What is the best format / codec for windows

[SpencerASmith]

I have read up on this, but I'm afraid to say that I'm still a little confused :headbang:

I want to rip my CDs and maintain the highest possible sound quality. I'm not worried about file size. A lossless codec seems to be what I need.
I want my files to be playable on a windows PC.
I intend to put these on NAS drive and stream them to a Hi-Fi media device such as the Cyrus Lyric.

Most of my digital music collection is already in iTunes, but I'll looking to re-rip a lot of this, as I'm worried about the quality when played through a decent Hi-Fi.

Many thanks in advance for any advice that is given.

[DaveA]

Any lossless codec will give you the highest possible sound quality, as no audio data is lost when a CD is properly ripped and encoded. In other words, there is no difference between lossless codecs in sound quality. The differences between will be in file size, time to encode/decode, and compatibility with your audio devices. Many people like FLAC because it gives you a relatively small file size, it is relatively quick to encode/decode, and it has relatively wide compatibility with audio devices. I personally use FLAC because I can play FLAC files on my portable Sandisk player, whereas most other types of lossless files are not supported. So you'll want to check what your preferred audio device supports for playback. WAV has relatively wide support, but it also gives you significantly larger file size than the others. APE, ALAC, and WavPack give you smaller file size, but they aren't supported by as many devices as FLAC. Almost nothing will play WMA lossless, so definitely don't use that. I do think you'll be best off with FLAC.

[garym]

I too use FLAC. And I'm a completely windows user (win laptop, desktop, etc.). I keep a mirror library of mp3 files (mp3 lame -V2) for use on my ipods/iphones/ipads, but use FLAC (lossless) for my home system and on my computers. I use foobar2000 for pc player and a squeezebox system with many synched players for my home system. But again, how will you play these files is the key. if you're using itunes, you'll need to rip to ALAC (apple lossless) as itunes can't use FLAC. But any lossless can be converted to any other lossess without loss of information in the future. Key is to have a lossless format that has standard metadata tags (like flac, apple lossless). FLAC files also have built in error checking so one can copy them to another drive run an easy file verify (convert to TEST CONVERSION) in dbpa, and one is told whether any of the files have any errors. WAV files do NOT have this capability. But key is lossless. lossless=lossless=lossless.

[DaveA]

Good info. Like Gary wrote, you really don't need to worry about the lossless format you choose, because you can always convert to a different lossless format at a later time. You're only stuck if you encode straight to a lossy format .