Jump to content

what file type is best


mewisemagic

Recommended Posts

Two thoughts here.  There is the standard coding for CD's which is going to happen when you burn.  The real issue is what are you going to burn from.  Any lossless codec will burn the same onto a CD (hence the name "lossless").  So, be sure to "rip" into a lossless codec when you first move a CD into your music library, so you can get the same thing back when you "burn" it.
 
BTW, WAV is uncompressed and takes up the most space.  FLAC, WMA lossless (and if you are into iTunes — Apple lossless) are compressed and take up less space, but remain lossless.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use flac as my format for ripping digital music for my Sonos system.  No loss of digital information and about a 2:1 compression from the original CD.

 

I rip my CDs using Media Monkey a great program for managing a large music collection.  My collection is a about 11,700 tracks at this time.  Cover art and other tag information is stored with the music tracks.

 

My Sonos gear inputs either into my Carver gear through ZP 80 zone players or directly into speakers through a ZP100 which has a 50 watt per channel amp built in.

 

I love having wireless control of my entire music collection in a manner that is lossless and feeds directly into my main stereo system and is available throughout my home.  You listen to a wider variety of music than if you have to load a CD  one or several at a time into a CD player.  

 

The first thing I did after ripping my music collection was to sell my Carver CD player and Carver 5 disk CD changer.

 

When we have guests over, they play music from our system that we may not have heard for years.  Makes for a great evening.

 

Also the access for internet radio from Sonos with better sound than a tuner is an advantage and we have not signed up for any of the music services except for the free subscription to Pandora which we use occasionally. 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I looked into a Logitech Transport and thought it looked pretty good, but I guess I am still old school, and like my Sony 300 CD "juke box" all original (I spend a lot of time looking for well recorded CD's) no copies. The first copy is good when using lossless but due to the compression ,any and every copy you make from that particular copy will be degraded. I am too old to be compressedeusa_snooty.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe when using FLAC, when it is uncompressed you end up with a bit by bit identical copy of the original.  That was one of the selling points when I selected the format when I ripped my cds to my NAS.

 

When I ripped all of my music about 5 or more years back, disk space was a lot more expensive than it is now.  My one terabyte NAS Buffalo Tera Server was around $1,000.  Having your collection compressed in a manner where it could be uncompressed to recreate the original was more important from a cost standpoint in making Ipods and MP3 players a viable product than it would be today where a 1 Tb hard disk drive is less than $70 to purchase.

 

One of the reasons there is all of the poor quality MP3 type music was the original high cost of disk space and memory. Highly compressed formats made the technology feasible from a cost standpoint.  My kids' generation have grown up with much poorer quality sound reproduction than we did because of this factor. 

 

If I was doing it again today, I would look at storing my music in an uncompressed format providing the format supports album art and the rest of the tagging data. 

 

It would be great to see a time where digital music is stored a higher resolution than a standard CD in the same way that HD tv is replacing regular definition tv.  At this point storage cost should not be a factor.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I ripped all my vinyl at 96kHz 24-bit (whereas CDs are 44.1kHz 16-bit).  They can't necessarily play through lesser DACs, but can be stored in FLAC or WMV lossless or Apple lossless.  I don't know why you would want to store uncompressed (WAV) in that compressed is decompressed to play and is identical to uncompressed, and you can tag it and associate album art with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, everyone!  Been a busy time lately for me -- and that includes getting closer to starting the big project of converting a huge CD collection,vinyl, and iTunes files into one big digital collection such as Bill and others here are explaining about, using a lossless format through Apple computers.

 

I'm going with a Mac mini and a 1 Terabyte external hard drive (along with the 360 GB internal hard drive if needed) for starters.  Trying for a wifi setup from the mini out to 3 or 4 stereo setups - the main system in the living room that Bill D worked on with me two summers ago (has it been that long really?), the HT system with the HD TV serving as my monitor for using/selecting the computer's music collection, the master BR stereo, and maybe another spare system in another room -- and who knows, maybe even eventually it'll all reach by wifi back to the original iMac in my office area with HK Sound Sticks and subwoofer.

 

I bought the Airport Express modules which plug into wall sockets and are then wired out to preamps - but I couldn't seem to connect by wifi to the farthest unit -- hence, going with a middle-placed Mac mini and hoping the reduced stretch to all the wifi receivers will make the difference.

 

Also I want to add on internet connection for the Mac mini (only have one modem right now back in the office area with the iMac)  and using the HT/HD tv so I can stream Netflix movies, too and watch from the comfort of my den/guest room using a bluetooth keyboard and track pad for the mini - I really don't want to sit in front of a computer at a desk for the length of a movie!  Even with the 24" iMac in front of me.

 

 All this will be interesting, since I'm intuitive but not really that computer savvy -- I'll most likely still pick your brains for advice and troubleshooting -- hopefully not for major screwups, though!  

