Transfering CDs to iTunes FLAC. Am I missing....?

John,

You can convert Apple Lossless to FLAC using dbPowerAmp. This is an EXCELLENT program that does conversions from one file type to another. And, it costs only $14. You can download a free trial version off the 'Net.

One very cool feature is that it has a command line interface in addition to its GUI. This means that you can batch convert all of your Apple Lossless at one time, if you like...

-RW-

Hi RW:
Thanks so much for the tip. That's great to know!

Is anyone using Apple TV as a bridge to a sound system? I have apple tv hooked up to my nad preamp but am disappointed with the sound quality. I believe most of my music in itunes is compressed as mp3. Is there a better way to run my itunes as my digital source??

You can also use Dbpower amp to rip files in Apple lossles and still use itunes as a music manager. And FWIW Db poweramp is a better ripper than itunes. Using DB allows one to use accurip checking and allows for secure and ultra secure rips, none of these features are available in itunes.

I'm in process of ripping my 600~800 CDs to flac now having bought a Squeezebox and recently added a Transporter.

I use EAC. It's actually not hard to set up. The myriad number of things you can do are what make it a little overwhelming at first. The best thing to do is go to the hydrogenaudio.com forums or just search in google for flac and find the hydrogenaudio link. They have a page that tells you exactly how to set it up using flac as the compressor. It's worth it to spend a little time doing this. They'll tell you the command line and another place how to set up the tags. Very nice. Or if you want I could just send you my EAC profile which'll have all that stuff.

Compilation discs, soundtracks, musicals and classical discs can import with some unexpected results for file names, artist/composer names and folder structures.

Yes, definitely a good point. For those cases above, I uncheck various artists and put in whatever I want to reference it by. For example a classical CD of Mozart will be tagged by the pianist (under artist in Transporter). Just change the Artist to Mozart (and uncheck various). The Pianist's name will still be in the file name. But it won't cause your Transporter display to show all these other names other than what you know it by. If you have a compilation or soundtrack and don't do this you'll have all number of things to sift through when trying to find what you want.

regards, David