Originally Posted by
jocar37
Thanks all. Sounds like tagging does work pretty much as I suspected. So my desire to have sidemen tagged is unfortunately likely to go unfulfilled.
I want to re-rip because of the discussions I've read about uncompressed formats having better sonic qualities. A few months back, I did a comparison in which two of us listened to hi res HDTracks FLAC album and an XRCD24 of the exact same tunes (Hank Mobley's Soul Station - great album!). We could hear some distinct differences between the two (I preferred the XRCD). So I have to at least give credence to the notion that there could be audible difference in different formats.
It's a more accurate and relevant assessment to compare your own actual lossless rips of a given CD.
The biggest quandry for me on this point is WAV vs uncompressed FLAC. The latter is said to have better tagging, but if the "extras" I want aren't available automatically, I may go with WAV, which many say is the best sound. When my computer arrives, I'm planning on ripping in both FLAC and WAV, at least for an album or two. Then I'll do a test to see if I can hear any differences. XRCD encompasses more than just playback, so maybe the differences I heard there would be more pronounced than between WAV and FLAC. Perhaps I should include some lossless tracks in the test as well. As far evaluating with PerfectTunes or any other digital device, I guess i prefer to see what my ears tell me instead. Have any of you listened to the different free downloads at Sound Liaison? i think you may find them interesting.
You are misunderstanding some very important points.
"I'm planning on ripping in both FLAC and WAV, at least for an album or two. Then I'll do a test to see if I can hear any differences."
"Perhaps I should include some lossless tracks in the test as well."
I think you're confused about what "lossless" means, or what the lossless codecs are. WAV and FLAC are lossless tracks....you will be comparing two different lossless rips of your files when you compare a WAV rip to a FLAC rip. (If they are both accurate rips, BTW, they will be the exact same audio data...see below.)
"As far evaluating with PerfectTunes or any other digital device, I guess i prefer to see what my ears tell me instead."
You're confused about what PerfectTunes does. (It isn't a substitute for your ears, and it doesn't do any sort of audio evaluation....nor are your ears an alternative to what it can do.) Whenever you rip a CD to a lossless codec (WAV, FLAC, etc), you are attempting to create a perfect, bit-for-bit digital file of the all the audio data on the CD. ("Lossless" means that you don't discard any of the information, as "lossy" rips do.) If any errors occur in the ripping process, you get an "inaccurate" file. Sometimes that's audible, sometimes it's not. If your file does not have any errors, and is indeed a perfect, bit-for-bit match, you have what is called an "accurate" lossless rip. This is what we want when building our digital music libraries.
All PerfectTunes does is compare your digital file to a database of existing rips of that particular track to determine whether your rip is accurate or not. Nothing more, nothing less. If you do indeed have a perfect, accurate, lossless rip, it's impossible to rip it again and make another one that is somehow better or "more" accurate or "more" perfect. This is why garym and I wondered why you'd want to re-rip lossless files. If they are accurate, and only PerfectTunes can tell you for sure whether they are or not, you can't make better ones.