ALAC on PC?

[Charles Hansen]

We're here to help.

 

It would be really, really nice if we could talk the J.River developers into incorporating a version of the same open source ALAC decoder used in Foobar.

 

They don't want to because they have a deep hatred (justifiably so) of all things Apple. Which brings up a second issue besides just being able to play your ALAC music files.

 

You are going to want to also sync your music onto your iPod. The foo_dop (I assume "dop" is "pod" backwards) will do this, but there may be limitations. I would recommend reading the instructions at the foo_dop home page to see if it will do what you want:

 

http://yuo.be/wiki/dop:start

 

On the other hand, the portable player module in J.River is extremely slick and easy to use. The problem is that they are not prompt about keeping up with changes to iTunes. So if you have a Mac somewhere that gets automatic updates to iTunes and connect your iPod to that, then you will get an error message when you try to connect to J.River.

 

Apple deliberately changes the file format of the iTunes library file from time to time, just to break the functionality of other music players. Apple doesn't want anyone to use anything except iTunes.

 

[Darth B]

There may be multiple ways to get JRiver to playback ALAC files. The method I used involved adding the necessary BASS filters. This allowed ASIO and WASAPI playback of ALAC files.

 

I first added the BASS filters using DCBass Source. I soon realized that DCBass was just adding the BASS filters into one of the JRiver folders. Also the files DCBass added were old versions. I then went to the Un4Seen site (the BASS developers) and downloaded the new files and added them to the same JRiver folder. It's actually pretty easy to do. I could give more specifics HOWEVER....

 

I abandoned the use of JRiver. I didn't care for it as a Media Center type application. So I do not currently have it installed. However, I do have the disk image of the install saved so I could restore it and give more details.

 

[Charles Hansen]

Yes! Thank you!

 

I have found a page from the developer of the DC BASS Direct Show filters. He says that he uses the same source code as Foobar uses and that the latest DLL file has been updated with the new source code to play 24-bit files:

 

http://www.un4seen.com/forum/?topic=9707.0

 

So it may take a little bit of fiddling, or it may be that you can just install the BASS filter from here instead of from the place shown in the J.River instructions. But one way or another, there should be a way around having to install QuickTime.

 

[Darth B]

I've reviewed the notes I took when I installed JRiver and got the ALAC working using the BASS filters. I started a How-to-Guide and attached. I can't promise that it will work, as I'm recalling much of the information from 6 month old memories. Hopefully its enough to get you started.

 

[y2k986s]

Hi,

 

I'm currently using Media Monkey on PC to play ALAC files (16 bit) and FLAC (24 bit) through Benchmark USB DAC and have the same question about playing ALAC files with it vs using iTunes. If I want to stick with the ALAC format, is there anything I can do to enhance the sound quality out of Media Monkey and how would it compare with JRiver and Foobar (I don't have experience with either one)?

 

Thanks.

 

[Charles Hansen]

Take this with a huge grain of salt, because I could be 180 degrees off. When I was looking for a PC program that would handle ALAC files, I'm pretty sure that Media Monkey only did so through the use of the QuickTime engine.

 

(For those of you who don't know, QuickTime is not just the "movie" player, but actually handles all of the audio work for iTunes. iTunes is just a database that organizes the audio files so that QuickTime can play them.)

 

I didn't want a solution that used QuickTime, so I passed over MediaMonkey. The good news about QuickTime is that it works fine for just about everything. After all, it is Apple's format, so it makes sense that QuickTime would play ALAC files properly.

 

The only bad thing is that then you have to have QuickTime installed on your computer. It is a massive program, requiring many hundreds of megabytes on your hard drive and it also tries to make itself be the default player for anything that it can. It is basically an invasive program on the PC that I prefer to avoid.

 

On the Mac it is a different story. It comes pre-installed and is just part of the Mac package.

 

Also on my Mac if I convert a 24-bit file to ALAC it seems to stay at 24 bits. But if I convert it back to any other format (AIFF or WAV), it truncates it to 16 bits. I don't know if this is an iTunes bug or a QuickTime bug or an Apple bug. But it's kind of embarrassing that the third-party tools like dBpoweramp can handle these conversions, while the Apple tool falls flat on its face.

 

But to answer your question, I don't believe there is any way to play ALAC on MediaMonkey besides using QuickTime. If you're using it, I'm sure that it works fine. And if you are happy, there is no reason to change.

 

[Charles Hansen]

I've reviewed the notes I took when I installed JRiver and got the ALAC working using the BASS filters.

