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Computer audio help

W

way909780

Well-Known Member
Just getting into computer audio and after some advise.

My current set up is -

SBT into MDAC controlled by i-pod touch
Naim 282, Supercap, 250.2 in Kef reference speakers

I have roughly 1200 CD's to rip to either ALAC or FLAC.

Which of these will be the best format to rip to? I use ipods for music on the go and in the car. I need easy transfer of music to these. My home set up uses 2 pc's although in the future these may change to a mac or i-pad based system. Also as I get further into computer audio the front end set up may also change, but undecided which way this will go as yet (Linn, Naim, Mac/Dac).

Finally also after some ideas on best media player / remote app to use for overall control my home system - stick with i-tunes or media monkey, etc. (don't want to spend a lot of money on a player and find that in the future I don't need it if I go the Naim or Linn route).
 
I use iTunes and ripped everything to Apple lossless. Seemed the best way of ensuring I could use them on an iOS device.
 
I prefer flac as i am an applophobe. But reluctantly if you use an ipod then alac is the more convenient.
 
Agreed. It's easy to convert between formats without loss so don't lose any sleep and rip away. Just be sure the format you choose is lossless and you won't go wrong.
 
I use iTunes with AIFF. You can set iTunes to covert the files down to smaller ACC files when syncing an to an iPod.....
 
Take cover, Flac vs Alac war imminent! I use flac myself, but as was said earlier, as long as it's lossless you can convert to any other format later or go back to the original wav.
 
I also use AIFF to a Mac Mini as the base rip. Then convert as required from there. But any lossless format should be fine. There was some argument a couple of years ago on another forum - as to whether the efficiency of the decompression algorithm & so related CPU load - could affect sound quality. But I've never noticed anything.

I do use XLD to rip (http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23430/x-lossless-decoder) - as it has some diagnostics (error rates): so a useful check on the physical quality of the CD being ripped. But again XLD & iTunes rips sound identical to me. When ripping with iTunes - I have 'use error correction set'.

With respect to play back side of things - I've ended up using Amarra Mini. In the scheme of things - its not expensive & I like what it does. However PureVinyl is also great - and I've read good reports concerning a number of OSS players.

Worth occasionally reading http://www.computeraudiophile.com - though apply the usual pinch of salt ;).
 
I use DBpoweramp to rip all my CDs into flac format. DBpoweramp will ensure that you can get a perfect rip. :)

I had used these flac files with my computer, Naim NDX and Linn DS player.
 
If running Apple hardware, and particularly the portable stuff, stick with Apple formats.
Nothing wrong with FLAC and in terms of performance and file size it is directly comparable to Apple Lossless, but it won't play nicely with Apple hardware without convertors.
 
Rip a couple to each format and try it out either way.. See which works best for you BEFORE starting on the big job of ripping the lot.
 
Definitely AIFF or Apple Lossless for Apple (audition before deciding!). And definitely try Audirvana rather than (now, as well as) iTunes.

If Windows, then JRiver is about the only usable and good sounding app that makes use of WAVs painless: it's the Gold standard at present. If you can't stomach the cost of JRiver and are looking for a free ride, WinAmp, XBMC or Foobar are all OK - you may as well go for FLAC there.

If Linux, then AIFF.

But it's very important to stress that your decision re: computer 'transport' should be dictated by the requirements of your DAC. First, each DAC tends to favour by design one input above the others.

If, for instance, this is USB, then your mission is to optimise your computer for USB: ie, remove all USB I/O traffic (keyboard, mouse, external drives, peripherals, etc). Also, to reduce ground plane noise as far as possible. Furthermore, your USB DAC will favour certain software and OS configurations: you may have to install drivers that are not available on Mac/Linux. Even if the DAC is 'driverless' (ie fully UAC2-compliant, or just using the standard OS drivers), then it will probably favour ASIO, Kernel Streaming or WASAPI - depending on what flavour of Windows you're running.

Again, the mission here is to make the USB DAC or SPDIF converter as happy as possible: always work back from the DAC when making a decision about the computer. Good luck!
 
Guys, the fella wants to go down the Apple software and hardware, the only thing he needs to use is ALAC. Its not a problem its perfectly fit for purpose. If you/he wants auto bit/Hz switching, use puremusic etc. It really doesn't need to be any more complicated.
 
I would suggest using dBpoweramp to rip to ALAC. That covers your immediate requirement of using a SBT (which will play any format) and your existing apple devices. By using dBpoweramp to rip, the rips will have the artwork in the tags, so making it easy to move to a UPnP type Linn/Naim solution in the future if you want. If you use iTunes to rip, artwork is hidden away inside iTunes, so may mean you have no artwork when you come to move away from the apple mother ship. DBpoweramp is also much faster at ripping, as well as being very thorough, - not unimportant if you have 1000cds to rip. Easy enough to try all these things for free.
 
SBT didn't used to pick up artwork from iTunes. It has got better and sneaks it out. But AFAIK if you use iTunes to rip, the ALACs themselves aren't tagged with artwork, which makes it a PITA if you later want to use them with say a UPnP server, or convert them to FLAC (if you're a Linnie) or WAV (if you're a Naimie), as you then have to re-artwork them. dBpoweramp does put the artwork in the ALAC metadata - fine for iTunes, fine for the future options that the op envisages. It's also a huge amount faster. If you rip into a folder called ....iTunes\iTunes Music\Automatically Add to iTunes they'll get picked up automatically. Btw, did ya know that JRMC will also stream to a SBT as well as an iThing?
 
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