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Apple Lossless conversion length

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andrew1234567:
I have been converting my files from Mp3 to Apple Lossless and when I play it, there appears to be a max time limit. For 32/192 Apple Lossless, I cannot play past 75-odd minutes. For 32/384, I cannot get past 38 minutes. The audio cuts off and the time indicator stops.

Can you please fix this? I do not want a cap.

andrew1234567:
Whenever I convert files from Mp3 to ALAC, my computer stutters and becomes slow. Converting multiple files makes it worse. Also, the time it takes to convert files that are 20-60+ minutes in length is ridiculous. It took me over an hour just to convert 8 files from Mp3 to 32/192 ALAC. To be fair the files did end up being around 9gb.

My iMac is new, has plenty of memory, and has 8g of ram.

MC 23 hogs my CPU and I can't do anything else. I would like to run it in the background while I do other things.

Is there a way to speed things up? Can you make the MC CPU friendly?

Awesome Donkey:
Uhh this might be a little off-topic, but why are you converting MP3s to Apple Lossless, especially Apple Lossless 32/192 and 32/384? Lossy to lossless conversions are generally frowned upon as all you're doing in this case is wasting drive space. There's no improvements to the sound and/or quality, and you can't make a true "lossless" file using a lossy MP3 source. If MP3s are all you have, then I suggest leaving them as such without converting them to lossless and/or resampling them to asinine bit-depths/sample rates.

But if your goal is to have lossless files then you're better off replacing your lossy MP3s with Apple Lossless from a lossless source instead (e.g. re-ripping CDs to Apple Lossless, buying lossless digital music files from stores like 7digital, Qobuz, etc.), without using any resampling. Resampling to bit-depths/sample rates like 32/384 from 16/44.1 is also a complete waste of drive space. Reading your other topic, the resampling of lossy files to 32/384 ALAC and the stutters of playing them back is likely from the Mac you're using not being powerful enough to handle playback of files at that ridiculous bit-depth/sample rate.

Do yourself a couple favors; don't do lossy to lossless conversions (instead either leave the lossy files as-is if that's all you have or properly replace the lossy files with true lossless files from lossless sources) and don't needlessly convert everything to 32/192 and 32/384 when there's absolutely no need or reason to.

https://www.howtogeek.com/142174/what-lossless-file-formats-are-why-you-shouldnt-convert-lossy-to-lossless/

andrew1234567:
thanks AD for the informative response. To answer your question about why I convert, I'm playing around with the DSP settings. To my surprise they do add depth and clarity to the music. That's why I bought the Media Center. I understand about the waste of space aspect, I'm just fiddling with the various bit-depth/sample size to see if during playback there is any difference. For some of the pieces there is. Like in a piece I've been listening to for years (it has a very soft instrumental opening), after using the MC converter, I did not know a drum played two notes. One note I've always heard, but not two. 

Two points have not been answered. One is after 32/192 conversion, if I have a file with a play time of over 75-odd minutes, once it reaches that time it stops and moves on to the next track. If it is 32/384, it stops after 38 minutes. Playback for all files is not a problem. There is no stuttering. I have tried playing the files on my other players (iTunes, Amarra, even my phone) and after they reach the times I mentioned earlier, they stop. So there is a time limit. Can you lift it?

The second is why does it take so long for conversion? The CPU is hogged by MC 23 and I can't do anything else. My final converted files range from about 1/2 gb to about 9 gb. It can't just be an issue with RAM can it? If this is normal, please ignore the second point. The first point is what concerns me more.

Awesome Donkey:
You can add DSP settings via DSP Studio on-the-fly without needing to apply DSP to the files themselves (and in the process converting the MP3s to Apple Lossless). It still makes absolutely no sense to convert lossy to lossless, even if for DSP. It makes even less sense to convert MP3s (which are 16-bit/44.1 kHz to begin with) to absurd bit-depths/sample rates like 32/192 and 32/384 - it doesn't and can't add any new information to the existing media. Since they're lossy to begin with, information has been lost and it can never be restored. This is why I stress if you're going to be using lossless files, obtain them from true lossless sources instead of converting lossy MP3s to Apple Lossless.

As for the other issue, are you using any of the memory playback options? If so, I suspect that could be your issue. Otherwise, no clue. But the issue can be avoided by simply not converting MP3s to 32/192 and 32/384 Apple Lossless files.


--- Quote from: andrew1234567 on October 16, 2017, 09:14:04 pm ---The second is why does it take so long for conversion? The CPU is hogged by MC 23 and I can't do anything else. My final converted files range from about 1/2 gb to about 9 gb. It can't just be an issue with RAM can it? If this is normal, please ignore the second point. The first point is what concerns me more.
--- End quote ---

Because you're (needlessly) converting to high-resolution 32/192 and 32/384 Apple Lossless which causes increased CPU usage while during the conversions. Along with that, the resulting converted files can and do have very large file sizes. Again, by simply not doing these needless conversions, you can avoid this issue as well.

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