If you buy or download music in FLAC files, you do so because you want the best quality audio files. FLAC files are losslessly compressed, which means that, when you play them back, they are bit-perfect replicas of the original uncompressed files (on a CD or high-resolution files).
You may want to play these files in iTunes. While iTunes doesn’t support FLAC files, it’s very easy to convert them to Apple Lossless, or ALAC, an equivalent lossless format that iTunes does support. Converting audio files from one lossless format to another is lossless; in other words, there is no quality lost when you convert from FLAC to ALAC. (The same is true with other uncompressed or lossless formats, such as WAV, AIFF, APE, SHN, and others.)
The best app for doing this on a Mac is the free XLD. It can convert too and from just about every audio format you will even want to use, and does so retaining metadata; tags with track info and album artwork. It’s quick and easy to use, and you can either keep your original FLAC files, or delete them after conversion and just keep the ALAC files. (You can always convert them back to FLAC later if you want, with no loss in quality.)
If you use Windows, you can get a free version of dBpoweramp, which can convert files, and a paid version, which you can use to rip CDs, edit tags and more.
There used to be some third-party tools that hacked iTunes to let you add FLAC files, but they’re not reliable. If you want to use lossless files with iTunes, it’s much easier to just convert them.
One other useful tool, if you use a Mac, is Rogue Amoeba’s Fission. This audio editor is my tool of choice for trimming, joining, and editing audio files, and it also includes a conversion tool that lets you convert from just about any audio format to AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, FLAC, AIFF, and WAV. While it’s not the best tool if you only want to convert audio files, it is the easiest-to-use Mac app for editing those files.
One more thing. Don’t convert lossy files to lossless; they don’t sound better. (You’d be surprised how many people write me thinking they will.)
Your title is misleading. Converting a FLAC to ALAC is NOT playing it through itunes, it’s converting it. Simply pointless info here Kirk.
This is definitely NOT pointless information. It is a way to play lossless music on itunes and ios devices. Why would you have an issue with converting music to an equivalent yet much more compatible format? ALAC is a format that is greatly underutilized.
But its not playing FLAC, its ALAC, “Your title is misleading. Converting a FLAC to ALAC is NOT playing it through itunes” Hes right
i’m confused. The title says how to play FLAC in iTunes. No one would need to read this if FLAC could be effortlessly played in iTunes. What am i missing here? (common for me to miss things). The article then immediately covers the fact that FLAC isn’t supported in iTunes and that it’s easy to convert FLAC to ALAC. While following the suggestion in the article and other feedback in the comments, i downloaded XLD and immediately found it unintelligible and therefore useless, i think it presupposes some knowledge that i don’t have, some vocabulary. So i am looking for a conversion program like the old days when whatever program i was playing the (for example) FLAC file in would have a “Convert to MP3” (and other options) option to choose. Click OK and conversion starts. XLD was something completely different, and the instructions offered me the source code and some command lines, and something about splitting cue files, at that point, i was out of my league and despite trying to improvise, i was wasting my time. So that may have something to do with why i don’t understand your critique “misleading title.” Just wondering.
dBpower amp works as you described for Windows.
Right click the flac file or highlight several and right click and a Convert To option appears in the drop down menu. Takes a minute to set up so that it converts to the file you want but after that it’s quick and easy.
I know you posted this forever ago, and hopefully you found the answer. You go into XLD Preferences, choose the 1st tab (General). For output format choose “Apple Lossless” (You can click the “Options” button and make sure everything says “Same as Original”), for output directory choose where you want to place the new Apple Lossless (ALAC) files, and then either use the open menu item (You can choose multiple items in the open with the shift and/or option keys), or better yet grab all the .FLAC files and drop them on top of the XLD icon and it will convert them all to ALAC. You can now drag them to iTunes…
Agree and disagree. Technically it’s true that converting FLAC files necessarily means you cannot play those files in iTunes. But it’s not true that the information is pointless, as the majority of people wanting to play FLAC files on iTunes are looking for FLAC-quality music on iTunes, and don’t care about the actual extension.
He also addressed how to play FLAC files directly through iTunes and mentioned that it was not reliable to do so.
Your title is misleading. Converting a FLAC to ALAC is NOT playing it through itunes, it’s converting it. Simply pointless info here Kirk.
This is definitely NOT pointless information. It is a way to play lossless music on itunes and ios devices. Why would you have an issue with converting music to an equivalent yet much more compatible format? ALAC is a format that is greatly underutilized.
