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WAV vs Apple Lossless sonic quality
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Posted on October 30, 2008 at 22:51:19 | ||
Posts: 46280
Location: USA Joined: June 22, 2001 Contributor Since: February 2, 2002 |
I'm sure this question has been asked before but I don't often frequent this forum and I am admittedly too lazy to search the archives. Do WAV files sound better than Apple Lossless when played from an iPod Classic? I recently ripped a bunch of CDs using Apple Lossless. My iPod is hooked up to my preamp via the dock and the music sounds OK but not nearly as good as my Accuphase DP-65v CDP or a borrowed Marantz SA-7s1 SACD player. The dedicated CD players have a nice 3-dimensional soundstage with depth and air but in comparison, the iPod sounds "flat". Of course, the mediocre iPod DAC and analog stage are in play here but I'm wondering if WAV might sound a little better than Apple Lossless? Thanks. |
'Splain to me why you want iPod for a scource, posted on October 31, 2008 at 09:39:07 | |
Posts: 9849
Location: London, Ontario Joined: June 17, 2003 Contributor Since: March 12, 2004 |
I'm not sure I understand why an audiophile wants to use an iPod as a source; why not the computer? I listen to ALAC and FLAC files from my computer on my main system. I copy these files to my iPod for portable listening too; because of my iPod's limited capacity, (4GB), I wouldn't find it practical to load WAVs to the iPod. I don't find any difference in sound between lossless and WAV listening from my computer. Using Foobar and the ASIO driver of my sound card, I know I'm getting essentially bit-perfect delivery to my standalone DAC because HDCD is detected by the latter. I appreciate the save storage with lossless and also having the metadata in the music file itself, however I accept that some people don't find these to be significant factors. ___ Feanor's Classical Survey: 250 Exemplary Compositions |
Thank God. We've all been waiting for the official word., posted on October 31, 2008 at 10:16:20 | |
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Location: Colorado Joined: November 6, 2002 |
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RE: WAV vs Apple Lossless sonic quality, posted on October 31, 2008 at 11:20:55 | |
Posts: 6743
Location: Jersey Shore Joined: December 11, 2000 |
Yes. --eNjoY YouRseLf!..... |
Calm yourself...he's comparing WAV/AIFF metadata taggability (nt), posted on October 31, 2008 at 12:01:50 | |
Posts: 585
Location: Maryland Joined: September 5, 2003 |
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Bit perfect?, posted on October 31, 2008 at 17:05:45 | |
Posts: 1169
Location: Los Angeles Joined: July 19, 2005 |
The discussion is about lossless compression vs. non-compressed files. |
What converion program?, posted on October 31, 2008 at 17:35:55 | |
Posts: 9849
Location: London, Ontario Joined: June 17, 2003 Contributor Since: March 12, 2004 |
I presume you need a batch job to run a program that can look for unconverted files and convert them, probably to another directory. What do you use? Can the dBpoweramp batch facility do that? I'm curious though I don't think I'll do it myself. I thing your advice to Abe is good though. ___ Feanor's Classical Survey: 250 Exemplary Compositions |
I can't top this response. nt, posted on October 31, 2008 at 18:00:59 | |
Posts: 6581
Location: So. CA Joined: October 20, 2002 |
nt |
Thanks: this is consistent with my findings ~nt, posted on November 1, 2008 at 02:12:47 | |
Posts: 9849
Location: London, Ontario Joined: June 17, 2003 Contributor Since: March 12, 2004 |
nt ___ Feanor's Classical Survey: 250 Exemplary Compositions |
RE: why not?, posted on November 1, 2008 at 02:25:01 | |
Posts: 1845
Joined: March 31, 2008 |
>>If you believe that playing a Flac file can sound different from playing the same PCM data from a WAV file, why couldn't playing WAV and an AIFF files with the same PCM data sound different? << If this is the case, a AIFF sounds better on a Power PC (big endian) and a WAV sounds better on a X86 (little endian). Everybody playing AIFF on a x86 Apple is tampering with sound quality! If increasing system load has a negative impact on sound quality, then system load has a negative impact on sound quality anyway. So best quality could only be obtained by shutting the system down. The Well Tempered Computer |
RE: why not?, posted on November 1, 2008 at 04:54:47 | |
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Joined: March 31, 2008 |
Well, I was pushing a very fine observation by Old Listener to its ultimate consequence only. Making all the Apple folks to believe that now they finally do have a computer with a decent processor, they are using the wrong format is not bad either. The Well Tempered Computer |
RE: Topping Responces, posted on November 3, 2008 at 23:45:24 | |
Posts: 13158
Location: Kent Joined: June 1, 2002 |
That is why I will not respond to a certain gentleman. |
RE: Bit perfect?, posted on November 11, 2008 at 19:59:57 | |
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Joined: January 2, 2002 |
What is this magical software that reduces the effects of "physical reality"? |