ALAC Setup newbe

[Tazio]

Hello All
Just downloaded DB and what an improvement over itunes !... i am in the process of moving my cds onto files so i can stream to my HIFI i am all mac so it seems the ALAC lossless makes sense for me i have a relatively good HIFI a mixture of Niam and Linn so i would like cd quality and the streaming is replacing my Niam cd player .
I have read through the setup stuff which mainly seems centred around FLAC so i was wondering how you ALAC users deal with DSP as the explained settings i beleive are for FLAC do you bother with this setting or not ? and if so what settings do you go for .
I of course realise that FLAC will maybe end up as the main conversion Protical but it seems within the software i can batch convert my ALAC files at a later date with no loss of quality is that true ?.
Also itunes is a pretty good catologing programe so do most people on mac convert using DBpoweramp software and then put the file in itunes or are there better options ?.
Many thanks in advance .

[GBrown]

Re: ALAC Setup newbe

The only DSP I use is adding the Replaygain values. I have it set to determine the track and album Replaygain tags, and also to set the iTunes ALBUM level, since you can only choose one or the other. No other audio DSPs are used in my case.

I still use iTunes to drive my library every day. I do not let it manage the library. I rip with dbPoweramp, adjust all tags, then move the files to the proper structure under AlbumArtist/Album/Disc*-Track* Title as the structure. Then just add the latest folders into iTunes (under the file menu). Occasionally I will have iTunes add the entire music main folder just to make sure nothing was missing. It only takes a few minutes to scan, and it won't duplicate tracks but catches anything rogue.

The key difference between ALAC and FLAC is the CRC consistency check flag. But being on a Mac and using iTunes, ALAC isn't an option at this time.

[garym]

Re: ALAC Setup newbe

being on a Mac and using iTunes, ALAC isn't an option at this time.

I think you mean FLAC is not an option.

edit: I rip to FLAC and only use the ReplayGain DSP, set to add track and album level ReplayGain tags.

[GBrown]

Re: ALAC Setup newbe

I think you mean FLAC is not an option.

edit: I rip to FLAC and only use the ReplayGain DSP, set to add track and album level ReplayGain tags.

Yes meant FLAC is not an option, thanks for pointing out that error. Using ALAC is the only lossless option if the plan is to use iTunes as a player. And since iTunes doesn't use Replaygain tags, it doesn't hurt to also have the iTunes gain included as well for that environment.

[garym]

Re: ALAC Setup newbe

Agree on also using iTunes soundcheck value here. I also used the album version of this when creating lossy files for use on my iThings. Now I skip iTunes, as I use TuneFusion to transfer to iThings running foobar2000 mobile

[Tazio]

Re: ALAC Setup newbe

Yes meant FLAC is not an option, thanks for pointing out that error. Using ALAC is the only lossless option if the plan is to use iTunes as a player. And since iTunes doesn't use Replaygain tags, it doesn't hurt to also have the iTunes gain included as well for that environment.

Thanks for the reply’s so what setting would the iTunes gain be ?

[garym]

Re: ALAC Setup newbe

Thanks for the reply&*8217;s so what setting would the iTunes gain be ?

Track, Album Gain & iTunes Album Normalization

[GBrown]

Re: ALAC Setup newbe

Correct, this is what I use.