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Is Itunes OK to rip CD's to AIFF?

I'm ripping a lot of of CD's and putting them on a network server so I can access them from any computer/stereo system in my house. Does any one know of any blinded listening studies where they compared Itunes-ripped wave files (AIFF) to AIFF ripped by another program? If no studies, is there any technical reason (and I'm no computer expert) that an Itunes ripped AIFF might be inferior to an AIFF file ripped by another program?
ldworet
sonnyyoung
22 posts
 
I think AIFF is an Apple lossless format and they're not much into the business of letting other companies modify or use their stuff.
daverz
487 posts
 
AIFF is an industry standard.

I would recommend XLD for ripping as it can use the AccurateRip database to ensure you have a good rip.
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
No blind tests, but I have a lot of feedback from customers that iTunes rips are not as good as a ripper that uses Accurate-Rip, such as XLD. I have heard it myself too.

Accurate-Rip uses the FREEDB database of rips that also includes accurate offset info for each track.

Try XLD:

http://tmkk.pv.land.to/xld/index_e.html

I would highly recommend using ripper with Accurate-Rip and C2 correction, XLD or Maxx for Mac and dbpoweramp for windows. The CDROM drive should have C2 error correction capability. If you dont, you will end-up re-ripping everything when you realize how bad the SQ is with iTunes.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
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