Any idea when this audio file format will be supported for my music collection?
Probably never, and why I do not use the “exotic” audio formats (e.g. this one, FLAC, etc.). Why not convert them to “lossless” mp3 files at 320kbps. EVERYTHING can play mp3 files.
I have over 10,000 tracks of mp3 and m4a tracks in my iTunes folder and the whole enchilada iTunes Media folder is copied to the attached drive on the media player… None are DRM-crippled, and everyone of them is playable via my WDTV.
Forget about mp3 files, mp3 are lossy not loseless, if you want to keep quality use FLAC files, they play fine with the hub, the only unsupported format is 24 bit - 176 KHz , but you can convert them to 24 bit 192 Khz and they will play with no problem.
I suggest you to download dBpowerAMP music converter, it support all audio format and has Multi-CPU encoding so you can convert one song for each CPU core, I have a quad core CPU and it can convert 4 file at once, It’s the fastest and more complete software for audio conversion :smileyvery-happy:
True, mp3 are not completely lossless, but, if someone wants to have ONE kind of audio file that will play on (or to) their computers, WD, iPod, iPad, Android, yada, yada, a single, universal format like mp3 makes sense – it sure does to me.
I was once a hi-fi hobbyist, and for a few years even in the hi-fi biz, and was enraptured by the specs as many were. At a certain point, when specs get so high, it really is imperceptable at this level – even before reaching this high level. Anyway, who really thinks the audio amp in the WD is “high end”? I sure don’t! The WD audio amp chip is pretty good, because I play its audio directly into my preamp, and listen through my stereo system etc., and its sound is fine. High quality mp3s I have made sound no different from the CDs they came from; even when heard through headphones off the preamp.
So, I think there are rwo ways we can look at this, and I like my way, and it seems you like your way. Very cool for both of us. I only posted another alternative for the OP and others reading this, that’s all.
mike27oct wrote:
So, I think there are rwo ways we can look at this, and I like my way, and it seems you like your way. Very cool for both of us.
That’s a great answer mike27oct. I have everything in FLAC myself, but it was a personal choice, takes lots more space, and I had to find a portable “MP3” player that could decode FLAC as welll. Whatever works best for your needs, your system, your ears, and unltimately your concept of how music should be kept is the correct way to rip your stuff. There is no perfect format, just a perfect format for you.
-P
About a mp3 player with flac support look at Creative Zen X-Fi 3, I have the older model the X-Fi 2 and I love it, the sound quality is superb and it has a good battery, 25 h of music! :)
Yeah, if you look around there are a bunch of mobile devices that will play FLAC. I am using a Samsung that works well. Worth noting though that besides FLAC taking up a lot more room on your mobile player, it is my understanding that is takes a lot more battery to decode the format so you get less playtime. Never been a real issue for me as I can just re-charge most of the time, but when I am traveling in a situation where I may not be able to recharge often enough, I prep by ripping some of my stuff down to MP3 for both size and battery life.
-P