But its not playing FLAC, its ALAC, “Your title is misleading. Converting a FLAC to ALAC is NOT playing it through itunes” Hes right
i’m confused. The title says how to play FLAC in iTunes. No one would need to read this if FLAC could be effortlessly played in iTunes. What am i missing here? (common for me to miss things). The article then immediately covers the fact that FLAC isn’t supported in iTunes and that it’s easy to convert FLAC to ALAC. While following the suggestion in the article and other feedback in the comments, i downloaded XLD and immediately found it unintelligible and therefore useless, i think it presupposes some knowledge that i don’t have, some vocabulary. So i am looking for a conversion program like the old days when whatever program i was playing the (for example) FLAC file in would have a “Convert to MP3” (and other options) option to choose. Click OK and conversion starts. XLD was something completely different, and the instructions offered me the source code and some command lines, and something about splitting cue files, at that point, i was out of my league and despite trying to improvise, i was wasting my time. So that may have something to do with why i don’t understand your critique “misleading title.” Just wondering.
dBpower amp works as you described for Windows.
Right click the flac file or highlight several and right click and a Convert To option appears in the drop down menu. Takes a minute to set up so that it converts to the file you want but after that it’s quick and easy.
I know you posted this forever ago, and hopefully you found the answer. You go into XLD Preferences, choose the 1st tab (General). For output format choose “Apple Lossless” (You can click the “Options” button and make sure everything says “Same as Original”), for output directory choose where you want to place the new Apple Lossless (ALAC) files, and then either use the open menu item (You can choose multiple items in the open with the shift and/or option keys), or better yet grab all the .FLAC files and drop them on top of the XLD icon and it will convert them all to ALAC. You can now drag them to iTunes…
Agree and disagree. Technically it’s true that converting FLAC files necessarily means you cannot play those files in iTunes. But it’s not true that the information is pointless, as the majority of people wanting to play FLAC files on iTunes are looking for FLAC-quality music on iTunes, and don’t care about the actual extension.
He also addressed how to play FLAC files directly through iTunes and mentioned that it was not reliable to do so.
Thanks, exactly what I needed!
Thanks, exactly what I needed!
Very helpful, that XLD program is great! Thank you 🙂
Very helpful, that XLD program is great! Thank you 🙂
NOTE – ALAC does not fully support all of the formats FLAC does. So while it’s true you can convert a high quality CD Stereo sample in FLAC to an identically sounding ALAC, that is where the similarity ends. FLAC also supports 5.1 channels of discreet audio, as well as true HD Audio formats in the 24bit/96khz and UP range. FLAC will, for lack of a better term, generally handle ANY audio format. If you just want highest quality CD sound, keep converting FLAC into ALAC.
Of course it does:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lossless
“Apple Lossless supports up to 8 channels of audio at 16, 20, 24 & 32 bit depth with a maximum sample rate of 384kHz.”
Meanwhile, what application out there can encode such things?
Encode? As in rip? iTunes can rip to Apple Lossless.
NOTE – ALAC does not fully support all of the formats FLAC does. So while it’s true you can convert a high quality CD Stereo sample in FLAC to an identically sounding ALAC, that is where the similarity ends. FLAC also supports 5.1 channels of discreet audio, as well as true HD Audio formats in the 24bit/96khz and UP range. FLAC will, for lack of a better term, generally handle ANY audio format. If you just want highest quality CD sound, keep converting FLAC into ALAC.
Of course it does:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lossless
“Apple Lossless supports up to 8 channels of audio at 16, 20, 24 & 32 bit depth with a maximum sample rate of 384kHz.”
Meanwhile, what application out there can encode such things?
Encode? As in rip? iTunes can rip to Apple Lossless.
misleading title. convert FLAC is not the same as play FLAC. your english is worst than mine … intentionally!
misleading title. convert FLAC is not the same as play FLAC. your english is worst than mine … intentionally!
if you have a few albums in FLAC format it could be a solution , but I have more than 1TB of music in this format the solution you’re proposing is feasible.
Do you mean unfeasible? It would take a while, but you can convert all those files, again, with no loss of quality.
if you have a few albums in FLAC format it could be a solution , but I have more than 1TB of music in this format the solution you’re proposing is feasible.
Do you mean unfeasible? It would take a while, but you can convert all those files, again, with no loss of quality.
