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PC wav lossless vs MAC apple lossless

Hi there. I am still trying to figure out all of the permutations of this PC Server thing. I am experimenting with many alternatives and variables before I settle on what I will do with my 500 CD collection. I dont want to rip (import) these CD's more than once!

I have not been that happy experimenting with my new MAC and apple lossless. Frankly, even with all the changes I have made and tweaked - I can clearly hear that the music is superior through my inexpensive Panasonic CD player. (I run both the CD player and the computer through a Musical Fidelity X-DAX v8)

I have been using Apple lossless because that seems to be the consensus as the best route, from those on this site. However, perhaps it is just because I am used to Windows Media Player - but I find WMP to be a better interface for managing the music - so now I am thinking to keep the files on a PC instead and try using WAV lossless on my PC.

Question 1 -- I have heard that there are sound problems with Windows XP that were resolved in Windows Vista. Is this true ? Something about a kernel? I have XP now but would upgrade to Vista if it made a difference. I play the music out via the USB connection.

Question 2 -- Is there any known difference between saving these files in WAV format vs. Apple lossless ?

Question 3 -- Given that the consensus has always seemed to be MAC and apple lossless -- for my understanding, why is this superior to PC and WAV?

Thanks guys !
Mark
markny
sufentanil's avatar
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sufentanil
782 posts
 
WAV and Apple Lossless basically play identially, but Apple Lossless (and any modern lossless format, such as FLAC) has 2 major advantages over WAV:

1) Standardized tags (the comments embedded in the file that tell what the name of the song is, the artist, composer, etc). Don't underestimate their value, especially when you're using a Squeezebox or something and want to have it select a certain type of music by some criteria.

2) Smaller files. (Most lossless formats use about half of the space of a WAV file.)

I personally use FLAC since it's an open source format that's supported outside of iTunes, but iTunes/iPod have such a market share that I doubt this is really a major downside to Apple lossless.

Michael
jamesw20
270 posts
 
Why can he hear a difference with Mac and loseless vs. cheap cdp? I would think the bitstream without moving parts would be superior to the cdp??
markny OP
7 posts
 
Thanks so far for this information. I plan to play with this a bit during the weekend ! I will try to compare my PC WAV files with the same music on MAC with Apple Lossless. Will provide an update.
markny OP
7 posts
 
I was asked above how the USB is implemented.. Itis simple actually - I use the USB output on the MAC into a USB input on the DAC. This is a new DAC and I believe most new DAC's now have a USB input in addition to the typical coax inputs etc. Thanks.
shazam
205 posts
 
Markny, the USB input may well be where you are hearing a difference. You can't just use the same $2 radio shack usb cable that you would use for data because there is no verification or talkback for USB audio (unless it is an asynchronus USB connection like the Wavelength described here: http://tinyurl.com/4t2fht ). The data coming down the cable is little different than what goes down a coax or optical connection and is still subject to jitter and transport problems.

Kimber makes a great bang for the buck usb audio cable around $40 - http://tinyurl.com/4ttr7w
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