Several questions

[garym]

Not sure what it produces. That's my concern. Not knowing or having anytype of confirmation. Just know what I see when ripping. Like I said maybe it's happening automatically even though it still shows as the [as source]. I am by no means an expert on this. Just want to make sure I am ripping properly before I continue on with 7400 more CDs.

Hmmm, I can see the bit rate and bit depth on many other programs post rip. Even in Windows File Explorer, you can open a folder of audio files and right click on the column headings and tick the options to show "bit rate" and "bit depth". What are you using as a music server to hold your digital library? And what players are you using?

And sorry, I have to ask. Why are you using AIFF? This is not the greatest format for tagging, etc. I assume you do understand that FLAC and ALAC are lossless just like WAV and AIFF?

All in all, with 7400 CDs to rip, you need to play around a bit more to learn about how you want to tag and name and organize your files. How you want to handle multiple disc CDs, compilation CDs, etc. Rip and name a few examples of all this and then use it with your server/player to see things get handled. You'll learn a lot. I learned the hard way, after ripping about 5,000 CDs to mp3! Then after learning a lot I reripped them to FLAC (lossless).

[sculen]

Wow! Thank you. I just went to one of the track files, right clicked on it, hit "get Info" and OMG it is ripping 16 bit, 44.1, and stereo. Now I feel like an idiot, but I'm learning this stuff.
About 20 yrs ago, when my collection was about 6000 CDs, I made the mistake of ripping to MP3 using an Escient Player that had a great on screen interface but that then broke down and they went out of business (or I should say it was discontinued). Luckily I had imported everything to my 2008 iMac in iTunes (still have this) and a lot of it resides on my various iPhone throughout all these years. Learned a lot then.
But now is my last opportunity to get it right. While both FLAC and ALAC are lossless, they are compressed so there is additional processing going on when playing back. Rationale for AIFF is it's totally uncompressed and great at picking up the meta data very well as I understand it. My collection will take up around 6 to 7TB. I'm starting out ripping to a 10TB external WD hard drive because the new NAS I want (Synology 1525+) is not available yet and I do not want to wait. So when I get the NAS, I'll move the files to it with a raid 5 configuration. Then I'll be able to play through the streamers (Bluesound & Cambridge) connected to my various hifi systems. For getting the music onto my iPhone, I'll have to make a copy of the collection at some lower rate (perhaps ALAC or bit-my-tongue MP3 320), but even with that, I'll never be able to fit it all since the most storage on a iPhone is currently 1TB (although iPads have 2TB but expensive). Since I travel a lot, I want ideally my entire collection (or as much of it as possible) at my disposal on those long flights. I do not stream anything. I listen to only full albums. If I want or like the music enough, I'll by the CD. These days, I buy very little. Typically obscure stuff that I hear about but that I haven't ever heard of. While I am a product of the 60s and 70s, no plans to buy the latest Stones album. Now looking into the new Styx album that just came out on CD.

[garym]

got it. I will say that the "additional processing" you mention for FLAC and ALAC is beyond trivial for any computer built since 1992 or any streamer (blusound for example) since 1998, but it is your collection and you should do what you want. And the good news is that when we eventually convince you to use FLAC, since AIFF is lossless, you can simply do an overnight conversion with a couple of mouse clicks to convert all your AIFF to FLAC, including moving over the metadata. ;-)

[sculen]

I'm just too OCD for my own good. Good to know can convert easily. Question though ... Isn't FLAC incompatible with Apple products?

[GBrown]

I'm just too OCD for my own good. Good to know can convert easily. Question though ... Isn't FLAC incompatible with Apple products?

There are players on Mac that support FLAC.

O think you will find that the AIFF format will cause some
compatibility issues. Not all players support AIFF, especially on mobile platforms and definitely not in most car entertainment systems. And the are metadata limitations that you won't have with FLAC or ALAC. The biggest difference between them is ALAC is natively supported by Apple devices and FLAC is almost everything else. If you want to take one extra step for security, go with FLAC as it has a checksum for integrity that ALAC does not.

Note these are lossless formats. Meaning nothing gets lost even during compression. Unlike lossy formats like mp3 that are destructive. With lossless formats you can freely convert to other lossless formats at any time and back again and have no data loss.

Since you are a Mac user I would suggest ALAC. Even with flagship audiophile grade equipment you will not hear a difference.

[sculen]

Thanks for these insights. What are mobile platforms? And for car entertainments systems, isn't Apple car play just playing what's on the iPhone? What is a checksum that FLAC has? Thanks again. This stuff is so interesting!

[GBrown]

What are mobile platforms?

Android and iOS devices, as well as many digital audio players (many are also Android based now).

And for car entertainments systems, isn't Apple car play just playing what's on the iPhone?

Not all car systems support CarPlay or Android Auto. Some support direct file playback through USB drives or even have built in storage.

What is a checksum that FLAC has?

This is a way of checking data integrity within a file. This is written into the metadata during the ripping stage. If you are ever concerned about your files you can run a vefication against the original checksum and see if they match. If they don't the file has been comprimised.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checksum

[Jonwilson12]

Thanks for the detailed breakdown! Since I'm on a Mac, ALAC sounds like the most convenient choice—appreciate the clarity on compatibility and integrity.

[garym]

I can play FLAC files on my iPhone. I use foobar2000 mobile as my player on my iPhone. But in any case, you will be MUCH better off ripping to ALAC than AIFF. It is lossless, works on Mac and iPhone, and is a standard lossless format that works well with metadata, etc.

[sculen]

Thanks for that tip. Is there any rule around album art i.e. the size of the photo?

[garym]

I know that different players/servers have different limits on picture size so it really depends. In my own case on my iPhone and on my home server, I’ve never run up on a size limit. But I use 1000 x 1000 pixel size cover art.

[sculen]

Same here 1000 x 1000. If none, then as close to it as possible

[sculen]

Sometimes get an Inaccurate track (in red) but the CRC is normal looking. I've tried to re-rip/override just the one track several times. I worked once, but in many other cases it just stayed as Inacurate. When I play back these tracks, they play normal. Worry about this or not?

[garym]

Sometimes get an Inaccurate track (in red) but the CRC is normal looking. I've tried to re-rip/override just the one track several times. I worked once, but in many other cases it just stayed as Inacurate. When I play back these tracks, they play normal. Worry about this or not?

This happens to me occasionally. I don't worry about it if they play normal. And "inaccurate" doesn't necessarily mean an insecure rip. It just means that your rip does not match the AccurateRip check from the database. Could be different pressing, or other reasons.

[sculen]

Thank you garym