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Apple's Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) Now Open Source
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I really don't get it anymore. Apple open sources something so more OEMs can use it, and somehow the neckbeards want to spin this to justify their pointless rants.
How about this: Your agenda was just validated by the largest and most successful maker of consumer technology products. How about have a party?
How about this: Your agenda was just validated by the largest and most successful maker of consumer technology products. How about have a party?
Bingo.
We also need 96k/24-bit output from iOS devices. Oh, what a happy guy I'd be and oh, how quickly I would sign up for iTunes Match.
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Yeah.
Think you have a point.
I only comment that IMHO dominance was due to offering a quantum shift from what was before. Even 128k is 'good enough' for most. (BTW I also distinguish from personal opinion here)
I'm not sure it's enough of a quantum shift mp3 to lossless to let the market make 'enough' money.
I do think the mp3 early adopter geeks rapidly 'evangelised' enough to make consumers and manufacturers sit up and take notice. What will happen if iTunes goes lossless? Same result? I'd like to think yes but I think no.
It will (in time) be interesting to see where it goes after Lossless. Muti channel? Back to quadraphonic?
... maybe there's time left to digitise my old quadraphonic vinyl before I kick the bucket
Now, holographic (not 3D) movies are really the next big thing that I think consumers will go for in a big way ...
Maybe my $10 share somewhere might result in a Google type killing in 10 years. or maybe not...
As soon as Apple offers lossless in iTunes, I will stop buying and ripping CDs and finally start downloading music......I would celebrate that day BIG TIME....
... and I will join you that day. If it was 24/48 or even 24/96
Beer on me at the bar!Really hoping this is the start of ALAC on iTunes store...
C
what i want to see is:
digital purchase - lossless 16/24 bit with options of 44.1/48/96 kHz
physical purchase - vinyl
end of story, no compressed formats, no digital physical media. for digital download/stream, for physical analogue only pls
digital purchase - lossless 16/24 bit with options of 44.1/48/96 kHz
physical purchase - vinyl
end of story, no compressed formats, no digital physical media. for digital download/stream, for physical analogue only pls
Those are both absolutely impractical and ridiculous demands. Why on earth would you want no compressed formats? Do you enjoy wasting space? Or only being able to carry a small amount of your library with you?
And only vinyl physical media? Do you realize how few manufacturers are still producing vinyl playback devices, compared to other physical devices?
First a quick response to the previous post... No compressed formats sounds great. The gene pool for any audio would not be tainted prior to distribution. Everyone gets a solid copy and can compress it how they like. Like buying a CD. People used to copy them to tape, so with all lossless, people will ruin the files and copy them to mp3-let's just hope the originals are archived. At the same time, storage size is growing exponentially while filesize even for compressed files stays the same (for that bitrate-I know we're going bigger now). Out of the 12,000 album songs I have, they take up under 300GB (all lossless). That's not a lot. With airplay and other options, you don't have to keep all of it on a device either. You take a travel playlist and at home you have your whole library... And we all know that in 10 years we'll have something like 500GB in our pockets or at least that much cloud space.
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I didn't buy an iPod until they supported lossless encodes. I was sure happy that apple had a lossless format and realized it's apple's way to think different and not use the widely accepted FLAC format... Thing is that the mpeg 4 container is/became an "industry standard" and in my mind, that would make ALAC a solid format. If it's becoming that and becoming more widely spread, then that's good for me.
I agree that now 24/96 playback is necessary... Actually, why not any bitrate playback. The max (at least on my iPhone4) is 24/48.
Maybe I'm a little anal about it though... I collect Phish shows and currently have every show 1994 through today in ALAC, many 24/48. I also collect full albums, ALAC only. I probably have 50non-lossless files out of more than 40,000 total music files.
Anyone have the Chicago Bears Superbowl Shuffle lossless? Haha! I used to have the record.
Jeff
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I didn't buy an iPod until they supported lossless encodes. I was sure happy that apple had a lossless format and realized it's apple's way to think different and not use the widely accepted FLAC format... Thing is that the mpeg 4 container is/became an "industry standard" and in my mind, that would make ALAC a solid format. If it's becoming that and becoming more widely spread, then that's good for me.
I agree that now 24/96 playback is necessary... Actually, why not any bitrate playback. The max (at least on my iPhone4) is 24/48.