 

Awesome! This is great work and makes perfect sense. I am looking forward to trying this out and getting J.River to do what I want it do do with ALAC files. Thank you so much!

 

[samwisesam]

hi all,

 

I have been slowly building my library and following the guidelines re ripping, setting up audio quality on sound card etc. I have now downloaded JRiver as a trial. I am though confused around whether the latest version already includes Direct Show? Do I need to download some software or can I just download the BASS filter for ALAC? I intend to use my new laptop as my playback source it does not have ITunes on it I was going to load/play files via an external harddrive. I will use my PC to manage my IPOD/ITunes and backup all files to my external drive which I will then use to load or play on my laptop. Does that sound sensible?

 

cheers Jamie

 

[samwisesam]

hi, sorry to be a pest again. But does JRiver v15 contain DirectShow or do I need to install it? If I follow the instructions for DCBass filter does it play ALAC with ASIO?

 

Any help gratefully received

 

thanks Jamie

 

[Charles Hansen]

J.River has a very active support forum. You can get questions answered there very quickly.

 

You have to add the Direct Show filters yourself. There is a very confusing setup guide on the J.River Wiki here:

 

http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/DirectShow_Playback_Guide

 

There is some good background, but a lot of it does not apply to what you are doing.

 

If you look down (or up depending on how you set your user preferences) in this thread, you will see a post by Darth B entitled "I've reviewed the notes...". This post has a link to step-by-step instructions for installing the DC Bass Direct Show filter and then changing it out for the latest ALAC decoder.

 

The DC Bass Direct Show filter has an old version of the ALAC decoder that only decodes up to 16 bit material, which is why you need to go through the hassle of changing out the ALAC decoder as Darth B figured out.

 

[samwisesam]

Hi

 

I had checked that out but is there a need to download old files and then update them? Is it not possible just to download the latest versions? Will it work with ASIO as well as WASAPI? Does it assume I already need DirectShow? Sorry about this but I am struggling with this big time.

 

thanks Jamie

 

[Charles Hansen]

There are three ways to use ALAC with J.River:

 

a) Install Apple's QuickTime and J.River will automatically find it and use it to decode ALAC and AAC files. I hate QuickTime for Windows, so I don't like this solution.

 

b) Follow the instructions from J.River and install the DC Bass Direct Show filter. This will allow you to decode ALAC, but as the decoder is old it is limited to 16-bit files. If all you ever play is CD, that is not a problem.

 

c) If you want to avoid QuickTime and you want to play high-res ALAC files, then follow J.Rivers instructions for installing the DC Bass Direct Show filter. Then go back and replace some of the old files installed by DC Bass with newer files that can decode 24 bit ALAC.

 

I have no idea about ASIO and WASAPI. I cannot imagine that installing any of of these methods would affect any output method. Please remember that WASAPI is only available in the paid version of J.River (Media Center NOT Media Jukebox) and that WASAPI Event Based is only in the latest versions (15.x) of Media Center.

 

[samwisesam]

hi

 

thanks for taking the time to respond as I know this is probably more appropriate to the JRiver forum. I have followed your advice in that I don't have quicktime on my new laptop - at least not knowingly. I am looking to play hi res music ultimately but will not be saving any 24 bit files to ALAC - it just seems a lot of hassle if you then want to use anything other than ITunes (well to a novice like me anyway).

 

I have followed the instructions on JRiver and the link to download DirectShow with the DC Bass filter; I have activated the Bass filter in the subfolder. When I then go into JRiver MC tools/options/files to align the filter with the file type the DC Bass filter is still not appearing as an option in the drop down. I have posted on JRiver also so I understand if you don't respond to this.

 

Just one final thought - in all the stuff I have read in order to get started I think I saw a post that indicated DC Bass filter do now handle 24bit. Following the link on JRiver the latest update on the DirectShow filter pack was Nov 2010 so I assume would cover 24 bit.

 

Thanks again

 

Jamie

 

[samwisesam]

I have now downloaded the latest versions of files for 24 bit but still cant get JRiver to see them?

 

Jamie

 

[samwisesam]

hi

 

just wanted to thank everyone for their advice. I am now up and running using JRiver with Bass filters installed. I was impressed with sound through my Audiolab Dac. Now I just need to resolve getting album art into JRiver from ITunes when files are ALAC and rip my DVD/A 24/96 disks as my Universal PLayer has given up the ghost.

 

thanks again

 

Jamie