flac decoding on mac

[LROD420]

so im using xact to decode flac files, yet every song is coming up with an error message. any suggestions? did i miss something in the setup of the software?

[AAR.oner]

what was the error message? is it just the files from one show or all shows?

either way try un-installing, re-downloading the program, and re-installing

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/21952

[LROD420]

there was an error message for each file, i will try to uninstall/reinstall tonite.

[LROD420]

there was an error message for each file, i will try to uninstall/reinstall tonite.

thank you.

[ffooky]

Which version of OS X are you using and which version of xACT ?

[LROD420]

i re-installed xact 1.62, im running mac os 10.5.1

i was able to convert the flac files without error message into wav files. when i went to play the files in itunes, i got an error message "cannot read disk, copy to mac HD failed". in xact, i have 2 file choices - aiff and wav, can i open aiff files in itunes? i have never seen/used this file type before.

i am saving all my music to my external HDD, then opening the converted files in itunes. i had no issues with music that i downloaded from pc.

[ffooky]

Why are you decompressing the FLAC files ? If you want to play them you can use Cog (I'd recommend the nightly build (http://cogx.org/development.php) and set it to update) or Play. An excellent alternative for decompression is XLD (http://tmkk.hp.infoseek.co.jp/xld/index_e.html) which can convert straight to Apple Lossless (with tags) if you want iTunes compatibility, as can Max.

BTW, how is your external HDD formatted, i.e. FAT32, NTFS, HFS+ ?

[LROD420]

i am decompressing so i can put on ipod. are there easier ways to play my flac files through itunes as well a putting the tunes on my ipod?

my hdd is ms-dos (fat32) - now that im running mac, is there a need to reformat?

[U2Lynne]

Aiff are basically just the Apple version of wavs. So, you can decompress to either wav or aif and yes, iTunes will play both formats. But, as ffooky said, if you just want to play the files on your computer, just use cog. If you want to play them on your iPod, you might want to consider apple lossless which are smaller but have the same sound quality.

[ffooky]

AFAIK Leopard is read/write compatible with FAT32 but unless you're intending to share the drive with a Windows box and as long as you have temporary back up storage space you may as well reformat to HFS Extended.

Just to rule out any problems with the HDD or its formatting, try decompressing/playing some FLAC files from your internal drive (I'm presuming the FAT32 one is an external).

For iPod listening I'd recommend you to try converting from FLAC->MPEG-4 AAC (True VBR, Max Quality, 127 Target Quality). I doubt very, very much that you'll hear any difference from the lossless originals and you'll save a lot of battery/HD wear (assuming it's an HD based ?Pod). Failing that then FLAC->Apple Lossless is definitely the way to fly.

[LROD420]

i apologize for my ignorance, but your help is much appreciated, thank you all!

i will try out the xld decoder tonite. i see it will allow file output in mpeg-4 aac and .m4a so that should solve my issues.