 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been using FLAC files. I recently re ripped all my CD's. (used to have my music in MP3)
 
Going to eventually have a netbook as a music sever. Portable, and to plug into the car, I use a Sansa Clip+.
Steve
Link to comment
Share on other sites

FLAC is hands down the winner if you are using a windows PC. Everyone that makes a UPNP player supports it so you will have more options down the road if you decide to change your system. You won't have to re rip everything if you change your system in a couple years.
 
I use a Mac and I use itunes rip to either Apple Lossless or AIFF . I haven't settled on either one of these two formats yet.They both play the same.
 
Reese,  If you are setting up a new Mac Mini based system Apple has a new Apple TV which only costs $99 bucks. That makes it easy to move away from the Airport Express.I had a lot of troubles keeping the Airport on the network.
I just added my 5th Apple TV to my network .
 
If you are having trouble with covering your whole house I would think you could add an Airport Extreme which would extend your signal. Not sure but I think so, wireless networking is not my strong point.
 
Bill, I've been meaning to ask you this, have you found anything that will let you share rip and share SACD or DVDA 5.1 music files over the network?
 
 
  • Thank You 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've found that conversion between lossless types is pretty easy, no matter what you choose.  It seems the common denominator for PCs is WAV.  For instance Apple can convert Apple lossless to WAV and vice versa.  FLAC Frontend can convert FLAC to WAV, etc.  Windows Media Player can convert WMA lossless to WAV.  So, just choose a lossless format that's convenient for your organization tools, and don't worry.  The most important thing is to have a good database for organizing your music, and a lossless format to store it into.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bill' date=' I've been meaning to ask you this, have you found anything that will let you share rip and share SACD or DVDA 5.1 music files over the network?

 
 
[/quote']I have a program called DVD Extractor that will get the tracks off of DVD-A and DVD-V.  However, I don't have any hardware that will accept that "over the air".  My Squeezeboxes only accept up to 24-bit 48kHz stereo.  So, I can play multi-channel ripped music from a computer, but can't transmit it.
 
SACD is an entirely different beast.  DSD can either be decoded to analog or transmitted over HDMI (because HDMI offers end-to-end security).  So, I rip my SACDs (that aren't hybrid) like vinyl (stereo in real-time).
Link to comment
Share on other sites

FLAC is hands down the winner if you are using a windows PC. Everyone that makes a UPNP player supports it so you will have more options down the road if you decide to change your system. You won't have to re rip everything if you change your system in a couple years.
 
I use a Mac and I use itunes rip to either Apple Lossless or AIFF . I haven't settled on either one of these two formats yet.They both play the same.

 
Reese' date='  If you are setting up a new Mac Mini based system Apple has a new Apple TV which only costs $99 bucks. That makes it easy to move away from the Airport Express.I had a lot of troubles keeping the Airport on the network.

I just added my 5th Apple TV to my network .

 
If you are having trouble with covering your whole house I would think you could add an Airport Extreme which would extend your signal. Not sure but I think so, wireless networking is not my strong point.

 
Bill, I've been meaning to ask you this, have you found anything that will let you share rip and share SACD or DVDA 5.1 music files over the network?

 
 
[/quote']
 
I was talking with an Apple rep/geek and realize that I may have to use an Airport Extreme to piggy-back the wifi and extend the range if the mid-placed mini doesn't broadcast a long-enough range or there is attenuation from the house construction in between, etc.  
He also mentioned Apple TV - but that was before I was considering the Mac mini -- there seems to be some limitations about the Apple TV that I can't recall - for my application -- but I'll check it out again  $99 is like nothing....heheh  (OCCD????)  It kept coming back to the mini as the best option for my use.
 
Still waiting for the mini to arrive -- we got more snow last night and this morning - probably will delay deliveries again! 
Link to comment
Share on other sites



Aren't your walls made of adobe (happy0009.gif).  You shouldn't have range problems with the mini near where your main rig is.

 

There'll only be one wall between the HT and the main system - hope that's thin enough (and you're right to laugh -- it's a frame house with plaster walls, so what's my problem anyway ?  LOL)

 

Still waiting for the mini to arrive -- what with the winter storm that hit yesterday and going thru tomorrow with sub zero temps and huge wind chill factors -- well, I doubt it'll turn up for the next few days if the mail/deliveries are delayed due to snow and road conditions.   Oh well -- at least I have provisions laid in!  LOL

 

And can listen in the meantime to killer sound one room at a time!  LOL   I was showing some friends around the other day and we were talking about the new AL IIIs in the bedroom -- so I put on a club music CD and hit "play" -- and the first blast (inadvertently I'd left the volume a bit high) nearly caused one friend in front of a speaker to go into cardiac arrest and literally jump away from the speaker!  LOLOL   Nevertheless, he was mightily impressed after the first fright.

 

 

Reese 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...