"Unknown" bitrate for Apple Lossless in iTunes

hacky · Post by **hacky** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 1:03 pm

Ripping directly from CD in Max .61, iTunes appers to know the files are Apple Lossless but cannot figure out the bitrate. xACT works as far as this goes (although I prefer Max!). Any problems with this before I rip too many CDs?

Thanks, Howard

jaynyc · Post by **jaynyc** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 4:19 am

i am curiosu about the same thing... Itunes shows Unknown for ALACs created with Max .61... but if I rip a CD into ALAC within iTunes it correctly shows a high bit rate 876k for example.

jaynyc · Post by **jaynyc** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 8:42 am

does anybody know what causes this, and how to fix it so that Itunes correctly shows the bitrate for ALACs created with Max?

Post by **sbooth** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:06 pm

jaynyc wrote:does anybody know what causes this, and how to fix it so that Itunes correctly shows the bitrate for ALACs created with Max?

I have a hunch that iTunes sets some sort of atom that contains supplemental data such as bitrate, etc. I have no proof of this- but since Max uses the Core Audio encoder, which iTunes does not, it's about all I can think of. When I get a chance I will encode two files and poke around their strucure with AtomicParsley and see if I can figure anything out.

Buckaroo · Post by **Buckaroo** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 2:29 am

I have found that not having the bitrate reported seems to cause a problem.

I'm using iTunes 6 in my kitchen to connect with my main machine (running iTunes 5.0.1), and send music to my stereo via AirTunes. It has worked flawlessly up until now.

I can send ALAC files that I have ripped as ALAC - these report a bitrate.

However, the files Max outputs with an "unknown" bit rate will not play when I query for then on my kitchen machine. The files will play fine locally, but something seems to be amiss with the transfer. Is this a DRM restriction (where none should exist?)

Steve

grahama · Post by **grahama** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 7:41 pm

has there been any update on the unknown bitrate issue?
I would like to use bitrate as a parameter for some of my smart playlists.

many thanks

sledgehammer · Post by **sledgehammer** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 12:34 pm

I also had this issue so I tried converting the alac->alac in itunes after I "Max:ed" from flac->alac which worked...

... BUT earlier today I upgrade itunes to 7.1 and accidently noticed that I got bitrates so I tried "Max:ing" from flac->alac and then CD->alac, I also tried with both comparison and cdparanoia ripper and every attempt got me bitrate so I guess it is safe to say it works. YAY

I get the feeling Max is doing a superb job and itunes was the faulty one but I am not 100% sure if it was the upgrade, I just guess sp please try.

No more dupe ripping for me.

G-Force · Post by **G-Force** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 2:42 am

The new quicktime 7.1.5 must have fixed the unknown bitrate problem with files encoded with core audio through Max. YAY!