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Can Anyone Please Walk Me Through This?

Hello Everyone.

There have been several threads that touch on the subject of lossless files for the Ipod, including my own posts describing my frustration "tagging" ordinary WAV files.

Although I still can't seem to find the right information in any one single place, an Audiogon friend recently told me that this whole business was a piece of cake with the latest version of Itunes.

Using Itunes or EAC (my old reference standard) could someone please tell me how to do the following in a Windows 2000 environment:

1) "Rip" individual tracks and/or entire CDs into my computer's drive in a true lossless or WAV format for maxium fidelity with no concern for storage space and

2) Do this in a way that preserves the track information, or at least permits easy "tagging" which will also transfer to the Ipod and

3) Extra credit: anything that enhances the ease and convenience of creating a library and/or contributes to maximum audiophile flexibility for other devices or formats or exportation to an external DAC.

Fingers crossed I might soon enjoy maximum fidelity for my big gig Ipod, even if I can only store a few CDs worth of content.

Thank you very much.
cwlondon

Showing 3 responses by sidssp

sidssp
1,077 posts
 
Please take a look at these web sites for detail how-to steps:

http://www.ipodlounge.com/
http://www.ipoding.com/
http://www.ipodhacks.com/

In addition, based on my own experiences, I have the following recommendations if you have enough disk space:

1. If you are going to play from iTune, rip CD to Apple Lossless. Apple Lossless sounded the same as WAV when played from iTune. No need to waste 50% disk space.

2. If you are going to burn CD from iTune, rip CD to WAV, not Apple Lossless. CDs burn from WAV sound better than burn from Lossless. I cannot explain it but I have tried a dozen CDs and every one sound better when burn from WAV.

3. Convert the ripped WAV or Apple Lossless to MP3 VBR at 320kbs for iPod upload. When played back from iPod through HD-650 headphone, I cannot tell any difference between MP3 at 320kbs and WAV. No need to waste limited disk space on iPod.

4. Use smart playlists to separate the WAV, Apple Lossless, and MP3.

5. Do not delete the WAV or Apple Lossless even after you have uploaded to iPod because you cannot transfer them back from iPod easily – at least not from iTune, you will need other tools.
sidssp
1,077 posts
 
Cwlondon, I don't know how well LAME or EAC work, I have not used either. But I believe your MP3 files were encoded at a lower bit rate. I have experienced the same edgy, hard, and fatiguing sound quality you described when I ripped CDs at below 192kbs. But at 320kbs VBR, the sound quality is really excellent. Give it a try. It might surprise you.
sidssp
1,077 posts
 
Cwlondon,
I have been an audiophile and a DIYer since 1972. Over the years I have learn not to worry about hair splitting differences anymore. If my lady friend or I cannot consistently hear the difference, I would rather just enjoy the music and not worry about what was supposed to be better. Maybe you are right about the iPod’s internal amp and DAC limit, or maybe my old ears are just not sensitive enough anymore. But in either case, iPod playing MP3 encoded at 320kbs VBR sounded every bit as good as wav to me. That is why I encourage you to give it a try. If you can hear a difference, god blesses you. If you can’t, why waste the disk space?

Ultraviolet,
You can tag Apple Lossless. On average, it is about 50% smaller than wav and about 50% larger than 320bps MP3 VBR. If one really wants to be perfect, Apple Lossless is a good compromise. One down side is that you will be stuck with iTurn and iPod, nothing else can play that format.
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