Converting BACK to 24-bit WAV from 24-bit Apple lossless.... not possible?!

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Mugsy1973 Author

Level 1

16 points

Converting BACK to 24-bit WAV from 24-bit Apple lossless.... not possible?!

Hiya!

Think I've found a bug in iTunes. I use Apple Lossless for archiving my CD collection as I can then use it with iTunes and Foobar2000 depending on my needs.

I have a few 24-bit files which iTunes converted to Apple Lossless format. Right-clicking on the file shows it retained he 24-bit information.

However..... iTunes will only convert the Apple Lossless 24-bit file back to a 16-bit WAV file.... which seems utterly ridiculous. Looking at the options in the import settings there is indeed no 24-bit option in WAV!!!

So does this mean I am now stuck with 24-bit ALAC file with no way of getting it back to a 24-bit WAV file (so I can use it with other software)???

Cheers,

- John

Sony Vaio VGN-FS415E, Windows XP

Posted on Feb 18, 2009 7:19 AM

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Answer 1

ed2345

Level 9

62,426 points

Feb 18, 2009 12:02 PM in response to Mugsy1973

Correct, iTunes does not let you convert anything to 24 bit WAV. The choices are 16 or 8. I am a little surprised that ALAC preserved the 24 bits - what did you see that made you think it did?

Just a suggestion, when you speak of "archiving" it implies something you will keep for a long time. I would not recommend using any vendor-proprietary format (including ALAC) for archiving. Why do you not archive the 24 bit WAV originals in their full glory?

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Answer 2

Mugsy1973 Author

Level 1

16 points

Feb 19, 2009 9:47 AM in response to ed2345

Hiya.

I read it on some audio forum ages ago, and if you goto 'Get Info' on the ALAC file in iTunes it says quite clearly 24-bits. Playing this through a 24/96 DAC confirms it's doing what it should too.

Strange that they give no way to reverse the process to get back to the original 24-bit WAV, and rather annoying.

I use a mixture of ALAC and FLAC. Mostly ALAC for 16-bit archives of my CDs. It's lossless, so I see no point at all in wasting space with WAV. And if ALAC ever goes under then it's pretty easy to do a batch encode to FLAC or something else using any number of software encoders (i.e. dbpoweramp).

Incidently I'd probably have gone with FLAC all the way but needed ALAC for my iPod classic, and foobar plays ALAC and FLAC.

Cheers,

- John

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