Topic: ALAC Now Open Source

[H₂O]

http://www.macrumors.com/2011/10/27/apples-lossless-audio-codec-alac-now-open-source/

I wonder how this will affect FLAC - I can't see ALAC supplanting FLAC

[12milluz]

I was excited to see this. Right now I have an iPod video, with Rockbox. Problem is, I hate the GUI of Rockbox, so I only use it for my recordings, and I use the regular iPod firmware for the rest of my music. It's a pain to have to restart the iPod when I want to change. Hopefully I can convert these FLACs to ALACs for my iPod.

[ScoobieKW]

dbpoweramp will convert FLAC to ALAC now, no need to wait.

[Fried Chicken Boy]

I wonder how this will affect FLAC - I can't see ALAC supplanting FLAC

Personally, I don't either.  I think FLAC is too entrenched in the community.  APE never really caught on and nobody encodes to SHN anymore either.  It's nice that ALAC has been made open-sourced (probably a marketing move on Apple's part) but does it really offer anything that FLAC doesn't already have aside from a fan base that loves Apple and its products?  If I'm missing something regarding the format, please let me know.

[rastasean]

I am a big fan of open source anything and I don't know why this wasn't released as open source originally.
Hopefully the average digital music person will understand how much mp3s suck.

Reddit page of linux action show

http://www.reddit.com/r/LinuxActionShow/comments/lrpfe/apple_lossless_music_format_goes_opensource/

[adrianf74]

I wonder how this will affect FLAC - I can't see ALAC supplanting FLAC

Personally, I don't either.  I think FLAC is too entrenched in the community.  APE never really caught on and nobody encodes to SHN anymore either.  It's nice that ALAC has been made open-sourced (probably a marketing move on Apple's part) but does it really offer anything that FLAC doesn't already have aside from a fan base that loves Apple and its products?  If I'm missing something regarding the format, please let me know.

I think this is really a win-win for the lossless community.  With increased data speeds there is a chance people will start wanting the larger "lossless" files.  I'm sticking with FLAC (all of my live masters are as such, all of my CD rips are as such and my live downloads are as well). 

Hopefully this might get record labels to wisen up.  My buddy and I were talking about the whole "remastered in 24-bit stamp on CD's but it's pointless as they're sold on a 16-bit, archaic platform.  I can record 24/96 if I want but can't get my music in 24/48... ack.  Maybe this will help spur a change.

[ScoobieKW]

I"d be much happier if Apple joined the 21st century and supported FLAC natively. I use Apple Lossless as it's so convenient. My iPod Touch likes it, my wife's 160 gb iPod Classic likes it, my son's iPod likes it, and I can control iTunes from my iPod Touch and use it around the house through my pc > stereo connection.

Haven't found a music player that supports gapless playback of FLAC that works as well in as many situations. So, I encode and archive as FLAC, but end up making ALAC copies of the stuff I really like.

[Todd R]

I wonder how this will affect FLAC - I can't see ALAC supplanting FLAC

Personally, I don't either.  I think FLAC is too entrenched in the community.  APE never really caught on and nobody encodes to SHN anymore either.  It's nice that ALAC has been made open-sourced (probably a marketing move on Apple's part) but does it really offer anything that FLAC doesn't already have aside from a fan base that loves access to Apple and its products?  If I'm missing something regarding the format, please let me know.

Well I think you've somewhat hit the nail on the head -- ALAC offers the ability to be played on Apple devices, which FLAC cannot. 

So I'm happy to see this not because of fanboy love for Apple, but because I own Apple products.  If Apple won't integrate FLAC into their devices, this is the next best thing I guess.  Among my other Apple computers and gadgets, I've got an ipad, ipod classic, and ipod touch.  It'll be nice to have more apps and support for playing and creating ALAC files for these devices since FLAC isn't an (easy) option for them.  (Yes, I recognize that integrating FLAC into their products might have been a better option, but for whatever reason, that is not on the table.)

[adrianf74]

So I'm happy to see this not because of fanboy love for Apple, but because I own Apple products.  If Apple won't integrate FLAC into their devices, this is the next best thing I guess.  ot on the table.)

Umm... I think this is one of the reasons I own no iPod, no iPhone and no iPad.  The day Apple wises up completely and supports FLAC natively, as many others have (including my Android phone), I might consider buying their products.  But until that day happens, I'm glad to avoid using them. 

[rastasean]

Well I think you've somewhat hit the nail on the head -- ALAC offers the ability to be played on Apple devices, which FLAC cannot. 

So I'm happy to see this not because of fanboy love for Apple, but because I own Apple products.  If Apple won't integrate FLAC into their devices, this is the next best thing I guess.  Among my other Apple computers and gadgets, I've got an ipad, ipod classic, and ipod touch.  It'll be nice to have more apps and support for playing and creating ALAC files for these devices since FLAC isn't an (easy) option for them.  (Yes, I recognize that integrating FLAC into their products might have been a better option, but for whatever reason, that is not on the table.)

http://androidandme.com/2011/10/news/the-lawsuits-are-about-to-get-uglier-apple-wins-patent-on-slide-to-unlock/

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/vendetta-steve-jobs-vowed-to-spend-last-dying-breath-going-thermonuclear-war-on-google/

So they decided to release one thing as open source and obtain a patent on something that shouldn't have a patent and want to destroy a competitor.

[H₂O]

It's true that the patent system in the US is broken. 

[rastasean]

It's true that the patent system in the US is broken.

I think that is an understatement.

[scb]

So I'm happy to see this not because of fanboy love for Apple, but because I own Apple products.  If Apple won't integrate FLAC into their devices, this is the next best thing I guess.  Among my other Apple computers and gadgets, I've got an ipad, ipod classic, and ipod touch.  It'll be nice to have more apps and support for playing and creating ALAC files for these devices since FLAC isn't an (easy) option for them.  (Yes, I recognize that integrating FLAC into their products might have been a better option, but for whatever reason, that is not on the table.)

was there no way to convert to ALAC on windows before yesterday?  I ask because I don't know the answer...not trying to come off as combative or anything.  It's been easy to do on OS X for a while now, so as a mac user, this news doesn't really mean anything for me.  Just wondering if it wasn't a common thing on windows

[adrianf74]

was there no way to convert to ALAC on windows before yesterday?  I ask because I don't know the answer...not trying to come off as combative or anything.  It's been easy to do on OS X for a while now, so as a mac user, this news doesn't really mean anything for me.  Just wondering if it wasn't a common thing on windows

There have been ways (such as using Foobar2000) before yesterday. I think we're talking more about the long(er)-term impact of Apple doing this and that maybe consumers will wake up and start downloading lossless audio over crappy MP3s.

[ScoobieKW]

So I'm happy to see this not because of fanboy love for Apple, but because I own Apple products.  If Apple won't integrate FLAC into their devices, this is the next best thing I guess.  Among my other Apple computers and gadgets, I've got an ipad, ipod classic, and ipod touch.  It'll be nice to have more apps and support for playing and creating ALAC files for these devices since FLAC isn't an (easy) option for them.  (Yes, I recognize that integrating FLAC into their products might have been a better option, but for whatever reason, that is not on the table.)

was there no way to convert to ALAC on windows before yesterday?  I ask because I don't know the answer...not trying to come off as combative or anything.  It's been easy to do on OS X for a while now, so as a mac user, this news doesn't really mean anything for me.  Just wondering if it wasn't a common thing on windows

dbpoweramp will do it with the free version