Lossless Audio

I needed to find a solution for my mammoth library of .aiffs. I came upon, "lossless audio compression," and found my answer. Lossless audio compression works essentially like a .zip file. When a file is zipped, it is compressed, and when it is unzipped, it is uncompressed. No data is ever removed. I do not know how the actual processes work, but this is the general concept.

Lossless audio compression works in the same way. It will take a raw .wav file, and compress it to half its size WITHOUT removing any data at all. The files are still large, but much, much more manageable. In addition to that, you now have full CD quality sound files in their original, unaltered form. If one would like more proof, notice the difference between listening to a CD and listening to an .mp3. Simply sit and listen. You will be able to tell a larger difference than you would have thought possible.

I read about many different methods and file formats, including Monkey's Audio (.ape files) and Free Lossless Audio Codec (.flac files), but eventually ended up going with Apple Lossless Format. This is where true audiophiles will pick nits. However, all of these files are lossless, as they say, and will give you the same full quality. Here are the reasons I chose Apple Lossless:

- iTunes, Windows Media Player, Rhapsody (to the best of my knowledge), and Real Player (to the best of my knowledge), will not play .ape, .flac, or many other lossless formats.

- Apple Lossless can be played in iTunes on Windows and Mac.

- I wanted all of my music organized in once place, and on a Mac, iTunes is best for that.

So, then began the process of finding all of my CDs and ripping them into iTunes as Apple Lossless files. As I said before, a file that is compressed in an .mp3 like way cannot be converted upwards. You can make a .wav out of an .mp3, but it will only contain as much sound data as the .mp3, but expanded. So, one will end up with a lemon of a file; a .wav that is the same quality as an .mp3, but ten times as large (or more). The data that was selected for deletion is now gone and the data that was selected for editing is now irrevocably changed. One must re-rip the files from the original CD.

I've gone through about thirty CDs as of right now. It is actually a very easy process, and the result is wonderful, lush, full quality audio.