Some audio enthusiasts have accused Apple’s ALAC of actually been noticeably lossy, which I found interesting, especially for high bitrate files. Link: http://blog.bowers-wilkins.com/speakers/ipod-speakers/apple-lossless-confusion/
So if absolute fidelity to the original is important, users may need to both convert to an iTunes-compatible format like ALAC or AAC PLUS keep the original high-resolution FLAC file for use with other devices such as PONO Players or software.
That’s just BS.
No your answer is BULL, There is an upper limit 354KHZ so obviously anything over that upper limit is lossy by definition. And there are files over 384KHZ not many and hard to find so they have to be lossy or not play.
You don’t understand the difference between Lossless and Lossy. The original article on Bowers-Wilson (which is not available anymore) might have been talking about lossy files, or audio from iPods (in the title). The way you test a lossless file is convert the ALAC and the FLAC to WAV and compare the raw files (even to an original WAV before the compression). Lossless files are like zip files – when you expand them, you must end up with the SAME original data. ALAC adheres to that.
What do you not understand about the word “lossless?”
Some audio enthusiasts have accused Apple’s ALAC of actually been noticeably lossy, which I found interesting, especially for high bitrate files. Link: http://blog.bowers-wilkins.com/speakers/ipod-speakers/apple-lossless-confusion/
So if absolute fidelity to the original is important, users may need to both convert to an iTunes-compatible format like ALAC or AAC PLUS keep the original high-resolution FLAC file for use with other devices such as PONO Players or software.
That’s just BS.
No your answer is BULL, There is an upper limit 354KHZ so obviously anything over that upper limit is lossy by definition. And there are files over 384KHZ not many and hard to find so they have to be lossy or not play.
You don’t understand the difference between Lossless and Lossy. The original article on Bowers-Wilson (which is not available anymore) might have been talking about lossy files, or audio from iPods (in the title). The way you test a lossless file is convert the ALAC and the FLAC to WAV and compare the raw files (even to an original WAV before the compression). Lossless files are like zip files – when you expand them, you must end up with the SAME original data. ALAC adheres to that.
What do you not understand about the word “lossless?”
Thanks for me helping through the Lossless Jungle.
Thanks for me helping through the Lossless Jungle.
Instead of reinventing the wheel Apple add support for FLAC into iTunes??
This would be easier for everyone
This has been on audiophiles’ wish lists for God knows how long. Apple has ignored the issue, perhaps because FLAC is just one of many more or less esoteric formats and if Apple started supporting one there would then be demands that it support others. There is another solution that doesn’t drag Apple into the file format wilderness—VLC.
Perhaps it comes down to the question of why serious audiophiles would use iTunes in the first place. If you want a truly flexible media player for the Mac (and for Windows, Linux, Android and iOS) get the free VLC Media Player at http://www.videolan.org. And yes, it plays FLAC and just about everything else, both audio and video.
That said, if you want to use iTunes—say for streaming your music to an Airplay device like an Apple TV, converting your files to Apple Lossless is undoubtedly the way to go. And XLD is the tool to use. Like VLC, it supports a wide range of audio file formats. And, if you are concerned about whether Apple Lossless will clip or otherwise corrupt your music, keep your FLAC files as a backup. Storage is inexpensive these days.
Audiophiles would not use iTunes, but they would laugh at you for suggesting VLC, which is a pile of garbage masquerading as software.
As an audiophile with a large collection of music (MOSTLY in iTunes), there is nothing I like better than being able to play my 24×96 recordings directly in iTunes at home, with a digital interface to my stereo for it to do high quality Digital>Analog conversion. And with Apple Music/iTunes Match, Apple automatically generates 256 kbps lossy AAC files for me that it places in the cloud for me to play directly from my iPhone. I get the best of many worlds (high quality of my audio recordings at 24×96 at home where my storage is unlimited, high quality [although not lossless, lossy] for the cloud and my iPhone so as I can take my ENTIRE library with me, and no need to keep separate versions in my desktop iTunes for iPhones/iPods and for my home stereo).
Instead of reinventing the wheel Apple add support for FLAC into iTunes??
This would be easier for everyone
This has been on audiophiles’ wish lists for God knows how long. Apple has ignored the issue, perhaps because FLAC is just one of many more or less esoteric formats and if Apple started supporting one there would then be demands that it support others. There is another solution that doesn’t drag Apple into the file format wilderness—VLC.
