iTunes 4.5 and Apple lossless

[PlaceofDis]

ok so i was all happy when apple came out with thier lossless encoder, so i figured that i would have to re-rip my cds that i wanted to be lossless, well today i found out that i was wrong! all i have to do is select the tracks i want to be lossless and control-click and it will let me convert it to lossless right there! thats awesome! to me at least so i thought i would share it with you all

[Horrortaxi]

You'll have them in that file format, but they won't truly be lossless. The loss already occurred when they were made into MP3 or AAC. You're not getting back what was lost in that process.

The best thing to do is to re-encode from the CD.

[PlaceofDis]

i get what you are saying, but why would the bitrate then change when i convert? i know i have lost some quality, does the bit rate just change because its in a different encoder with variable bit rate?

also of note: i just checked the file size and the "lossless" file is much larger......im just curious about this feature, does this mean that my songs are actually closer to being lossless when i convert them or is that what apple wants me to think?

[nicorojas]

it is the same effect if you convert your files to wav or aiff. They would also be larger files, but the information would be the same as in the encoded AAC. It is NOT closer to the CD source

[kgarner]

i get what you are saying, but why would the bitrate then change when i convert? i know i have lost some quality, does the bit rate just change because its in a different encoder with variable bit rate?

also of note: i just checked the file size and the "lossless" file is much larger......im just curious about this feature, does this mean that my songs are actually closer to being lossless when i convert them or is that what apple wants me to think?

A good test would be to rip one song from CD in Apple Lossless and see if the bitrate and size change compared to the converted AAC/MP3. My bet is that they will differ as the loss has already occurred when ripping from CD to AAC/MP3.

[Penman]

A good test would be to rip one song from CD in Apple Lossless and see if the bitrate and size change compared to the converted AAC/MP3. My bet is that they will differ as the loss has already occurred when ripping from CD to AAC/MP3.

The files will be bigger but the loss has occured. You can't get the data back from nothing. All you'll have is big copies of lossy files. Remember - AAC and MP3 are decompressed on the fly while playing to present 16 bit, 44.1 (for example) files to your soundcard. The lossless file you make from a previously encoded file is a lossless copy of the decompressed file. That DOESN'T mean the compression's been somehow 'undone'.

[kgarner]

The files will be bigger but the loss has occured. You can't get the data back from nothing. All you'll have is big copies of lossy files. Remember - AAC and MP3 are decompressed on the fly while playing to present 16 bit, 44.1 (for example) files to your soundcard. The lossless file you make from a previously encoded file is a lossless copy of the decompressed file. That DOESN'T mean the compression's been somehow 'undone'.

That is what I was trying to explain. I know that the compression/loss is not undone. I was trying to reccomend a test that the original poster could try that may prove that the conversion is not perfect.

[PlaceofDis]

Thanks for your help guys, i guess ill get re ripping then with my cds!

[denm316]

Lossless sounded a little better in my opinion, but the quality/size ratio was just not there for me