Lossless ALAC 16/44.1 recording

128BPM

I need to record an Apple Music tune (lossless ALAC 16/44.1) from iPad to MacBook via idam/usb c.

I record into Logic Pro 32 bit/44.1 Then I crop and export the song as 16 bit/44.1wav.

Will the sound quality be as good as the “original Lossless” version?

I am aware that Lossless isn’t the same as the original wav (CD) and that you can’t upgrade from 16 bit to 32 etc. I just want the best practice.

(I now this is gray zone, but I’m the original content creator…I want a copy).

Thanks

uncledave

I believe that the wav file should have the same audio quality as the lossless version. Apple have just found a way to compress the audio stream losslessly, so it can be streamed at a lower data rate. This contrasts with other formats, like mp3, which compress by blurring the data, sort of like jpeg for images. This lossy compression results in a loss of data that can never be recovered.

128BPM

Thanks, that’s my belief too.
The chain is digital all way so it should be OK

SevenSystems

@128BPM said:
I am aware that Lossless isn’t the same as the original wav (CD) and that you can’t upgrade from 16 bit to 32 etc. I just want the best practice.

Lossless is the same as the original WAV. Your pipeline will yield the exact same bits and bytes at the output as those used to create the ALAC file by Apple. The conversion between signed 16-bit integer and 32-bit floating point is also lossless as a 32-bit float can accurately represent any 16-bit integer.

(just woke up and only just poured coffee into me so I might have overlooked something totally obvious 🤔)

espiegel123

To clarify, 16 bIt 44.1 kHz ALAC will losslessly preserve a 16-bit 44.1 kHz audio file’s data. It won’t won’t losslessly preserve a file with higher bit-depth or sample rate. It will be the identical to the 16-bit/44.1k wav you exported but not the 32-bit file.

If you convert the ALAC back to wav and reverse it’s polarity, it will null the 16-bit 44 k wav it was made from.

128BPM

Thank you everyone 👍
Good to hear that it is possible without degradation.

I guess my old choices regarding the track/mix is retained 😳

espiegel123

@128BPM : lossless when used to describe data compression means the decompressed signal is truly identical to the original. If there is a difference, the compression is not lossless.

128BPM

Yes, I understand now.

But my greatest concern was if my way to record the (lossless) audio from the iPad , via IDAM, into the MacBook, record as audio file, convert to wav,

• would degrade the quality…

espiegel123

@128BPM said:
Yes, I understand now.

But my greatest concern was if my way to record the (lossless) audio from the iPad , via IDAM, into the MacBook, record as audio file, convert to wav,

• would degrade the quality…

What exactly do you mean "play by ADAM". What will the signal path be? is there a reason you don't just transfer the file between the devices?

128BPM

I don’t have any file of my original track (which I wrote, produced and recorded 25 years ago).

The track can be streamed lossless from Apple Music on my iPad.

To get a good sounding copy/file of my track, I recorded it in realtime into Logic on my MacBook via “Inter-Device Audio + Midi” (IDAM). This lets me get a digital connection from iPad to MacBook. I recorded in 32 bit/44.1 and exported the recording as a 16 bit/44.1 wav file. This way I can use it in my DJ equipment.

My concern was not the difference between wav. and lossless, but if my tedious signal path would degrade the sound…especially the last export from Logic. I think the answer is
No downgrading.

I should have asked:
Will a 16 bit export of a 32 bit recording of a lossless audio stream be the same quality as the original lossless stream?

Apple Music was set to “Lossless” while playing. I’m not sure if this can be trusted all the time, or if it can be temporarily downgraded if there’s too much data in the household….

Anyway, I’ve got my track recorded , exported and transferred to my DJ machines and it sounds fine 🥳