Quote:
Originally Posted by onlymovies
Amp, just curious if you don't mind....is Toast the best program for Mac to use when converting FLAC files over to ALAC? I have tons of FLAC files to port over to ALAC or mp3 or whatnot. Also, is ALAC playable outside of ipods, or is that apple specific? And last, should there be another format i convert to other then ALAC if i want the best losses sound, and playable across all players? I obviously need to do tons more research before posting these questions, but figured i'd give it a shot none the less.
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Well, there are a couple different schools of thought on this subject.
A lot of guys will tell you point blank that FLAC is the best, because of what it is: FREE LOSSLESS AUDIO CODEC.... however, in my experience, Flac is difficult on a practical level because you need weird software to use it. I just want high end audio I can play in iTunes and iPods, etc... so I use Toast to convert to Alac. Whether it's playable outside of iPods, I couldn't really say, because I've never tried.
But, of course ALAC can always be converted to something else as well, because ALAC is also lossless, so your hi-grade audio will still always be good as long as you keep the lossless copies. And you can burn Alac to CDs if you want, right in iTunes.
My guess would be that ALAC may cause problems for you if you're looking for use outside of an iPod or iTunes and you'd probably have to convert again to something else. When I run into that situation, I convert them to MP3 for temporary use. My sticking point is, I prefer the ultra high quality of lossless audio, so I stay away from MP3s like the plague. But that's a personal preference.
Toast will convert FLAC to ALAC super quick. The trouble is, it doesn't maintain any internal tags, so after conversion, you drag them into iTunes and have to go in and re-enter the info back into the tags. It's a pain, but to me is worth the extra work because my audio collection is a thing of fucking beauty right now. It's flawless.
When I rip from a new CD, I just pull the raw AIFF files off it now. Not really even "ripping" as we know it, just a copy & paste. Full uncompressed, lossless audio.
