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Topic: New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips (Read 19006 times) previous topic - next topic
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New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Hello,

I've recently changed from Windows to MacOS. Therefore I would also like to transfer my cd collection to digital form. On windows machine I was using MPC but since I've fallen in love with iTunes, I guess I need to rip my cd's to AAC-form (which I *think* is better than mp3). I originally chose MPC because of it's high quality and gaplessness.

On Windows machine I ripped cd's with either EAC or CDex. Compression was done by using the 'braindead' profile (to achieve the best sound quality possible). I also used replaygain to level the volume.

So, now I'm searching for recommendations what programs should I use to rip my cd collection and compress them to AAC. The goal is to archive my whole music collection in best quality possible (as I did with MPC). Is iTunes enough or should I get some other programs too?

Thanks in advance.

--

Esanssi


New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #2
Could a mod please change the thread title to something more meaningful than "Searching for recommendations"?

Edit: That's much better.

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #3
Okay,

Should I use XLD also for encoding my files? What would be recommended setting, True VBR or VBR (constrained)? What is the difference between these two?

And how can I apply replaygain to my encoded files?

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #4
Okay, I have a *slight* problem with XLD. I tried to encode a CD to AAC (settings True VBR, Max quality, no accurate bitrate information, no add gapless information for iTunes 7). The CD is ripped properly and encoded to m4a-files but when I try to play them in iTunes there's a problem: First track(track1) is played properly but the next one starts with the beginning of the track1, plays it for 10-15s and then starts another track(track2). If I try to play these songs separately (by clicking them), they all include a piece of track1 and after that the actual track that it's supposed to play...

If I rip the CD with iTunes, everything is normal.

Edit: The XLD version is up to date and the iTunes version is 8.

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #5
XLD is in rapid development and can behave oddly. How important to you is a good log? Have you looked at Max? It gives paranoia as a ripping option, will soon have the latest version of it, and relatively soon will spit out a useful log.

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #6
Would there be an audibly superior result using alternatives to iTunes at around 256 kbps?

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #7
Would there be an audibly superior result using alternatives to iTunes at around 256 kbps?

The difference is more in the integrity of the rip.

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #8

Would there be an audibly superior result using alternatives to iTunes at around 256 kbps?

The difference is more in the integrity of the rip.


Sorry to seem naive, but what is that precisely?

I have always used iTunes for AAC and can't tell the difference from the original CD so am wondering what I am missing out on.

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #9
He's saying with XLD, you're more likely to know if there was a ripping error and the suggestion here is that with XLD you're more likely to get a rip that is error free.  Whether a rip with errors is audible is another issue.

What isn't being said is that you might find audible differences due to the encoder and settings being used; which has nothing to do with the rip itself.

EDIT: ...or is nothing being said about the encoder because XLD and iTunes use the same AAC encoder?

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #10
He's saying with XLD, you're more likely to know if there was a ripping error and the suggestion here is that with XLD you're more likely to get a rip that is error free.  Whether a rip with errors is audible is another issue.

What isn't being said is that you might find audible differences due to the encoder and settings being used; which has nothing to do with the rip itself.

EDIT: ...or is nothing being said about the encoder because XLD and iTunes use the same AAC encoder?


Ok, thanks for the explanation.

I must say that I have never heard an audible glitch or problem with any of the many CDs I have ripped to AAC using iTunes.  I have heard dropouts/glitches with MP3's obtained from other sources though.

I imagine it must have something to do with the condition of the original CD.  Mine are all fairly pristine so I would not expect many read errors.

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #11
greynol is correct in that I was referencing the quality of the rip (rip=getting sound off the CD and not the encode to whatever). iTunes does not much more than simple Finder copy where XLD, Max, xACT all use cdparanoia (with XLD being the most developed). Think: EAC.

For my own use when I'm just loading some stuff onto the iPod or iPhone I just use iTunes for the seamless flow. This ripping is not "critical" as if it's not good I just go back and in the meantime have saved time and effort. OTOH I am in the process of archiving my stash and need to have as equal as possible duplicates of stuff. XLD will tell me that I got it.

