I want to either use wma lossless or apple lossless.

I also will like suggestions if there are any better codecs out ther

http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?ti...less_comparison

You may want to state why you are deciding between ALAC or WMA lossless, but I can guarantee you that there are better choices out there.

I would personally recommend FLAC. Lots of people like wavpack as well.
JXL

because i want to use either itunes or wmp to play the files.

i will be ripping them with dbpoweramp

These formats are bad as they bind you to either Microsoft or Apple software. I don't have/use the graphical Windows Media Player (WMP). But my understanding is that WMP can play anything DirectShow is capable of playing. So by installing respective filters you can use say Wavpack in WMP (FLAC support for DirectShow is bad).

i don't see how i would be tied down to apple.

the decoder for apple lossless is free

Given a choice I would use FLAC.

They are both going to perform about the same in terms of compression ratios. It all depends on what software you want to use to play the lossless files back. If you have an iPod and live in the world that is iTunes then go with Apple lossless. If you have a different DAP (anything that isn't Apple) and it requires WMP, you might want to go with WMA Lossless. It is all up to the software that you want to use.

That's right.Only convenience, not quality.

I guess I don't understand that comment as Apple lossless is lossless. It has been proven over and over again that Apple lossless produces true lossless files. Apple lossless can also produce adequate results when comparing compression ratios with other lossless encoders. It may not be as good as FLAC but it still isn't bad. So Apple lossless isn't a bad decision since it is in fact lossless and the compression ratios aren't that bad.

It doesn't matter from the point of view of quality: lossless is lossless. And one can always transcode to something else without any loss at a later date.

I use FLAC myself. That's probably the most widely used. it's also the most widely supported across different platforms and in different players and devices. The FLAC site sees the value in pointing that out -- see this page. I suggest that is enough to make it an attractive choice.

I use FLAC mainly because it is supported by so many things so I'd recommend that.

That's the understatement of the year, lol. Proper FLAC handling in WMP is a crapshoot at best.

I was able to play FLAC files using WMP with no problem (at least for now ) Check this site.

As a windows user, I personally find WMAL to be more convenient, and so have converted all of my FLAC files to WMAL.

• Windows explorer can display tag info on WMAL, but not on FLAC.
• Plays perfectly in WMP (which my wife insists on using). Even with the latest plugin, there are still issues with FLAC and the WMP library. Also the seeking is kinda funky.
• I don't use a portable of any kind, so that's not a consideration.
• If I want to send a file to a friend, I don't have to convert it first for fear he will not want to deal with "weird codecs".

Prior to this I used FLAC for roughly two years. I was quite happy with it, but WMAL is just more convenient for me.

I do remember one issue Spoon had pointed out on these forums regarding WMAL. If I remember correctly - If WMAL encounters an error while playing back the file, it does not notify the user and simply continues.

The same goes for ripping to WMAL with Windows Media Player, that can also be said for using iTunes to rip to ALAC. That is why an accurate ripper such as dbpoweramp and EAC should be used when ripping. You might as well rip CD accurately/securely if you are going to go through the trouble of ripping to lossless.

Slightly OT....Other than using EAC to rip to wav files and then using iTunes to convert to ALAC...is there a secure ripping method for creating ALAC files yet? I know that ALAC and WMA lossless are still closed source...

I wouldn't use a program like iTunes or any other non-secure ripper, to create lossless files. There's no point to save large lossless files if there are read errors when ripping it from the CD. When transcoding you'd just be replicating any of the errors saved from the original rip...
JXL

You could use iTunesEncode with EAC. I expect dbPowerAmp has a plugin also, but I'm unfamiliar with it.

As Synthetic Soul pointed out, you could use iTunesEncode with both EAC and dbpoweramp (in CLI mode only). However, the developers of dbpoweramp have somehow reverse engineered Apple's ALAC code and built it right into their "m4a" plug-in. So you can easily, accurately, and securely rip to Apple lossless without having to worry about running another program (ie iTunes) as that is how iTunesEncode works. dbpoweramp also supports direct ripping to WMA lossless as well.

dbpoweramp has a apple lossless encoder and a wma lossless encoder

I would call WMA a weird codec.

I defended WMA against your last attack, but I have to agree with you about WMAL. It's an entirely different animal. IIRC it isn't (wasn't?) even supported on the Zune.

Also, there have been issues raised by Spoon and others that it isn't always lossless, though the last example brought forth actually was lossless. Maybe the problem was only with the SDK?

Zune supports WMA Lossless as of the release of the "2.0" firmware. Not really sure why you'd waste the space on a portable, but hey...

I'm not sure what supposed SDK problem you are talking about. Link?

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....2B%2BWMA+%2BSDK