Perhaps it comes down to the question of why serious audiophiles would use iTunes in the first place. If you want a truly flexible media player for the Mac (and for Windows, Linux, Android and iOS) get the free VLC Media Player at http://www.videolan.org. And yes, it plays FLAC and just about everything else, both audio and video.
That said, if you want to use iTunes—say for streaming your music to an Airplay device like an Apple TV, converting your files to Apple Lossless is undoubtedly the way to go. And XLD is the tool to use. Like VLC, it supports a wide range of audio file formats. And, if you are concerned about whether Apple Lossless will clip or otherwise corrupt your music, keep your FLAC files as a backup. Storage is inexpensive these days.
Audiophiles would not use iTunes, but they would laugh at you for suggesting VLC, which is a pile of garbage masquerading as software.
As an audiophile with a large collection of music (MOSTLY in iTunes), there is nothing I like better than being able to play my 24×96 recordings directly in iTunes at home, with a digital interface to my stereo for it to do high quality Digital>Analog conversion. And with Apple Music/iTunes Match, Apple automatically generates 256 kbps lossy AAC files for me that it places in the cloud for me to play directly from my iPhone. I get the best of many worlds (high quality of my audio recordings at 24×96 at home where my storage is unlimited, high quality [although not lossless, lossy] for the cloud and my iPhone so as I can take my ENTIRE library with me, and no need to keep separate versions in my desktop iTunes for iPhones/iPods and for my home stereo).
Worked great for me. Thanks so much!
Worked great for me. Thanks so much!
The only thing is, XLD does not appear to be able to process all your FLAC files from an album as a batch. However, Fission can do this.
I have never had a problem batch processing with XLD.
Oh, it’s only that no-one in their explanations mentioned this as a possibility so I did not bother to install it. Anyhow I already had Fission so that’s working out OK.
Cheers
Phillip,
XLD is so much better for this purpose (and yes I use Fission as well). It traverses directories, supports drag and drop, is updated regularly, is free, has great tag transfer support, high quality CD ripping with links to the CDDB (CD Database) to pull tag information from the cloud, etc.
The only thing is, XLD does not appear to be able to process all your FLAC files from an album as a batch. However, Fission can do this.
I have never had a problem batch processing with XLD.
Oh, it’s only that no-one in their explanations mentioned this as a possibility so I did not bother to install it. Anyhow I already had Fission so that’s working out OK.
Cheers
Phillip,
XLD is so much better for this purpose (and yes I use Fission as well). It traverses directories, supports drag and drop, is updated regularly, is free, has great tag transfer support, high quality CD ripping with links to the CDDB (CD Database) to pull tag information from the cloud, etc.
I too was disappointed that by “playing .flac files on iTunes” actually means converting to .alac. This is not the same thing at all. That’s like saying you can play VHS cassettes on your DVD player! Yeah, all you need to do is transfer the VHS cassettes from your VCR to your DVD-R. (You have that equipment, right?) I think you might want to change the title and keywords so that your article is a match for the right question.
I am actually trying to play .flac on iTunes to see if it wil support multichannel rips from DTS or DVD-A. I know that you can play multichannel DTS rips -> .alac on your ATV4 but I really want this to work with iTunes but I suspect the problem isn’t just with the format, but a limitation with iTunes. Considering that it supports other surround formats passthrough like PCM it doesn’t make sense to pay the licensing for use on AppleTV but totally neglect iTunes for nearly two decades now. Similarly, it is absurd that Apple still wont support .flac, a free format, presumably because they want people using .alac becaus thats so bloody important… .flac is great because it is a fully taggable format that plays on all platforms- except iTunes! Apple’s deliberate “only game in town” schtick is really getting old.
No, not the same thing. Converting a VHS to a DVD takes one lossy format, and with even MORE loss converts it to another. This is more akin to taking a .zip file and converting it to a .rar file.
I too was disappointed that by “playing .flac files on iTunes” actually means converting to .alac. This is not the same thing at all. That’s like saying you can play VHS cassettes on your DVD player! Yeah, all you need to do is transfer the VHS cassettes from your VCR to your DVD-R. (You have that equipment, right?) I think you might want to change the title and keywords so that your article is a match for the right question.
