bguil

Ajax, Many thanks for this info. I still have a ways to go with all this, but your help and others is invaluable to sort out the technical steps. Can't thank you enough for taking the time and sharing your expertise. bguil

Thanks Ajax My computer geekness is more toward imaging than music. All of the info received is of great help in trying to understand this different arena. My 80 GB ipod is adequate for my opera needs and I will use either ALAC or AIFF to put them in, per your suggestion, keeping only the hi res files. I think this will be a big improvement compared to the MP3s I started with. Thanks again for taking the time bguil

Thanks Barry, This is all a great and useful education for those of us new to the subject. bguil

Thanks Eloise, Do both AIFF and ALAC play well on the ipod or is it better to compress (ignoring disc space issues)? bguil

Ajax, thanks again for the great advice. Could I also ask a followup? If I rip in AIFF, can I later download to my ipod in lower fidelity while preserving the AIFF files, and what lower file size encoding would you recommend for the ipod for best replay in good earphones? Greatly appreciate your input. bguil

Thank you Eloise bguil

Ajax, thanks much for the great help. I do use itunes to rip and this is how the original mp3s were loaded, so I plan to replace these. Since this is a dedicated 80 GB ipod, there is plenty of capacity for the discs I plan to rip. When researching the process through the forum entries, the old posts suggested that using some of the lossless encoders with Windows resulted in loss of tags/metadata, requiring third party software to recapture. It was at this point that I lacked sufficient information to know whether I needed this additional step, or whether I could just rerip directly to itunes>ipod using ALAC or AIFF and still have disc and track names. Once I have my discs ripped to lossless, is there a disadvantage to playback in this form on the ipod, other than size. I do listen with high quality headphones. Thanks Rayhil also. One additional query. Does this process also work to join tracks on multiple cds? Most of the operas are 2-3 disc sets that I want to play together. Thanks again Ajax/Rayhil for the help.

Thanks for the reply. I am using PC/Windows and currently listening to IPOD. I originally encoded to MP3, but I would like to redo this to a higher quality lossless type file. Since I only plan to record limited classical or opera, memory on the ipod is not a problem. I also have no concern about cover art. Forum entries that I read were a bit dated, but the recommendations seemed complicated, requiring other software. Is there a simple answer? Thanks again

encoding help please

Any takers or too basic?

Chris, I have problems with classical. As a newbie to ripping and ipods, could you explain tags and metadata and their use on the ipod? If cover graphics are not important, are tags and metadata necessary when encoding. In 2010, what encoding do you recommend for Windows OS if tags are necessary or unnecessary, assuming almost unlimited storage on the ipod and music quality foremost? Finally, how do you rip multidisc opera sets so they play and display as one performance? Thanks for any help

Chris, I also have problems with classical. As a newbie to ripping and ipods, could you explain tags and metadata and their use on the ipod? If cover graphics are not important, are tags and metadata necessary when encoding. In 2010, what encoding do you recommend for Windows OS if tags are necessary or unnecessary, assuming almost unlimited storage on the ipod and music quality foremost? Finally, how do you rip multidisc opera sets so they play and display as one performance? Thanks for any help