I have 3000 CD's that I wish to archive. I know this will be a long process, but I want to create a digital music database of my CD's that are a true copy of the originals. I know using a lossy compression method is not the way to go, so I am aware that it is a lossless codec I need to use. However there are quite a number of lossless codecs out there and each have there own plus and minus points. Using a comparison table posted on Wikipedia (http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index....ess_comparison) it seems that FLAC compression is the first choice for most people. So I was wondering if there are any professional archivers out there that can point me in the right direction by answering the following questions:
1. What codec do professionals use: FLAC, WavPack, TAC, Monkeys, OptimFROG, ALAC, WMA, Shorten, LA, TTA, LPAC, MPEG4 ALS/SLS, Real Lossless or plain old WAV?
2. What settings would you recommend for the chosen format?
3. What formats do professionals use to create digital music data-bases for televion and radio?
4. What format is the most compatable with all/most of the standard players available?
5. What longevity do these encoders have. Are any Codecs more likely to become obsolete.
Now I am aware of the amount of drive space taken up whilst using Lossless files, but that is not really a major concern. All I want is a like-for-like digital archive copy of all my CD's. This is a major factor as I may sell the orginal CD's at a later date. I am also aware that some portable players only use certain file formats, but if I have a CD quality archive I can use this to encode to other formats without loss of quality, as though I were using the original CD.
Sorry for the amount of questions, but I want to choose the right codec first time.
Hopefully somebody out there can help me.
If Spoon reads this, I would be very interested to hear what he would recommend, and also what would be the safest settings to use in dBpoweramp.
Regards
Simon
1. What codec do professionals use: FLAC, WavPack, TAC, Monkeys, OptimFROG, ALAC, WMA, Shorten, LA, TTA, LPAC, MPEG4 ALS/SLS, Real Lossless or plain old WAV?
2. What settings would you recommend for the chosen format?
3. What formats do professionals use to create digital music data-bases for televion and radio?
4. What format is the most compatable with all/most of the standard players available?
5. What longevity do these encoders have. Are any Codecs more likely to become obsolete.
Now I am aware of the amount of drive space taken up whilst using Lossless files, but that is not really a major concern. All I want is a like-for-like digital archive copy of all my CD's. This is a major factor as I may sell the orginal CD's at a later date. I am also aware that some portable players only use certain file formats, but if I have a CD quality archive I can use this to encode to other formats without loss of quality, as though I were using the original CD.
Sorry for the amount of questions, but I want to choose the right codec first time.
Hopefully somebody out there can help me.
If Spoon reads this, I would be very interested to hear what he would recommend, and also what would be the safest settings to use in dBpoweramp.
Regards
Simon
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