File Conversion Troubles

I recently switched to Mac, and unexpectedly, iTunes and Mac OS X abhored the .wma file format (made by Microsoft), which most of my sound files were ripped as. Take the last statement with a grain of salt, it is a harmless final jab while I switch to a new operating system. However, iTunes would not add my .wmas to the library, nor play them. There were alternatives, but they were inefficient, and for a reason. Apple does not want Windows files to play, and Windows does not want Apple files to play (until the recent years).

So, in my struggle to find a solution, I turned to conversion of my audio files. I downloaded an excellent program called Switch, which will convert between many popular music file formats, for Windows and Mac. I converted my entire collection to the .aac format, which I may speak on later. Basically, an .aac file is a better version of an .mp3. It was called the, "successor to the .mp3," by the creator of the .mp3 file format. All that you and I need to know is that is handles the psycho-acoustic processes better and more accurately, while giving the file a much reduced size. I set the encoding options at 256 kbps CBR, just so that there would be no chance of loss with my 192 kbps CBR encoded .wma files. After the conversion I tested the results. I had found a slightly tedious plugin for Quicktime which would play my .wmas on a Mac, but it did not support a playlist or library, and could only have one file open and ready to play at a time. I compared the .wma in Quicktime to the .aac equivalent of the same music file in iTunes. They were drastically different.

The .aac was, "crisper," but lacked the mid-range and low-range frequencies that the .wma was putting out. The type of crispness was not one that was desirable by my standards either. I need to hear my mid-range and low end, all music is lost without it (I'm a bassist ;) ). On a more serious note, the low end was in fact severely reduced. I cannot say for sure whether it was a difference in the two players, or the two files. Both players, as far as I could tell, were set to a flat EQ, so I am led to believe it was a difference in the actual files.

I then took a drastic route. I converted all of my .wmas to .aiffs. .aiff files are the same as .wavs, they are raw sound data, and include ALL things that were recorded. This ensured that there would be no loss in quality. However, the file format was huge in terms of file size. It was true overkill. While the format was that of a raw sound file, it can only take as much sound data as its given. Once a file is turned into an .mp3 .wma or .aac, the sound data that was removed is now gone forever from those files, and cannot be returned by upwards conversion. So, essentially I had a library full of . aiff files that sounded like 192 kbps .wma files. This would not do, considering the heavy demands on file storage. This led me to explore lossless audio.