What is the best quality format to rip a cd in?

[gordonmenninger]

Ok guys, here is a loaded question: I own dbpoweramp ripper, use itunes through by squeezebox and also on my iphone and ipad.
What file format will give me the best audio playback on my Martin Logan system regardless of file size? Should I just encode in apple lossless?

I bought TuneUp mp3 tag cleaner which I am using right now and it says that it does not clean up Wav tags... all of my tags and especially artwork was all messed up and this program is doing a real nice job putting things where they belong!

So in order to have the best audio quality and great id3tag retention, what do you guys suggest?:rocker:

thanks!

 

[jmschnur]

Eac does a good job as a ripper. Flac is very good.

 

[invenio]

I agree w/ jmschnur. Flac is a great open source lossless format. Your not going to be able to play it on your iphone/ipad, but why would you as the sound quality on those devices are going to be so poor that you probably can't differentiate from a 192 kbps mp3. I suppose apple's lossless format should maintain the original CD's data as well. By the way, I don't think wav files have the same tagging capability as the newer formats so maybe that is why your having problems.

 

[amey01]

Any lossless format will be intrinsically the same, regardless of which one you choose - FLAC, ALAC or anything else. I've done the tests and they are in fact identical.

That's not to say that some devices may handle conversion and clocking differently and you may get a difference in the output. But I can't tell any difference with a Squeezebox.

Just use whatever lossless format is most convenient for you.

As for ripping - well with reasonably unscratched CDs, you get the same output from iTunes --> ALAC as you do from EAC --> FLAC when you convert back to .WAV. You get the same / identical / period. So again, use what you like.

 

[jmschnur]

I found EAC quite good for older,not quite perfect, CDs

 

[gordonmenninger]

I agree w/ jmschnur. Flac is a great open source lossless format. Your not going to be able to play it on your iphone/ipad, but why would you as the sound quality on those devices are going to be so poor that you probably can't differentiate from a 192 kbps mp3. I suppose apple's lossless format should maintain the original CD's data as well. By the way, I don't think wav files have the same tagging capability as the newer formats so maybe that is why your having problems.

Thanks for the tips! I have my itunes convert everything to 128 kbps anyway for listening on my iphone / ipad so I am not worried about that. I think that for convenience sake I will just stick with ALAC to make everything play smootly and tag nicely!

 

[RichTeer]

Thanks for the tips! I have my itunes convert everything to 128 kbps anyway for listening on my iphone / ipad so I am not worried about that.

Why would you do that? You can hook up a decent DAC to your iPhone/iPad, bypassing the crappy internal one, and get most (if not all) of the benefit of lossless compression.

 

[gordonmenninger]

Why would you do that? You can hook up a decent DAC to your iPhone/iPad, bypassing the crappy internal one, and get most (if not all) of the benefit of lossless compression.

Rich, i only listen to music through my iphone when in the car / at gym / walking my dog etc... and not for any serious listening sessions! I do my real listening though my Squeezebox and play the ALAC files.
Plus, it would be a bit complicated carrying an external DAC around with me at the gym even though I would have the best sound in the room!

 

[amey01]

Why would you do that? You can hook up a decent DAC to your iPhone/iPad, bypassing the crappy internal one, and get most (if not all) of the benefit of lossless compression.

Quite simply because an iPhone has a maximum capacity of 32GB, what's the point in ripping CDs to it in the first place? You may as well just play them on a CD player!

Even an HDD based iPod has a maximum capacity of 160GB, a mere 400-500 CDs (about as many as I had when I was 19).

Unfortunately, you're generally better off converting to 128 or 192k for these sort of devices and resigning them to non-critical listening.

That way, you can at least get something near a sizable chunk of your music collection on there.

Then do all your critical listening with something easily controllable from a listening seat and connected to a 2TB NAS that can be located in another room.

I guess what it comes down to - why would you listen to small subsets of your music through an iPod dock, when (by definition) all that music must be on a central repository somewhere in your house? Why not just connect up your stereo to the central repository? That's exactly what a Squeezebox does!

It is a shame Apple won't release a 1TB iPod or iPhone, and it is equally a shame that other manufacturers insist on following Apple's lead rather than take any initiative themselves.

 

[RichTeer]

Quite simply because an iPhone has a maximum capacity of 32GB, what's the point in ripping CDs to it in the first place? You may as well just play them on a CD player!

Even an HDD based iPod has a maximum capacity of 160GB, a mere 400-500 CDs (about as many as I had when I was 19).

I'm very sure I'm in the minority here, but most of the CDs in my collection that I would want to listen to will indeed fit into my 32 GB iPhone. Of course, digital accounts for only a small fraction of my music library, which is on vinyl and is the source for all of my serious listening!

 

[amey01]

I'm very sure I'm in the minority here, but most of the CDs in my collection that I would want to listen to will indeed fit into my 32 GB iPhone. Of course, digital accounts for only a small fraction of my music library, which is on vinyl and is the source for all of my serious listening!

Fair enough.....I guess if you allow -say- 7GB for the OS and other data/apps, then that leaves you with about 25GB for music. That would be about 70-75 CDs at the most......! You're almost better off just taking a Discman!

 

[JonFo]

while Amey and other others are right, all lossless formats result in equivalent outputs, I do have a preference for FLAC, as I find wider support for it than say ALAC.

I rip to flac, and then use that to generate MP3's or whatever other formats I need for portables.

I used to rip to WAVs, but then converted the entire set to FLAC a year or so ago.

 

[Dan Osib]

Ok guys, here is a loaded question: I own dbpoweramp ripper, use itunes through by squeezebox and also on my iphone and ipad.
What file format will give me the best audio playback on my Martin Logan system regardless of file size? Should I just encode in apple lossless?

I bought TuneUp mp3 tag cleaner which I am using right now and it says that it does not clean up Wav tags... all of my tags and especially artwork was all messed up and this program is doing a real nice job putting things where they belong!

So in order to have the best audio quality and great id3tag retention, what do you guys suggest?:rocker:

thanks!

FLAC is the chosen preferrence for all UK Hifi Magazine Reviewers.