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need crash course in using digital music.

just getting back into hi-fi and need some help understanding all the new "stuff" that's out there regarding digital music. i have owned an ipod for years but that's really about it. have been a CD guy most of my life and still enjoy them, but would like to venture out a bit.

my basic (and i mean basic) understanding is this:

there is a way to download very high quality recordings and burn them onto a disc. said disc then sounds fantastic?

i need an idiots guide to do the above. from the very basics on up. are there any web source's that can help me or even a book?. would like to do this asap because the timing of my transport/dac purchase just got pushed up. i'd like to be able to use it when it arrives (other then regular cd's that is). was thinking i had a couple months before getting something but now it looks like next week.

have got a PS audio PWT/PWD inbound. from what i understand....it's work fine with most of the "new digital music". various formats and recording resolutions. i'll get the equipment sorted out via the owners manual. need some help with the source music though.

don't need the super technical side of things but do wish to have a good understanding of the various formats, types, methods, materials ect....

it's all new to me. things like 24/48, 96, 192, FLAC, native, ect......currently have little/no meaning. my experience ends with clicking the tab at i-tunes. i've got alot to learn

if anyone could point me in a right direction, it would be greatly appreciated.

thank you
levy03

Showing 2 responses by levy03

levy03 OP
442 posts
 
thanks for the tips guys. been "studying" digital music all day and have picked up alot. unfortunately i'm staring from zero and still have a long ways to go.

Shazam-look forward to hearing your impressions. i'm pretty pumped up myself. should have mine next week.

do have a few more questions if you (or anyone else) doesn't mind helping.

didn't see any WAV files at HD Tracks, but did come across the FLAC ones you mention. aiff is a no-no from what i understand so it looks like FLAC is going to be my main option downloading. should i be converting the FLAC too WAV?? (i read WAV was not compressed at all like aiff??)

regarding the downloading and burning:

so don't use i-tunes at all?.... even in that FLAC or WAV mode for importing high res music?. i-tunes is really all i know. feel kinda comfy/safe in my i-tunes world and do like the whole "playlist thing". will step out if i have to. any suggestions on downloading/burning software that is easy to figure out?(if i-tunes shouldn't be used for importing/burning)

got the DVD disc part but didn't know not to do a music cd. just burn data/files/folders is what i'm getting out of this?. they will play in the order burned i'm assuming so "playlist" can still be done.

also...any idea of how much music can be burned onto a dvd in WAV or FLAC?

thanks again
levy03 OP
442 posts
 
i'm getting there now!. outstanding info and support fella's. thank you very much.

heya Rich!. i did get things moved around but had to put the speakers back temporarily. seems my newly acquired acoustic zen santori shotgun speaker cables are 2 feet too short. couldn't make the turn around that damn fireplace lol!. no worries. decided to get a new vertical rack to solve the problem instead of replacing the cables. that's next on my agenda as soon as the PWT/PWD get here. it did sound great for the few hour's i tried it. good call my man!. think you're right about eventually going to a server too. also...really helpful info on this digi music topic buddy. is there anything you don't know Rich! =)

now back to my digital music education. grabbed EAC because a few of you recommended it. also got "Easy CD-DA Extractor" for conversions ect...(good call per Shazam). i think the software/tools are now present. just need to learn how to use them.

turns out the PWT only reads WAV hi-res files from DVD for now(they are adding FLAC soon). looks like if i'm using DVD....i'll need to convert to WAV first.

still have one question though...

can i mix different res files on the same disc? for example...Redbook along with other higher res files?
or better put...do all files on a disc need to be the same resolution?.

thanks again!
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