I am actually trying to play .flac on iTunes to see if it wil support multichannel rips from DTS or DVD-A. I know that you can play multichannel DTS rips -> .alac on your ATV4 but I really want this to work with iTunes but I suspect the problem isn’t just with the format, but a limitation with iTunes. Considering that it supports other surround formats passthrough like PCM it doesn’t make sense to pay the licensing for use on AppleTV but totally neglect iTunes for nearly two decades now. Similarly, it is absurd that Apple still wont support .flac, a free format, presumably because they want people using .alac becaus thats so bloody important… .flac is great because it is a fully taggable format that plays on all platforms- except iTunes! Apple’s deliberate “only game in town” schtick is really getting old.
No, not the same thing. Converting a VHS to a DVD takes one lossy format, and with even MORE loss converts it to another. This is more akin to taking a .zip file and converting it to a .rar file.
This is exactly what I needed; thank you!
This is exactly what I needed; thank you!
How ironic, now that Apple has found a way to revisit the old Monopoly game that Microsoft ran for so long; now, A forces us to use their proprietary format, reluctantly acknowledging the existence of mp3/4 because it is still so prevalent. Guess what they just did to iPhone photo storage – dropped the universal jpeg for a ‘superior’ format, that no one else happens to use. Of course one can convert during download, but then what was the advantage in the first place? Although I have never been patient or smart enough to try permanently going the Linux route, the constant pressure to ‘drink the Apple Koolaid’ is making me weary and angry – weangry – so much I may just have another go on principle. And, of course, one generation more removed and few will have kept the previous format, or will find that the one chosen as universal ten years before has been abandoned, no longer supported, and so cannot be retrieved by the latest greatest whatever systems. Pdf, jpeg, txt and wav files should be readily readable for the foreseeable future, and any company that tries to force another format must be guaranteeing backward compatibility which we are not always getting now.
Wow…
First, while Apple did create the ALAC format, it is now open source, so there’s no monopoly. They don’t “reluctantly” acknowledge the existence of MP3 and MP4; iTunes first launched supporting only MP3. Then it added AAC, which is MP4, which scads of people thought was a proprietary Apple format, and got all crazy about. AAC is superior to MP3, but they got accused of the same thing you wrote here, because not many other apps or devices supported it initially. They all do now. Kind of like when they introduced USB on the first iMac; now USB is the standard.
And you can shoot JPEGs in the iPhone; it’s a setting.
Worth also pointing out that PDF started as a proprietary Adobe format, and you had to pay to even be able to read the files. They only open-sourced it because no one was using it because of that reason.
And WAV started out as a proprietary format, created by Microsoft and IBM.
And to add to that, Apple’s new image format is simply the still frame format for x265, just like the mp4 format they use is the standards x264 (and now h265). HEIF that Apple FINALLY came out with in iOS 11 is just like AAC (m4a, stands for mpeg 4 audio, replacement for mp3) in that it is the jpeg body’s replacement for jpeg. It is not and has never been proprietary. iTunes, 20 years later, still plays mp3. One of the reason the industry moved to mp4 audio (AAC, .m4a extensions) was because the container format did not support DRM, which the industry forced Apple (and other vendors) to use years ago before Apple was able to get them to change to a DRM free version. Apple readily supports PDF, JPEG, TXT, and WAV and has for years – I don’t see that going anywhere. Mac OS and iOS are built on top of PDF for the imaging layer. The industry adopted Apples original QuickTime format to settle on the mp4 container, which is basically a QuickTime container. You really need to understand more before you go off, Not very Savvy Senior…
How ironic, now that Apple has found a way to revisit the old Monopoly game that Microsoft ran for so long; now, A forces us to use their proprietary format, reluctantly acknowledging the existence of mp3/4 because it is still so prevalent. Guess what they just did to iPhone photo storage – dropped the universal jpeg for a ‘superior’ format, that no one else happens to use. Of course one can convert during download, but then what was the advantage in the first place? Although I have never been patient or smart enough to try permanently going the Linux route, the constant pressure to ‘drink the Apple Koolaid’ is making me weary and angry – weangry – so much I may just have another go on principle. And, of course, one generation more removed and few will have kept the previous format, or will find that the one chosen as universal ten years before has been abandoned, no longer supported, and so cannot be retrieved by the latest greatest whatever systems. Pdf, jpeg, txt and wav files should be readily readable for the foreseeable future, and any company that tries to force another format must be guaranteeing backward compatibility which we are not always getting now.
