Hmm … creating lossless with iTunes or some other app?

[coke]

Kirk, previously, I checked out the “The complete guide to using iTunes with lossless audio.” When I started reading your articles over five years ago. I experimented and ripped some CDs to Apple Lossless with a variety of apps. Sometime I would create a 320 version, or rip to lossless with these apps and also iTunes. I haven’t noticed that much difference between the various programs, but I “believe” that some louder. While I have stuck with XLD among those apps, I have been using iTunes almost exclusively for the last year.

 

Is it better to rip to Apple Lossless using iTunes — I probably won’t use another OS in the foreseeable future — or should I use something else like XLD? I notice that XLD uses parts of the OS to do its processing. I usually see this as in the Info section’s encoder:

 

X Lossless Decoder 20161007, QuickTime 7.7.3.

 

Is ripping with other apps any better than what I could get from using just iTunes? It seems like 12.5 is up to the task. And I want to rip all discs, eventually, to Apple Lossless.

[kirkmc]

Yes, all apps use the QuickTime framework to rip audio. The only advantage to XLD would be if you want to use their accurate rip feature. I don't bother with that.

 

On the other hand, you're likely to get better metadata from iTunes, at least for non-obscure stuff.