Alarming iTunes 10.5.2 upgrade notes

[autoformer]

This will be worrisome for those of us who have imported hundreds of CDs using iTunes in Apple Lossless. I was about to get rid of most of my CDs, but now I'm wondering if I should embark on a project to re-import them all in FLAC format with Max. From Apple's upgrade notes for 10.5.2:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

What's new in iTunes 10.5.2

 

iTunes 10.5.2 includes several improvements for iTunes Match and fixes an audio distortion problem when playing or importing certain CDs.

 

[ted_b]

You do not need to buy iTunes Match, and any distortion bug is one you'd already have heard if your cd was one of the culprits. This upgrade is nothing to get upset about...or I am completely missing your point. FLAC is not supported by iTunes.

 

[jhwalker]

From what I read elsewhere, the distortion issue was only on a very few CDs that used a certain type of pre-emphasis:

 

"The problem only affected CDs encoded with Pre-emphasis. Pre-emphasis encoded CDs have high frequencies boosted to some extent, and need them to be reduced after ripping. Pre-emphasis supposedly provides a better noise-floor than normal CDs, but is only of a benefit to music with a large dynamic range.

 

It seems that the software component of iTunes that implemented the equalisation curve developed a fault as of iTunes 10.5, producing heavily distorted discs.

 

Very few CDs these days are encoded with pre-emphasis - limited mainly to some independent classical labels, such as BIS and the discs provided with the BBC Music Magazine. In the past, though, it was more common, particularly with CDs pressed in Japan."

 

 

[autoformer]

In transitioning to streaming-only music in my house, I ripped a few hundred CDs. I have not listened to them all. While ripping, I usually spot checked a track or two, but some not at all. Some could be affected by this bug.

 

Of course, FLAC is not supported by iTunes. However, it can be considered an archival format from which you can derive other audio encoding formats as needs change. This could also be done with Apple lossless files, using Max or some other utility that could convert from ALAC to other formats. However, if the ALAC source file is distorted, and you've gotten rid of the original CD, as I would like to do, you are screwed.

 

As we prepare to get rid of our hundreds of CDs, I want to be sure that I have accurate rips and for a while now, I have been thinking about re-ripping all of them in FLAC format with Max, just to be sure. Apple's announcement indicates that some of my rips could be distorted. Going through the whole collection to check could be as time consuming as just re-ripping each CD.

 

 

[scobek]

But usually a re-rip was fine, unless the disc was damaged. Don't think my problem discs had anything to do with pre-emphasis.

 

But now I only use XLD (in Secure ripper mode), as the error report is invaluable.

 

Eventually I'll redo my iTunes rips, just for peace of mind.

 

[ted_b]

If you are at all concerned that you had a batch of distorted cd's that you have yet to hear, why are you concerned about the newest iTunes??? It fixes that issue! There is no notice or logic that says you would need to re-rip (even though I would never rip with iTunes anyway, unless the cd is pristine new). It's a playback issue with imported or real time cd use.