Best Tool To Convert Library From AIFF to Apple Lossless

[mwheelerk]

I want to convert my library from AIFF to ALAC.  I have four different softwares I could do this in.  If possible I would like to convert the files to ALAC and have the AIFF versions deleted in the same action after sufficient testing so I have confidence everything is working.  I have multiple backups of my library.

 

The softwares available are iTunes, XLD, dbPoweramp and JRiver.  Which would you chose and why?  What would be the workflow to convert and delete?

[zackthedog]

dbPoweramp wuld be my choice.  I think you'll get a more accurate conversion.

[tmtomh]

24 minutes ago, zackthedog said:

dbPoweramp wuld be my choice.  I think you'll get a more accurate conversion.

 

dbPoweramp is great - but you absolutely, positively will not get a more accurate conversion. All modern software apps that do AIFF to ALAC conversion will produce lossless ALAC files that will play back bit-identically to the original AIFF, and to each other.

[audiventory]

To conversion AIFF to ALAC all conversion tools have same audio quality. If there are no bugs, of course Or additional processings.

[lucretius]

8 hours ago, tmtomh said:

 

dbPoweramp is great - but you absolutely, positively will not get a more accurate conversion. All modern software apps that do AIFF to ALAC conversion will produce lossless ALAC files that will play back bit-identically to the original AIFF, and to each other.

 

I have found that in the past, there were less chances of errors while RIPPING, using dbPoweramp. But conversion from one lossless format to another lossless format should be the same for all software.

 

 

[wgscott]

3 hours ago, lucretius said:

 

I have found that in the past, there were less chances of errors while RIPPING, using dbPoweramp. But conversion from one lossless format to another lossless format should be the same for all software.

 

I agree. Anything without a bug should work equally well.

 

In principle, you can do this in iTunes.  There was a time that iTunes would take a 24-bit aiff and dither it into a 16-bit ALAC without asking (which I would consider a bug).  I don't know if it still does this.  XLD is free and easy to use, and has never done me wrong.

 

Quote

The softwares available are iTunes, XLD, dbPoweramp and JRiver.  Which would you chose and why?  What would be the workflow to convert and delete?

 

As for workflow:

 

(1) Back up.

(2) I set XLD to put the ALAC files in the same directory as the AIFF.

(3) I let XLD run

(4) I double-check to make sure all the files are converted.  I haven't done this lately, but it would be a good idea to verify that if you started with say 24/96, you wound up with that as output as well.

(5) Delete the AIFF files from that directory, but keep the ALAC.

(6) If using iTunes, re-load the ALAC files.

[kumakuma]

11 minutes ago, wgscott said:

 XLD is free and easy to use, and has never done me wrong.

 

Same experience here. 

 

I recently used XLD to convert thousands of files from AIFF to FLAC with no major hitches. I just set the Output Format to FLAC (with desired compression level),  set the Output Directory to "Same as input", selected "Delete after successful conversion", and dragged root folder to XLD icon in the Dock.

 

[zackthedog]

Okay, okay, fine.  I doesn't make a difference. ;-)

[Pack66184]

I was hoping you may be able to answer this question. Several years ago I converted from MP3 to AIFF and recently started using JRiver. I had used DBpower to convert the files. Since iTunes displayed album art and song info, not until I initiated Jriver that an error occurred with the conversion. There is no metadata imbedded in any of the files. Until I exported an XML. file from iTunes to JRiver that album art and info was visible in JRiver. Still have a number of small issues but I would like to fix the library. Tuneup is a software that can search and add metadata and automatically fill in the missing info but it doesn't use AIFF. Is there a similar software that can use AIFF or FLAC files to work with? 

[Musicophile]

3 hours ago, Pack66184 said:

I was hoping you may be able to answer this question. Several years ago I converted from MP3 to AIFF and recently started using JRiver. I had used DBpower to convert the files. Since iTunes displayed album art and song info, not until I initiated Jriver that an error occurred with the conversion. There is no metadata imbedded in any of the files. Until I exported an XML. file from iTunes to JRiver that album art and info was visible in JRiver. Still have a number of small issues but I would like to fix the library. Tuneup is a software that can search and add metadata and automatically fill in the missing info but it doesn't use AIFF. Is there a similar software that can use AIFF or FLAC files to work with? 

I’m not sure you realize that converting MP3 to AIFF doesn’t help SQ but only adds empty file size?

[wgscott]

3 hours ago, Pack66184 said:

I was hoping you may be able to answer this question. Several years ago I converted from MP3 to AIFF and recently started using JRiver. I had used DBpower to convert the files. Since iTunes displayed album art and song info, not until I initiated Jriver that an error occurred with the conversion. There is no metadata imbedded in any of the files. Until I exported an XML. file from iTunes to JRiver that album art and info was visible in JRiver. Still have a number of small issues but I would like to fix the library. Tuneup is a software that can search and add metadata and automatically fill in the missing info but it doesn't use AIFF. Is there a similar software that can use AIFF or FLAC files to work with? 

 

There is a Dougscript that embeds the cached iTunes album art into the individual files as metadata.  Do you still have the original files?

[Pack66184]

 

1 hour ago, Musicophile said:

I’m not sure you realize that converting MP3 to AIFF doesn’t help SQ but only adds empty file size?

 I started this several years ago, a number of sites, advisors, and experts recommended ripping to WAV or AIFF. But no, I did not.

 

1 hour ago, wgscott said:

 

There is a Dougscript that embeds the cached iTunes album art into the individual files as metadata.  Do you still have the original files?

Yes, in some shape or order. I was hoping that as most of these tracks were cleaned in iTunes that the info was also placed into the file. I never realized it was a library within iTunes and not written into the files themselves. I'm looking for a software that could write the information from iTunes library and tag the source files. The other alternative is to use DB and make this a project to go through the source files. 

[Musicophile]

1 hour ago, Pack66184 said:

 

 I started this several years ago, a number of sites, advisors, and experts recommended ripping to WAV or AIFF. But no, I did not.

 

Yes, in some shape or order. I was hoping that as most of these tracks were cleaned in iTunes that the info was also placed into the file. I never realized it was a library within iTunes and not written into the files themselves. I'm looking for a software that could write the information from iTunes library and tag the source files. The other alternative is to use DB and make this a project to go through the source files. 

Ripping a CD to lossless formats makes perfect sense as this ensures all the information on the CD is captured without any loss of information. 

 

A compressed file like MP3 has already undergone a non-lossless compression algorithm. The information lost in this compression process can never be recovered, even by converting to larger formats. It is simply gone forever. 

[Pack66184]

Thanks or the clarification