed to AIFF.

I think I rip everything to ALAC if I remember, will check in a bit.

 

[manicm]

"If you've ripped CDs in iTunes to ALAC or AIFF (Apple's lossless formats) then yes you can convert them to other lossless formats easily enough."

For those of us that do use i-turds - found that quite funny actually.

Can someone enlighten me further and tell me the differences or benefits of ALAC as oppossed to AIFF.

I think I rip everything to ALAC if I remember, will check in a bit.

AIFF is Apple's uncompressed equivalent to WAV, and is actually quite widely supported by streamers etc. It also supports tagging/album art like FLAC.

 

[Overdose]

Can someone please post up a "Janet and John" version of what the various digital music formats are, the basic pros and cons, where to buy / download them from etc.?

I'm still trying to figure out how to rewind my CDs......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_file_format

That link will tell you all you need to know about the files except at what point audio quality is compromised.

Try for yourself. I think that you will be suprised at how much compression is possible without hearing any degradation in quality.

Once you have determined a file type and size the offers no compromise in quality then there are a few genuine reasons for choosing file types over others and they are file size, support for tagging and player compatibility.

For archiving, I would recomend a lossless compression or uncompressed files if you have the space. No difference in sound quality, hence 'lossless'.

For general playback, I'd use the most compression that gives you no quality degradation. I have found 256Kbps VBR mp3s and 192 Kbps VBR AAC files to do the job nicely, but I have the option of playing back from a lossless archive, which in my case, is just as convenient.

 

[craig978]

If you have no problem with hard disc space and you want 'WAV like' rips but with album tags etc then AIFF is good. I can't understand why any music should be compressed today when ~900 albums could fit on a £50 500GB hard disc.

 

[Dougal1331]

mp3 is pretty much a hangover from not so long ago, when broadband didn't exist and most people had dial-up modems. And hard disks were much, much smaller.

Now, with fast internet and terabytes for pocket money, the old compressed formats are slowly (but surely) being usurped by lossless: it is, however, going to take some time yet, probably due to those who aren't particularly interested in absolute sound quality still downloading mp3s by the skipload...

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Sorry,

Been a busy three weeks. First a rush proposal for the design of two 66 km gas pipelines in the Mexican bit of the Gulf of Mexico then a trip to Washington DC to give evidence on the root causes of a pipeline explosion offshore Louisiana a couple of years ago next week. Trip expenses and my wages paid for by the US taxpayer. Nice.

Anyway, like yer man said, storage size and download speeds aren't really issues these days. I have an iddy-biddy 2 1/2 inch 1-terabyte portable hard disk I paid about $100 for, which I plug into the USB port on the front of my receiver. I reckon it'll hold about 1000 albums. When I figure it out I could probably stream directly from the PC in the corner of the living room, but the wife wants to move that into a study when we move later this year, so the hard disk will work fine unless I get the new house hard-wire networked (which I'm thinking about for all sorts of reasons anyway).

I've settled on using dbPowerAmp (apologies if the right letters aren't in capitals) and ripping CDs to lossless (or no more loss to be more precise) FLAC format as my receiver supports it. Amazon.com now sells you the mp3 for free when you buy the CD, so I can compare one with the other. With my current setup I can't hear a difference. That might change when the pennies allow for a decent proper hifi again.

What irks me is that given we can all rip as many copies of our CDs either onto friends' hard disks, CD-ROms, MP3s, etc. etc. ad nauseum, and if we were so inclined set up stall flogging them in the Barras Market (Glaswegians will know what I mean) making old-fashioned copyright laws irrelevant, why won't the music industry give us the opportunity to buy closer-to-genuinely-lossless FLAC files on line? Who knows? They might convince us to buy DSOTM in a FOURTH format....