Flac file help

[alpne1]

Hi

Thanks frog

The lastest test was an i tunes download of the Lumineers album I guess at 256Kbps compared againt Flac. All Cd's ripped via I tunes using their codec into MP3 320 Kbps. Both Lumineers and Greenday Dos remarkable noticable differences complared to flac.

Thanks Matt and Steve for your input

Ill give an update after using my persuasive powers this weekend

Alan

 

[fr0g]

Hi

Thanks frog

The lastest test was an i tunes download of the Lumineers album I guess at 256Kbps compared againt Flac. All Cd's ripped via I tunes using their codec into MP3 320 Kbps. Both Lumineers and Greenday Dos remarkable noticable differences complared to flac.

Thanks Matt and Steve for your input

Ill give an update after using my persuasive powers this weekend

Alan

If I was ripping using iTunes I would use AAC only. I haven't a clue which codec they use but it won't be as good as LAME. I would be surprised if it wasn't audibly transparent, but as they promote AAC usage I wouldn't think MP3 codec quality would be high on the list. (This is just a guess on my part, so I could be entirely wrong).

I'd still suggest ripping a top quality MP3 in EAC and LAME and comparing (properly, with Foobar/ABX plugin).

 

[abacus]

Storage is cheap and plentiful these days, therefore there is no reason to rip music into anything other than a loss less format for use on modern equipment.

Apples AAC is its own format to compete with mp3 and WMA, (Being newer it has fewer glitches than mp3) ALAC is Apples loss less format, and is designed to compete with the more common FLAC format.

Hope this helps

Bill

 

[Overdose]

Hi

Thanks frog

The lastest test was an i tunes download of the Lumineers album I guess at 256Kbps compared againt Flac. All Cd's ripped via I tunes using their codec into MP3 320 Kbps. Both Lumineers and Greenday Dos remarkable noticable differences complared to flac.

Thanks Matt and Steve for your input

Ill give an update after using my persuasive powers this weekend

Alan

As suggested by frog, AAC would also be my recommendation for an iTunes rip.

As far as comparing the files goes, you really need to compare exactly the same recording/CD with various rips from it, a downloadable file may not be the same recording as the CD, as differences exist between the various masters used and sold worldwide.

If you are listening to FLACs, then they for one will not have been ripped using the same software as the mp3s, so there is potential for discrepency there, also ensure that error correction is enabled on whatever software you use.

 

[matt49]

Storage is cheap and plentiful these days, therefore there is no reason to rip music into anything other than a loss less format for use on modern equipment.

Apples AAC is its own format to compete with mp3 and WMA, (Being newer it has fewer glitches than mp3) ALAC is Apples loss less format, and is designed to compete with the more common FLAC format.

Hope this helps

Bill

I agree. No point in ripping to a lossy format.

If you did want to save some disk space (e.g. for listening on an iPod), you could always convert files down to a lossy format (keeping the original lossless version, of course).

Matt

 

[fr0g]

Storage is cheap and plentiful these days, therefore there is no reason to rip music into anything other than a loss less format for use on modern equipment.

Apples AAC is its own format to compete with mp3 and WMA, (Being newer it has fewer glitches than mp3) ALAC is Apples loss less format, and is designed to compete with the more common FLAC format.

Hope this helps

Bill

Just to set the record straight. AAC is NOT Apple's format. ALAC is, but AAC was developed by a consortium of companies...

Wiki...

AAC was developed with the cooperation and contributions of companies including AT&T Bell Laboratories, Fraunhofer IIS, Dolby Laboratories, Sony Corporation and Nokia. It was officially declared an international standard by the Moving Picture Experts Group in April 1997. It is specified both as Part 7 of the MPEG-2 standard, and Subpart 4 in Part 3 of the MPEG-4 standard.[5]

Also, while I agree, ripping in lossless is sensible, I personally rip simultaneously in MP3 (using dbPoweramp). Typcial phones don't take many lossless files.

 

[Karlequin]

I have now set up a Raspberry Pi as a streamer using www.raspyfi.com. I have FLAC files on a windows share and am streaming over WiFi. For a DAC, I'm currently using a cheap implementation of the Sabre chip: http://hifimediy.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=83

Pros:

Total cost < £100

Sounds excellent - I expected drop-outs over WiFi and they simply aren't happening.

Remote control apps are all great (Windows, iPhone, Android etc. all available)

Cons:

DAC is excellent, but will probably get replaced with a Rega or similar at some point.

Need at least basic technical knowledge to set up the system - although it's fun to do!

I'd advise anyone to give it a go. To my ears it sounds at least as good (probably better) than playing CDs through my PS3. I doubt it would be as good as my old Rega Apollo spinner though, but that's in the loft so I can't say for sure!

