Secrete Handshake?

[Satch]

I want to download my CD collection on to MacBook using the itunes program and then transfer that to ReadyNas NV+ w/ Slim Server for play back. Is AIFF a good encoding format or should I go with AAC, WAV or Apple Lossless?

 

[Satch]

Secret (oops)

I guess its too late to edit the spelling in a title here... I'll try to be more careful next time.

 

[Rich]

Do some searches on this site. There has been a lot of discussion on this in the past. Lugano posted a great discussion of how to go about ripping using itunes. There is also a good article in the current issue of Stereophile on creating a home-grown computer server.

 

[Satch]

Thanks, I've searched this site and read everything I could find on this subject. There are some really informative threads here. Thats really how I decided to go this route... but the only question I still have is, should I go ahead and finish burning with AIFF or should I switch over to WAV or Apple Lossless or should I try to download a FLAC program. I already loaded 20 gigs of music using AIFF. Should I start over?

Also, I'd like to thank the people who run this site. It serves as a great learning tool for me.

 

[Rich]

I'm not the most knowledgeable person in this area, so I hope someone else will jump in and offer some suggestions. I don't think you want to use AAC because it is a lossy encoder and I wouldn't use WAV because it has no compression and will waste disc space. I would use some form of lossless compression. If you are wanting to use itunes as your server, then I would go with ALAC (Apple Lossless), although AIFF may also be fine for this. I don't know that much about AIFF so I don't know if it is compressed as well as ALAC.

On the other hand, if you want to use ReadyNas and slimserver for playback, most people that do that use FLAC, I believe. FLAC is a great open-source lossless compression scheme. I think you need to have a serious discussion about what exactly you want to achieve with someone who knows a lot more about it than me. You need to be sure which direction to take before you spend any more time ripping. Good Luck with it.

 

[captain_tinker]

I'm not sure, but isn't AIFF the Apple equivalent of a WAV file? (Ask Lugano, our resident Mac expert) If so, I would think that this would probably work just fine as long as the Squeezebox can play it. It would just take up more space perhaps then say a Flac or something like that... However, after already having ripped 20 gb using AIFF, it would seem silly to start all over, unless you just wanted to compress the ones you have to Flac?

-capT

 

[lugano]

Hi Satch,

AIFF is Apple's way of storing a cd track as a file, 1:1 with no compression.
FLAC is not supported by iTunes and a pita on the Mac.

I'd go with apple lossless, too. If you already have copied lots of CDs as AIFF, just convert them (overnight maybe...) to Apple Lossless with iTunes, then throw the AIFFs away. To do that, first select the lossless encoder from preferences-advanced-importing, then create a new playlist, drop all the aiffs into it, select all the files (command-A) then right-click and choose "convert selection to apple lossless" from the pop-up menu. It will take a while, depending on how many files you've got. Make sure the macBook is attached to the power supply, too...

 

[Satch]

Thanks All,

I think I'll take Iugano's advice and convert the AIFF files to Apple lossless overnight tonight and set up Apple lossless for future ripping. Hope to order ReadyNas NV+ this week.

Satch