Because I’m not well-informed? 
I started doing it, I think, when ripping LPs with VinylStudio. I found the overhead of converting to other formats, including flac, occasionally caused problems. (Before then I was mainly using iTunes, so I’ve also got a lot of .m4a files.) So I just stuck with it. Minimal file size is not my highest priority. So, what’s wrong with .wav?
Takes up twice the space of lossless compression formats like FLAC or ALAC and more importantly doesn’t support embedded tags.
The problem comes that even if you use another library manager that supports WAV tagging, it will be doing so in a proprietary database schema. If you move the WAVs to a new library manager (like Roon), all your tags are gone because they can’t be embedded with the file.
Depending on your preferred OS and workflow I would use either FLAC or ALAC.
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Ah, I didn’t know that about the tags. Another reason I chose it is that it seemed–I thought–platform-agnostic; not Apple like ALAC or (everything else) like FLAC.
I wonder if this could be causing some of my Roon-importation problems. Does this mean that after the work (eg) dBpoweramp does retrieving metadata, Roon starts over again from scratch?
Almost certainly. In which case Roon is probably doing it’s best from the Artist and Album Folder file names and track filenames that the dBP created aside from the tags.
I wouldn’t worry about this FLAC <–> ALAC is completely reversibly changeable should you ever feel compelled to change in the future. dBpoweramp has a batch converter that will do it (and your WAV files).
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Thanks. Already started on the batch-conversion on my laptop. Still ned to figure out how to do it on the server. Probably should just hook up monitor, mouse, and keyboard and install dBpa on the server.
Thanks.
If Roon is having problems identifying any of your library, I’d focus on looking at the folder and file names now, rather than retrospectively messing with tags. Especially if you think Roon is going to be your long term solution. Roon then becomes your defacto metadata provider.
Hopefully others have got a view and advice here too.
I’d definitely switch to FLAC/ALAC for all your future rips though.
FLAC is the way (or ALAC if you are using Apple products). Also, NUC server without monitor is cool but if strict folder structure is important for you (it is for me) I would suggest adding a monitor. Also, stay away from Roon organized folders - this type of “magic” reorganization of files / folders is what made me quit iTunes once and for all - too prone to making lots of mistakes.
I completely agree with @anon55914447. I started ripping my CD collection in mid-2000s when I setup my LMS server (before ReadyNAS was part of netgear. Those early NAS were built like a tank) and at the time, I used WAV. The metadata was always a pain in the rear, everytime I moved to a new media player I would have to mess around. Eventually, I bought a new NAS and I setup a batch process using dbPoweramp to convert everything over to FLAC. And then I spent a month fixing stuff with MP3Tag. Best decision ever. Roon has allowed me to keep several WAV Only download purchases as WAV because it does a great job with the metadata on mainstream albums; but, I only rip to FLAC now.
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Hi Jim, There is no hope that computer audio and Roon will ever be suitable for those who are not tech geeks! It is a fascinating hobby for geeks with time on their hands (like me).
I agree with others guys - there are only two file formats worth considering FLAC and ALAC.
I believe you have a headless NUC with music file library on a internal SSD. Headless sounds like a pain to me in this instance. Headless makes sense if you have your music file library (FLACs not Roon database) on a network storage connected by Ethernet cable. I have a MacMini with a local external USB drive. The MacMini is adjacent to my DAC and TV. The TV is my monitor and I use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Day to day control is by iPad. This works very well for me.
You ripped a 11 disc set that was really a combination of previous 2 and 3 disc sets. It was a mistake to edit metadata to be a 11 disc set. Go with the flow and rip them as they want to be identified. Maybe FLAC will help with this though.
Never use WAV
Jim, I know you have a science and tech background and you have had interesting challenges, what hope is there for non tech newbies? I am from the school of computer audio hard knocks (8 years) and have made many mistakes like ripping 800 CDs using MP3 and then ripping them again using ALAC. Good grief!
Jeff
Jeff, thanks for this. I’m learning. I used a batch converter to, over a period of hours, convert all my wav files to flac. I think I went a little too fast and ended up converting everything–including flac–to flac. Seems to have done minimal damage, although I’m not sure yet what it did to a handful of MQA files in my collection.
You have a point about going headless–(maybe we should call it topless)–although it makes sense because of certain constraints that so far I’ve only partly solved: I do not want a screen of any kind near my stereo, I’ve got crappy wireless in my audio space, and running a wire properly is a PITA. It’s a rental–a NYC prewar apartment, with very thick walls–so there’s only so much I can do. With a wire run, I could put the NUC the room with the access point and router, but that, unfortunately, is my son’s tiny bedroom. (Also, my DAC is a PS Audio DirectStream with a Bridge 2, which does not yet support Roon and vice versa, so I’m still using USB–another reason to keep the NUC close. I understand, though, that that problem should be solved soon.)
I pretty much agree with you about the strategy I used with that box set, but there are complications, like the fact that although most of the discs had been issued previously in sets of from 1 to 3 discs, a couple of discs had not been previously released, so they would have been orphaned. More recently I’ve been working with on an 8-disc set that’s an awkward hybrid, kind of a classical mix-tape: a couple of discs released before packaged with 6 that have been stuffed with recordings that previously were released in different format.
Life isn’t perfect as my father-in-law would say. Then again, I am getting the hang of this, and having fun.
[Edit: the best thing would be to give up not just the idea of keeping sets together but also of keeping discs together. As the Roon folks have made clear, there’s no good reason for an online library to be disc-centric. It should be work-centric–and work and disc correspond in some cases (like pop and rock) and not in others (like classical). ]
Thanks,
Jim
You should try puddletag.
I’ll give it a whirl, thank you.