I am also free to choose what encode/post-rip form the sound ends up. Indeed, it is not uncommon for me to pop a CD in, set controls appropriately, and have XLD, all in one fell swoop, spit out ALAC for archive, AAC for iPhone/iPod, FLAC for sharing, and even MP3 for the stupid clock/picture thingie my kid got me which is pretty slick actually sitting on my desk.

As to the OP, you used the words "archive my whole music collection in best quality possible." You must know that once you've gone to AAC you are not in best quality possible. AAC is lossless. True enough, your ears probably can't tell a difference. But, in reality, should you ever need to go back, you'll lose even more stuff and that you might tell. It all depends on what you really mean by "archive."

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #12
More important in my mind is that XLD uses Accuraterip.  cdparanoia is right up there, though.

As to the OP, you used the words "archive my whole music collection in best quality possible." You must know that once you've gone to AAC you are not in best quality possible. AAC is lossless. True enough, your ears probably can't tell a difference. But, in reality, should you ever need to go back, you'll lose even more stuff and that you might tell. It all depends on what you really mean by "archive."



AAC is lossy, not lossless.  From the context, it's clear what you meant.

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #13
AAC is lossy, not lossless.  From the context, it's clear what you meant.

    At least when I quit banging my head it'll then feel good.

Thanks for the catch.

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #14
He's saying with XLD, you're more likely to know if there was a ripping error and the suggestion here is that with XLD you're more likely to get a rip that is error free.  Whether a rip with errors is audible is another issue.

What isn't being said is that you might find audible differences due to the encoder and settings being used; which has nothing to do with the rip itself.

EDIT: ...or is nothing being said about the encoder because XLD and iTunes use the same AAC encoder?


XLD offers True VBR AAC which iTunes does not yet that I know of.
Possible advantage, but has anyone actually tested it yet?

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #15
XLD offers True VBR AAC which iTunes does not yet that I know of.
Possible advantage, but has anyone actually tested it yet?

I used it for a while but abandoned it after finding that it seemed to freak out my 5.5G iPod. It would play the first 5 or 6 tracks of an album and then after maybe 0.5 seconds of the next track my Pod would restart itself.

I don't have any way of proving for certain that it's the True VBR that does it but the same album encoded to constrained VBR or MP3 doesn't have the same effect. I can't hear any difference between the various encoding profiles anyway but just fancied the shiny new method.

 

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #16
well, just to throw it out there, here's the process I use to encode my CD's to AAC (it works like a charm with my 2G iPod Touch), assuming both Max and XLD are installed-

- rip/encode CD to FLAC using Max (paranoia enabled, etc.)
- navigate to the folder containing the FLAC files, select all/right click, and choose "Open with XLD"

very simple, and the audio quality of Quicktime AAC/True VBR (quality 120 for my music) is phenomenal... plus the encode speed with Quicktime AAC was consistently between 33-36x, so the whole process is also very fast.  just my $0.02.
Archive- FLAC (-v 8)
Portable- QuickTime AAC (True VBR/-q 77)

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #17
well, just to throw it out there, here's the process I use to encode my CD's to AAC (it works like a charm with my 2G iPod Touch), assuming both Max and XLD are installed-

- rip/encode CD to FLAC using Max (paranoia enabled, etc.)
- navigate to the folder containing the FLAC files, select all/right click, and choose "Open with XLD"

very simple, and the audio quality of Quicktime AAC/True VBR (quality 120 for my music) is phenomenal... plus the encode speed with Quicktime AAC was consistently between 33-36x, so the whole process is also very fast.  just my $0.02.

Why use Max when XLD has far passed it?