Wow…
First, while Apple did create the ALAC format, it is now open source, so there’s no monopoly. They don’t “reluctantly” acknowledge the existence of MP3 and MP4; iTunes first launched supporting only MP3. Then it added AAC, which is MP4, which scads of people thought was a proprietary Apple format, and got all crazy about. AAC is superior to MP3, but they got accused of the same thing you wrote here, because not many other apps or devices supported it initially. They all do now. Kind of like when they introduced USB on the first iMac; now USB is the standard.
And you can shoot JPEGs in the iPhone; it’s a setting.
Worth also pointing out that PDF started as a proprietary Adobe format, and you had to pay to even be able to read the files. They only open-sourced it because no one was using it because of that reason.
And WAV started out as a proprietary format, created by Microsoft and IBM.
And to add to that, Apple’s new image format is simply the still frame format for x265, just like the mp4 format they use is the standards x264 (and now h265). HEIF that Apple FINALLY came out with in iOS 11 is just like AAC (m4a, stands for mpeg 4 audio, replacement for mp3) in that it is the jpeg body’s replacement for jpeg. It is not and has never been proprietary. iTunes, 20 years later, still plays mp3. One of the reason the industry moved to mp4 audio (AAC, .m4a extensions) was because the container format did not support DRM, which the industry forced Apple (and other vendors) to use years ago before Apple was able to get them to change to a DRM free version. Apple readily supports PDF, JPEG, TXT, and WAV and has for years – I don’t see that going anywhere. Mac OS and iOS are built on top of PDF for the imaging layer. The industry adopted Apples original QuickTime format to settle on the mp4 container, which is basically a QuickTime container. You really need to understand more before you go off, Not very Savvy Senior…
Don’t listen to some of these idiots.
You helped me, thank you very much for that!
Don’t listen to some of these idiots.
You helped me, thank you very much for that!
Nice post, the pomposity in the comments is palpable but not everyone wants or can listen to audio with a clarity only lossless can give, even then I really depends on what you are playing that file with. I have a degree of hearing loss so regardless of the lossless format It ain’t getting to me as lossless, I have lossy hearing lol!
I’d like to see a post about what all of these audio pomps consider the best audio players on Mac and windows, also what sound system they are pushing that lossless audio through because you can have the best audio format and software player in the world but if the sound they produce is being pushed through £10 speakers what’s the point?
As for me, I use MediaHuman Audio Converter, it works quickly and I’ve never had an issue with it.
I’ll take a look at Fission so thanks for the tip and thanks for taking the time to make this post.
I would look at XLD long before Fission.
I have a high quality Digital clock for my new iMac (they no longer have optical ports) that can handle up to 32 bit 384 KHz. I use the HIFIME UH1 384KHZ USB DAC (they no longer make the version without the DAC, but I do not use the DAC portion). My Optical cable is 50 ft, so I only go as high as 32×96, but with a shorter run I could do 32×192, or with a repeater get as high as 32×384. Since Apple Music only supported ALAC as high as 32×96 until recently, most of my recordings are 24×96. The latest iTunes and macOS support playing in iTunes 24×192 files, and will transcode (to AAC) and upload 24×192 files for the cloud, so I would like to start putting 24×192 ALAC in iTunes and find a repeater to go up to 32×384. I keep my music at 24×96 ALAC (stuff I record – I do not upscale,) but have found some great concerts that were recorded in 24×192. One big advantage of having it in iTunes is being able to use Apple Music or iTunes Match to take my entire iTunes library with me on the road. I have the digital output connected to a high end Yamaha D>A that can handle DSD and FLAC up to 24×192. Sadly, it dies not support ALAC at the higher bitrates (a shame – may beed better D>A) but it does support me running a DLNA server on my Mac and pulling the 24×192 FLAC files for playback. To be honest, the 24×96 ALAC it can handle now are great….
Oops. I just realized that the conversion from ALAC to 24×192 happens in my Mac (ergo the clock), so I can start playing 24×192 from iTunes, as long as my I/O can handle reading the files, converting to 24×192 PCM, and sending to the stereo while using the computer for other stuff…. I might have to use the 24×192 from the external HD to the internal SSD…
*move from external HD to internal SSD, not use…
Nice post, the pomposity in the comments is palpable but not everyone wants or can listen to audio with a clarity only lossless can give, even then I really depends on what you are playing that file with. I have a degree of hearing loss so regardless of the lossless format It ain’t getting to me as lossless, I have lossy hearing lol!
