I'm preparing to buy a Beomaster 5 to give me instant access to music via link room TVs around the flat. In readiness, I've already ripped a few hundred CDs via my Mac Book Pro, plus a number of vinyl LPs via a USB turntable. However, due to my unfamiliarity with ripping music, I've been ripping in 320k AAC rather than lossless. Now I notice that iTunes can convert 320k AAC tracks to Apple Lossless. Will this give me true lossless quality, or will I (as I suspect) have to rip again in Apple Lossless to get top sound quality? And will there really be a noticeable difference via link room TV speakers (or indeed, my main Lab 5s)?

Guess what - as you suspected, once you have lost it you can't get it back. The lossless version will be identical to the 320K AAC but the detail lost during compression has gone forever. Try it and see, you may find you can't hear the difference (although you'll always know it's not as good as it could be)

Hello politician!

It is always technically possible to "up-convert" from 320k AAC to lossless. But as you already suspected this will incur an additional loss in quality, as the

original file is already lossy. The advantage of lossless formats it, that you can always reconstruct the original (i.e. 16-bit, 44.1kHz PCM wave file).

However the quality loss in your case is less noticeable than for instance converting back from mp3. If it is really audible or not I can not tell.

It will be like the difference between 320k and 192k, but it should not be too bad.

The real problem is, that BeoSound5/BeoMaster 5 does NOT support Apple formats, neither AAC nor AAC Lossless.

WMA lossless is the way to go with BeoSound 5 .

Regards

Alex

Some useful info there BundOAlex, but iTunes doesn't offer WMA as an import option. How would I get that format?

Windows media player will rip to WMA, iTunes will convert WMA to any of its supported formats.

Thanks, Puncher. Any idea how I set the computer to rip using Windows Media Player and not iTunes?

Of course Apple does not offer WMA, as WMA is short for Windows Media Audio, i.e. Microsoft

This must be some sort of licensing issue, as BeoMaster 5 uses Windows Embedded as operating system.

Windows Media Player ships with WindowsXP or Vista or any other Version of Windows. You can also download WMP from

the Microsoft website I think. The newest Version ist 11 or 12. But most professional ripping software does also rip to wma.

Regards

Alex

politician:

Thanks, Puncher. Any idea how I set the computer to rip using Windows Media Player and not iTunes?

Does iTunes open up automatically when you insert the audio CD??

Certainly does, Puncher, and it's also the default import program for EZ Audio Converter (the USB turntable's software).

If using the Beomaster 5 is going to mean buying Windows for the Mac, then I really can't be bothered with it: it's already grossly overpriced for what amounts to a 500GB hard drive.

Maybe I'll go down the BeoPort or Apple TV route instead. I understand the latter would allow me to stream music wirelessly from my laptop to any speakers or link room TV? And does BeoPort require the computer to be physically (rather than wirelessly) connected to it?

BundOAlex:

The real problem is, that BeoSound5/BeoMaster 5 does NOT support Apple formats, neither AAC nor AAC Lossless.

WMA lossless is the way to go with BeoSound 5 .

BS5/BM5 does support AAC.

See here: http://www.bang-olufsen.com/UserFiles/File/ts/BeoMaster5_en.pdf

AAC is not an Apple format it is an open format developed by Dolby.

Apple used to encrypt songs you bought from iTunes with the Fairplay DRM but it is not the case any longer and you can upgrade your songs to iTunes + for a fee.

These songs will be compatible.

If you have ripped your CDs using iTunes to AAC, then they will play on BS5/BM5 without any problem.

You would not gain anything to convert them back to Lossless, unless you rip again from the original CD.

Apple Lossless is a proprietary Apple format, and will not play on the BS5/BM5, however it can be converted back to AIFF in iTunes, without any loss. AIFF is supported by the BM5/BS5, and you can convert them back to WMA Lossless, still without loss, using another tool.

politician:

Certainly does, Puncher, and it's also the default import program for EZ Audio Converter (the USB turntable's software).

If using the Beomaster 5 is going to mean buying Windows for the Mac, then I really can't be bothered with it: it's already grossly overpriced for what amounts to a 500GB hard drive.

Maybe I'll go down the BeoPort or Apple TV route instead. I understand the latter would allow me to stream music wirelessly from my laptop to any speakers or link room TV? And does BeoPort require the computer to be physically (rather than wirelessly) connected to it?

You never mentioned it was a Mac!

Sorry Puncher - did say it was a Mac Book Pro, but forgot that not everyone is familiar with all the different Apple models!

So - BeoPort and Apple TV? How do they stack up for streaming music from my Apple laptop to speakers in link room TVs?

politician:

Sorry Puncher - did say it was a Mac Book Pro, .................

So you did, excuse me for being a complete idiot

Hi politician,

Well actually you don't need  beoport / apple TV if you are only streaming music... simply you can do as follows...

Now I'm a complete novice when it comes to these things, but I only just set up, thanks to Soundproofs guide, (refer attached link) streaming music to my systems. All you need to do is get an airport base station for each system/tv and then log everything onto your wireless network. Then if you have iphone/itouch you can download iremote from apple and you can access all your itunes libraries remotely. You can connect to multiple rooms  / speaker setups and also libraries on other computers, as you want... Works dream.

Now the only issue I have experienced is periodicly the connection drops for only a couple of seconds... so I think I have some stability issue somewhere,  not sure if its the network router (but its new) or the airport base (quite old, so maybe) or my laptop... but I'll trouble shoot this soon, as really its not enough to be an issue.

So good luck with it... heres the link

http://forum.beoworld.org/forums/t/8543.aspx?PageIndex=1

Laurence.

PhilLondon:

BundOAlex:

The real problem is, that BeoSound5/BeoMaster 5 does NOT support Apple formats, neither AAC nor AAC Lossless.

WMA lossless is the way to go with BeoSound 5 .

BS5/BM5 does support AAC.

See here: http://www.bang-olufsen.com/UserFiles/File/ts/BeoMaster5_en.pdf

AAC is not an Apple format it is an open format developed by Dolby.

Apple used to encrypt songs you bought from iTunes with the Fairplay DRM but it is not the case any longer and you can upgrade your songs to iTunes + for a fee.

These songs will be compatible.

If you have ripped your CDs using iTunes to AAC, then they will play on BS5/BM5 without any problem.

You would not gain anything to convert them back to Lossless, unless you rip again from the original CD.

Apple Lossless is a proprietary Apple format, and will not play on the BS5/BM5, however it can be converted back to AIFF in iTunes, without any loss. AIFF is supported by the BM5/BS5, and you can convert them back to WMA Lossless, still without loss, using another tool.

So what would you say was the best option if all your music is Apple Lossless and you want to make it BeoSound 5 friendly without losing too much quality?