Buying and Playing Lossless formats

Is anyone familiar with Apple Lossless format? Does it deliver the same quality as FLAC and will it play on an iPod? Thanks.

To follow up on JD's response:

Apple Lossless will play on most iPods, but not the 1G and 2G Shuffle models (i.e. the oldest Shuffle models). I believe these are the only exceptions. 

In the case of those older Shuffle models, iTunes gives the option to convert any Apple Lossless files into AAC to sync with the iPod (the files remain AL on the computer HD, however). 

Keep in mind that Apple Lossless is a compressed lossless format – you can expect that your AL files will be about half the size of the original music files (e.g. a 700 MB CD will give roughly 350 MB of Apple Lossless files) – so don't worry that the smaller file size means you are losing data. 

And yet some people still want to have it :-)

Having come late to this thread, it seems there are two broad camps, those who are happy with 320K MP3 and those who want something better.

As a musician with a scientific background, I've spent many years and pounds trying to get better sound at home and I've come to a few conclusions.

The statement that all CD players sound the same can be quickly disproved in any decent hifi shop and the differences are clearly audible without the need for double blind testing. However I also think that much of this may result form the DAC and analogue sections of the process rather than with jitter and error correction.

As to the basic quality of CD red book standard recording. I have no doubt that higher bit rates should allow higher standards. The 16bit 44k recording standard reflects the constraints of digital processing standards 30 years ago and it's really time we improved on it.

For the posters who can't hear the difference between different equipment, I can only say that I can hear a huge gulf between recordings and live music and we ought to be trying to bridge that gap. MP3 may satisfy some, and in the popular music field where the source is electronic, it may be good enough.

For me, we've been stagnating for far too long.

Mike

Just came across this thread and thought I'd add my tuppence-worth.

All my CDs are ripped to FLAC as it's a lossless, non proprietry format. Whatever happens in the future I'll be able to convert the full "CD quality" files to any new format with no loss of quality.

I'm a committed (sic.) Squeezebox user - with six devices around the house of varying form factor, from a Transporter to old SB3, a Receiver, a Boom and a couple of SB Radios. My network's well sorted and it all works a treat, especially with the iPeng iPhone app to control it all.

However, the new SB Touch doesn't need a network behind it as you can run your library directly off a USB disc. I believe it costs around £250 - a bargain in audiophile equipment terms. You can feed the digital out into a fancy DAC if you wish, but it sounds good straight from the box. What's not to like? :o)

A quick search for "Uk Radioplayer" found http://www.ukradioplayer.info/ as the first result.

"Q: When will Radioplayer launch?

"The first stations will appear in December, with more joining in January, and a full public launch in February." 

Annoyingly, however, they (the radio industry consortium behind it, not the BBC on its own) have chosen "Flash" as a platform.

"Q: Will Radioplayer work with any operating system (that can run a web browser)?

"Yes – as long as it has a browser with Flash (as do more than 95% of personal computers/laptops)."

So accessing it on a Squeezebox won't be directly supported -- although as they also say

Q: Will the standards be open so an open-source offline client can be implemented?

Our metadata model is open and published, which means anyone can get at the source data that ‘powers’ the ‘player. There are currently no plans to open-source the console code.

it should be easy enough for someone to code a plug-in for Streambox, or a suitable App for other platforms.

Red Book specs published for CDs in 1987 are a compromise between audiophile sound and practical considerations for the production the media itself - the CD.  There is only so much room on a CD.   No one in 1987 ever thought that studio master files could be made available to the public.  Now that they are, they are selling briskly and there is an incentive for publishers to make them available.  I play 24 bit 192mhz files through my PC into an Electrocompaniet DAC and the sound is jaw dropping!  Far superior to the CD of the same music and much better than a 16bit flac dowload.  I think that many people will claim that there isn't a difference in the sound because they don't have the equipment that will let them hear the difference.