 

[Overdose]

How are you WiFi'ing with the RPi? I didn't think it had wireless connectivity.

 

[alpne1]

Thats cool

Never heard of that guess you will need your computer on ? How would I stream to my M- Dac ?

Just another point to clarify guys

Do you drag Folders of music to the NAS or individual songs ?

Thanks

 

[Karlequin]

This was recommended on the RaspyFi site:

Edimax EW-7811UN 150Mbps Wireless Nano USB Adapter
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003MTTJOY

Cheap as chips too. Of course, if your home setup permits you could just as easily plug it in to a wired network.

 

[Karlequin]

Assuming the M-DAC is compatible, simply via the USB input. If it's not, then you'd need an adapter to convert from USB to some other input type, e.g. optical. Some people on forums who use the Rega DAC have said that the M2 Tech Hi Face USB to S/PDIF Converter gives better results than connecting to the Rega DAC directly via USB, so something like that's always an option.

As far as storage goes, I'm using a windows share as I already have a server set up that's always on, but you could use a NAS or even a USB drive if you prefer.

 

[matt49]

Do you drag Folders of music to the NAS or individual songs ?

I'm not competent to comment on the Synology's media server software, but I'd have thought it shouldn't matter: it's the metadata in the files that determines how the files will appear in the media server. Having said that, I'm terribly tidy-minded (or at least that's the polite word for it), so I make sure everything is in a proper folder architecture.

Matt

 

[npoguy]

Thats cool

Never heard of that guess you will need your computer on ? How would I stream to my M- Dac ?

Just another point to clarify guys

Do you drag Folders of music to the NAS or individual songs ?

Thanks

For Synology--I just went to the Itunes music folder and I can't remember if I just used the copy function or if I dragged the whole thing over. Either way, you're copying the entire folder at once, not individual songs. That's also why it takes so long if you have a lot of music. You'll see it pop up with a box (on a Mac anyway) that will say, "now copying x kbs of x gigs" and an estimated run time. In my case, that was about 6 hours. Once that is complete, you need to go back to itunes and tell it to organize your library within the new NAS music folder. Again, assuming you want to use itunes. After that, you don't need to use the computer anymore for music--assuming you also have the Synology app.

 

[npoguy]

BTW, once everything is copied over, you can delete the old music folder. I haven't done that yet because I'm slightly nervous about losing my music. But I have it backed up on a seperate hard drive, so I'll do it soon. Also, remember that--if you use iTunes to organize your music--all of the new music you download or rip will go to the new file on the NAS, not the old music file on the computer, so they will not be in sync--another reason to delete it down the road.

Here's the video I started with: http://www.whathifi.com/video/how-to-network-itunes. It doesn't address your USB issue, but might help you get an idea of whether you want to go down this path.

 

[alpne1]

thanks npoguy

That was very informative.

Watch this space :type:

 

[MoJoe]

I'm in a similar situation. i'm putting my first proper system together, although with an upcoming wedding i couldn't spend 2 anywhere near grand. Once i got a nice pair of floorstanders i realised how poor mp3 quality was. I'm using cds again but intend to re-record them as flac files and use a NAS to store them.

So i can use a Raspberry Pi and a DAC. This will then plug into the amp and i can control the music using an android device? Does the DAC use regular phono leads? How does the DAC pick up the Pi? Sorry for troubling you delightful folk with (mundane) questions. I actually bought a tablet and a 64gb microsd card that i plugged into the amp before i realised mp3 is not the best quality. but I could nearly afford the Pi, DAC and NAS now without cutting into the wedding budget too much more. I keep looking at richer sounds offers on stereo systems too. If only they did credit.

 

[Karlequin]

MoJoe, you can read about the success that other people have had here:

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/network-players/raspberry-pi-usb-dac-mpd-mpad-great-success

And as far as setup goes, all the info you need is up at http://www.raspyfi.com/. To answer your questions briefly:

This will then plug into the amp and i can control the music using an android device? Yes. I'm using mpdroid, see https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.namelessdev.mpdroid&hl=en

Does the DAC use regular phono leads? Depends on the DAC, but yes. I'm using a 3.5mm to RCA cable for mine, but plenty have RCA output.

How does the DAC pick up the Pi? The Pi has all the drivers necessary for all sorts of DACs - check raspyfi.com for compatibility lists.

Have fun!

 

[MoJoe]

Thanks Karlequin

i think I am going to give that a go using a basic DAC. I just assumed RCA leads would be better than 3.5 to RCA but maybe that is not the case and besides I am currently using a kenwood CD player that is 20 years old so perhaps it will even be an improvement.

Thanks for your help.