I’d like to see a post about what all of these audio pomps consider the best audio players on Mac and windows, also what sound system they are pushing that lossless audio through because you can have the best audio format and software player in the world but if the sound they produce is being pushed through £10 speakers what’s the point?
As for me, I use MediaHuman Audio Converter, it works quickly and I’ve never had an issue with it.
I’ll take a look at Fission so thanks for the tip and thanks for taking the time to make this post.
I would look at XLD long before Fission.
I have a high quality Digital clock for my new iMac (they no longer have optical ports) that can handle up to 32 bit 384 KHz. I use the HIFIME UH1 384KHZ USB DAC (they no longer make the version without the DAC, but I do not use the DAC portion). My Optical cable is 50 ft, so I only go as high as 32×96, but with a shorter run I could do 32×192, or with a repeater get as high as 32×384. Since Apple Music only supported ALAC as high as 32×96 until recently, most of my recordings are 24×96. The latest iTunes and macOS support playing in iTunes 24×192 files, and will transcode (to AAC) and upload 24×192 files for the cloud, so I would like to start putting 24×192 ALAC in iTunes and find a repeater to go up to 32×384. I keep my music at 24×96 ALAC (stuff I record – I do not upscale,) but have found some great concerts that were recorded in 24×192. One big advantage of having it in iTunes is being able to use Apple Music or iTunes Match to take my entire iTunes library with me on the road. I have the digital output connected to a high end Yamaha D>A that can handle DSD and FLAC up to 24×192. Sadly, it dies not support ALAC at the higher bitrates (a shame – may beed better D>A) but it does support me running a DLNA server on my Mac and pulling the 24×192 FLAC files for playback. To be honest, the 24×96 ALAC it can handle now are great….
Oops. I just realized that the conversion from ALAC to 24×192 happens in my Mac (ergo the clock), so I can start playing 24×192 from iTunes, as long as my I/O can handle reading the files, converting to 24×192 PCM, and sending to the stereo while using the computer for other stuff…. I might have to use the 24×192 from the external HD to the internal SSD…
*move from external HD to internal SSD, not use…
hi,
thanks for the article, very useful.
to all the whining retards above thanks for reminding me why it is generally pointless reading comments on the internet, as per above normally whining like bitches about bollox!!
if you don’t like it get off your fat arses and write / post an article yourselves.
nothing like keyboard warriors to wind up anyone of normal intelligence, freeking pondlife…….
hi,
thanks for the article, very useful.
to all the whining retards above thanks for reminding me why it is generally pointless reading comments on the internet, as per above normally whining like bitches about bollox!!
if you don’t like it get off your fat arses and write / post an article yourselves.
nothing like keyboard warriors to wind up anyone of normal intelligence, freeking pondlife…….
Your post is very useful. I have tried the free version for windows you mentioned above and it works. I have used another free software (Free HD Video Converter Factory) before, which also supports to convert FLAC to ALAC. Anyway, your post is useful, heartfelt thanks to you.
Your post is very useful. I have tried the free version for windows you mentioned above and it works. I have used another free software (Free HD Video Converter Factory) before, which also supports to convert FLAC to ALAC. Anyway, your post is useful, heartfelt thanks to you.
Wonderful tips here — and the XLD app gained a very special place in my heart ❤️! Thanks 🙏😄
Interesting ideas here. It has been in my experience that Apple “lossless” is waaaay less quality than FLAC. In fact every time I’ve backed up my FLAC files and then converted them to Apple losses I hear a drastic reduction in depth of recordings, the soundstage becomes smaller, the dynamic impact is reduced and the overall smoothness of the recording reduced. Now, to be fair I’m not listening to them from a set of generic headphones or a mid-fi system. I run my FLAC files through a VERY high quality DAC and then directly into my Atma-Sphere tube amps through silver core wire into my Scientific Fidelity Tesla speakers. In other words, I can HEAR A HUGE DIFFERENCE in FLAC vs. ALAC. Maybe some people can’t but I do, which is why my files will remain FLAC. Thanks for letting me comment.
That’s ridiculous.
As of March 26, 2020:
dBpoweramp website no longer offers a free version. It does, however, offer a 21-day free trial.
However, an older version appears to be free at: https://www.free-codecs.com/download/dbpoweramp_music_converter.htm