Lossless reccomendations

[admin_exported]

Hi Guy's,

I know this has been covered loads but I can't seem to find them.

Basically I've been playing about with Apple Lossless and have been impressed on some tracks. However sometimes I find it really hard to tell the difference from 192kbps.

 I read that some true lossless rips should be 1400kbps? but I am getting 1000kbps on my apple lossless rips and sometimes as low as 800kbps.

 Does this sound correct? Also I believe that there are better rippers out there - please can you reccomend some? 

 My logic is that if I can get to 1400kbps I will notice a big difference. 

 

Thanks in advance 

 

[Anonymous]

Apple Lossless is a codec which along with others such as FLAC losslessly compress the data by anything from 40% to 60% to reduce storage space (similar to a zip file), it is then decoded at run time.

To answer you're second question, all you would need to do is convert your ALAC files to a .AIFF or .WAV and you'll see the 1411kbps bitrate again. All you will have done though is uncompressed the data robbing you of valuable storage space.ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

I think the reality is if you can't hear the difference between wav and 192 bitrate then don't bother with it. However with a revealing amp and an external dac, there is a big difference between even 320 bitrate and wav files. A difference in dynamics, in the body of the sound, essentially it sounds flatter on 320 then it does on wav.

 

[John Duncan]

hi fi newbie:I think the reality is if you can't hear the difference between wav and 192 bitrate then don't bother with it.

Well, kind of. If you can't tell the difference, it means your equipment isn't letting you - how are you listening? Through your PC or connected to your stereo? And if the latter, is it through a DAC or just the headphone out from your PC or Mac? All of this has a big impact on how it finally sounds.

To answer your original question, don't worry about the bitrates of the apple lossless tracks, since these are an average of the data on the track - simple tracks have lower average bitrates than complex ones. You have no control over what that final average is, so don't try - lossless should be a perfect copy of the original music (though turning error correction on is advisable for the closest you can get with less-than-perfect discs).