Maybe I'm a little anal about it though... I collect Phish shows and currently have every show 1994 through today in ALAC, many 24/48. I also collect full albums, ALAC only. I probably have 50non-lossless files out of more than 40,000 total music files.
Anyone have the Chicago Bears Superbowl Shuffle lossless? Haha! I used to have the record.
Jeff
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Great news.....
As HDD sizes are getting bigger, and (some) people are being selective as to what they put on their iPods / iPhones etc, perhaps the iTunes Store will start to offer Lossless as standard fare, as MP3 / AAC is poor in comparison
As HDD sizes are getting bigger, and (some) people are being selective as to what they put on their iPods / iPhones etc, perhaps the iTunes Store will start to offer Lossless as standard fare, as MP3 / AAC is poor in comparison
to answer your first question:
why should i pay for lossy format? i want to buy original/or best available quality and then i'll decide how i want to compress it for whatever portable device.
space issue - are you serious?
vinyl as only physical media - for analogue recordings (old music was recorded like this) please don't destroy analogue master tapes with digital conversion for new recordings which are digital only no need for a vinyl
if you own on vinyl for example Pink Floyd (original old releases from 70s) and also CDs (I have several versions of 'remasters') every single remaster sounds like **** in comparison with vinyl.
Do you think that's practical for normal users? I imagine you do, which is funny.
Dang, I must have missed that invention of the infinite-sized iPhone. Silly me!
That's the remastering, not the media. And we're not talking archival purposes -- we're talking shipped media types for consumers. Analog is completely impractical for that.
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Sorry, that's just not true. You're confusing "compressed" and "lossy".
ALAC and FLAC are both lossless compression. There is absolutely zero sound difference. None. I'm not talking "it's imperceptible to human hearing". I'm saying it's exactly, 100%, bit-for-bit the same.
Totally agree with you. I have the 1st pressing of Dark Side of The Moon and when I sit down for a nights listen with some wine this is my rare treat. I also have the new 24/192 recording from the original master tapes and it is excellent.
Why should we be forced to buy an inferior sonic experience just because someone else decides its good enough? Archive quality music should be standard. Its a crying shame people accept paying £10 for a reduced resolution format on the iTunes store. Since that opened up I have bought more vinyl than ever before and am loving it all over again. You would be surprised whats available again on vinyl...
I really hope Apple is seeing the light with people like Neil Young pressing for his music to be rereleased in audiophile format.
ALAC being made available like this is the first light on the horizon in my opinion.
C
IF ALAC is going to cost more then i don't want it.
Lossless will not give you better sound quality over what Apple are selling now PERIOD.
Most audiophile people are full of ****. Take a proper abx test between AAC 256 vbr and Lossless and post results otherwise all your claims are meaningless.
Lossless will not give you better sound quality over what Apple are selling now PERIOD.
Most audiophile people are full of ****. Take a proper abx test between AAC 256 vbr and Lossless and post results otherwise all your claims are meaningless.
I think most people don't care. I have some DVD-audios and they sound really good and all, but not enough to make me snob off my iTunes songs.
Truth is, when I listen to my favorite albums, the enjoyment from the music makes me forget about anything else. Even if it is through AAC and MP3 a long time ago.
Maybe I'm blessed with lower than average ears...
One just can't compare a cd to a dvd audio and say dvd audio sounds superior unless they have be mastered in the exact same way. The only way to test is to rip a dvd audio disc to lossless then convert to acc or mp3 and then abx against the original lossless.
Yes but this is not meant to be portable. If you want to fill your iPhone then compress it using a compression format YOU choose to use. Why on earth would you need ALAC in say 24/96 on your iPhone? Not everyone only listens on iPod type devices...
C
Just because you can't hear the difference does not mean everyone else should have to pay for an inferior product when we all know that the record companies have the full resolution masters. Would you want a magazine printed in 64k color? I mean surely we should demand the best for our money?
C
yes, silly you, iTunes -> syncing with iPhone -> tick compress and problem solved, answers both concerns I guess
Analogue is beautiful to your ears, collect some, get a Rega or Pro-jekt and enjoy music
Why not? I think it'd be a great option to have. I would love having 24/96 material on my iPhone because for some of my music, the difference in quality is substantial, especially when you use high end earphones. The ability to play 24/96 paired with a LOD would make a great portable music holder.