Le Orme (1972-75) X 4

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Excellent !
Thanks Fuzi 

[Fuzi]

Thank you likedeeler, nidostar and Greta for your support
I've installed XLD and it works like advertised:)

Here's a release I converted using XLD and its FLAC standard setting:
The Braens Machine (Umiliani & Alessandroni) - Underground (1971)

@likedeeler, I am glad you brought this up as it gave me the chance to read and geek on audio, codecs, and encodings!
I now have a better understanding of it and a very handy tool.

@Greta, It seems XLD can split into files according to a cue file, does this work well or do you prefer doing it manually in sound editing software?

Enjoy your end of the week-end

[nidostar]

I know you didn't ask me Fuzi but here's my contribution anyway!

When ripping from vinyl I record the album using Garageband. Audacity was having compatibility issues with macOS Ventura at one point so I prefer to record in Garageband then save as a WAV file. There is an option in Audacity to split the WAV file automatically (using Analyze>Silence Finder) but it's not always foolproof depending on the volume level of the tracks. So I prefer to split the WAV file manually and save each track as FLAC converting to Apple Lossless with XLD if necessary. It is possible to save each track in Audacity as ALAC (Apple Lossless) but it's not straight forward.

[Fuzi]

Thanks nidostar, there are a few albums posted here that I can work on splitting.

For listening, I've been using VLC. It's been a while since I've opened iTunes. Although its presentation and UI is great with filtering and tagging, I am not very keen on reencoding my entire library in ALAC. Also not crazy about enslaving myself to yet another Apple app.

Would love to see VLC with more features or find another free app that covers playlists, filtering and tagging.

[Greta]

@Greta, It seems XLD can split into files according to a cue file, does this work well or do you prefer doing it manually in sound editing software?

When somebody shares a non-split file with a cue file, I use that to split into single tracks. It works perfectly.
But if a cue file is not available you can only split manually.

Is that what you were asking?

[Fuzi]

Yes Greta that's what I am referring to
Works well, thank you

A question about encoding if you don't mind:

I have left the default FLAC settings as you can see below



Please let me know if there's any other option that affects the transcoding to FLAC that you are using

Thank you

[Greta]

Those are exactly the setting I have. Except for one thing that I'm not sure what is: I have the "Set 'OggS' filetype" ticked up.

Just one thing it can be useful cause sometimes you have to deal with 32bit WAV files:
FLAC encoder only supports up to 24bit, so, if you have 32bit WAV's you have to downgrade them to 24bit WAV or AIFF at least, and then convert them to FLAC.
When encoding a WAV or AIFF to FLAC, XLD always keeps the same attributes as the original files (bits and sample rate). A 24bit 48kHz WAV will become a 24bit 48kHz FLAC, etc.

If somebody shares a 32bit-96kHz file and you want to encode it to FLAC, just convert it to 16 or 24 bit and 44.1 or 48kHz WAV or AIFF (your choice), and then encode the result to FLAC.

[nidostar]

Thanks nidostar, there are a few albums posted here that I can work on splitting.

For listening, I've been using VLC. It's been a while since I've opened iTunes. Although its presentation and UI is great with filtering and tagging, I am not very keen on reencoding my entire library in ALAC. Also not crazy about enslaving myself to yet another Apple app.

Would love to see VLC with more features or find another free app that covers playlists, filtering and tagging.

I totally agree re tying oneself to a specific app. And I must say Apple Music is not the best or most efficient way of indexing and filtering files. I have searched everywhere for a decent alternative but without much luck. I used to use MonkeyMedia when I had a PC and was somewhat disappointed when I moved over to iTunes almost 14 years ago. It’s even worse now that I have 200k+ tracks (I have very diverse musical interests!).
VLC is my back up player which works simply and without any problem. As you say, if only it could incorporate more of a database type approach with filtering and tagging.

[nidostar]

Thanks also to Greta and Fuzi re working with a cue file in XLD. I’ve tried this in the past without any luck but will have another go with the settings you suggest.

[Greta]

@nidostar

in order to work, a cue file has to have the same name of the un-split WAV/AIFF, otherwise the cue file won't work. Also, they need to be in the same folder.

example: Braen Machine Underground.wav
               Braen Machine Underground.cue

at this point you can open the cue file with XLD and choose to split the big wav file accordingly (and if you want also convert it to FLAC at the same time)

[nidostar]

Brilliant. Thanks Greta. I’ll give it a go next time I come across an unsplit track and cue sheet.

[kpmhill]

Also not crazy about enslaving myself to yet another Apple app.

In fact, iTunes is one of the most easily interoperable music software packages around. iTunes creates a file for communicating with non-Apple software. It's called:

iTunes Library.xml

…and it's stored in the same place as the iTunes dedicated library file. E.g. DJ software uses this to access/import iTunes playlists (Serato, Traktor).

Using iTunes does not "enslave" you to anything. It's pretty much the opposite.

[Fuzi]

Using iTunes does not "enslave" you to anything. It's pretty much the opposite.

Interesting vista kpmhill, I'll definitely reconsider, thank you

[Fuzi]

Those are exactly the setting I have. Except for one thing that I'm not sure what is: I have the "Set 'OggS' filetype" ticked up.

Got it, thanks

One last thing before I can move on with XLD. Would you be able to download the WAV I posted on The Braens Machine (Umiliani & Alessandroni) - Underground (1971), compress it to FLAC, and then let me know if there's any difference with my FLAC? It would give me the confidence to discard the WAV safely:)

[Greta]

I tried Fuzi, and the two results are exactly the same.