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #18
well, just to throw it out there, here's the process I use to encode my CD's to AAC (it works like a charm with my 2G iPod Touch), assuming both Max and XLD are installed-

- rip/encode CD to FLAC using Max (paranoia enabled, etc.)
- navigate to the folder containing the FLAC files, select all/right click, and choose "Open with XLD"

very simple, and the audio quality of Quicktime AAC/True VBR (quality 120 for my music) is phenomenal... plus the encode speed with Quicktime AAC was consistently between 33-36x, so the whole process is also very fast.  just my $0.02.


Thanks, it worked for me. I was wondering is it possible (in near future) to encode AAC (True VBR) on higher bitrates. I find average 212 kbps too little for my tastes.

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #19
Has someone here tried running Nero's encoder in Wine or Crossover? On Linux it's even faster than the native one, so perhaps this is an interesting option too.

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #20
Thanks, it worked for me. I was wondering is it possible (in near future) to encode AAC (True VBR) on higher bitrates. I find average 212 kbps too little for my tastes.


Too little for your tastes.  Did you properly ABX this or are you just making a general statement?  Remember that audio quality claims should always be backed up with a proper ABX test (or ABX variant test).  Otherwise you are probably just suffering from the placebo affect.  After all, there is no need to encode at such a high bitrate if your ears won't hear the benefits.

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #21
Why use Max when XLD has far passed it?

honestly, it's just a matter of preference, I tried XLD for a couple imports and went back to Max simply because the tag-editing process is much simpler with Max (in my opinion)... neither of the CD's I tried importing had correct tags (or didn't have them altogether), and I didn't want to go through the hassle of fighting with a program during the process of importing my 500+ cd's when it'd be much easier working with a program I was already familiar with.
Archive- FLAC (-v 8)
Portable- QuickTime AAC (True VBR/-q 77)

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #22

Why use Max when XLD has far passed it?

honestly, it's just a matter of preference, I tried XLD for a couple imports and went back to Max simply because the tag-editing process is much simpler with Max (in my opinion)... neither of the CD's I tried importing had correct tags (or didn't have them altogether), and I didn't want to go through the hassle of fighting with a program during the process of importing my 500+ cd's when it'd be much easier working with a program I was already familiar with.

Max uses Musicbrainz (sp?) and XLD uses feedb. Max can use Gracenote if it's accompanying script is invoked with iTunes open. XLD does even better by automatically using Gracenote if iTunes is open.

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #23
Max uses Musicbrainz (sp?) and XLD uses feedb. Max can use Gracenote if it's accompanying script is invoked with iTunes open. XLD does even better by automatically using Gracenote if iTunes is open.

ya, I noticed that while toying around with Max after I'd first installed it, but I try to avoid using iTunes as a front-end whenever possible, especially when it comes to tagging... I made the mistake in the past of assuming Gracenote would return the proper tags, only to notice multiple typos/tagging errors later on (rough estimate- about 5% of my cd's).  my thoughts are that if I'm going to go to the bother of creating a lossless archive, I want to make sure I don't have to go back and correct anything later... and as for my using Max rather than XLD, since all (give or take 1 or 2) of my cd's are in pristine condition, I don't need some high-powered error correction mode enabled when enabling basic paranoia mode in Max typically doesn't make the rip process any slower than if I used no error correction at all (unlike XLD which, with paranoia mode enabled, hung around 3-4x during the rip process for the few cd's I tried importing).

it could also be because I'm fairly new to OS X and prefer to just go with whatever comes easiest to me the first time around.

edit- sorry, I guess I should clarify, it wasn't that I was disappointed with Gracenote's tagging accuracy so much as it added things to the tags that I don't care about (disc number, composer info, some huge garbled number to identify the cd in the Gracenote database later, etc.)... granted it might only be a matter of bytes, but it's still unnecessary bulk.
Archive- FLAC (-v 8)
Portable- QuickTime AAC (True VBR/-q 77)

New Mac user looking for best quality AAC rips

Reply #24
I am stuck with whatever XLD outputs, correct, which i assume is AAC or some other Apple format.

XLD can encode to a lot more than AAC. Go to Preferences->General tab and click the drop down menu under Output Format.