www.billnelson.com

Teeth-grinding and profanity are essential steps in both technology and life itself. Rember the web is based on net neutrality. But for some reason, musician-based sites tend to be less so for reasons fathomable only to those who have yet to be born.

The music that is downloaded from Bandcamp can easily be dragged into your iTunes collection (FLAC files may have to be converted to MP3 first) - these can then be transfered to your iPhone pretty painlessly.

Jon.

two more pennies:
It's my understanding that the lossless format flac is comparable to alac, more or less.
I generally choose ALAC because it is compatible directly with Apple software and devices.
I generally then encode to AAC for the Phone, and store the lossless ALAC on the Pod for play on the sound system.

So, if you've the bandwidth to spare, then the lossless format is a good choice, and allows re-encoding to various
smaller formats.

It is also my experience that one can download various formats during the initial purchase period.
So if you want to experiment a bit, try the different formats offered.

... that may have been three cents.

JMH, you are spot on. ALAC (or ALE, both packaged in the MP4 container) is Apple's answer to FLAC as FLAC does not play on OS10, iOS, or iTunes for Mac or PC. So it's a natural response to supply a lossless format for those users. Where there has been flack (pun intended) is that some like to claim ALAC to be less desirable because it is Apple proprietary, but that isn't true. Both FLAC and ALAC are open source software. But unlike FLAC, ALAC does not suppose DRM, falling under the declaration of fair use. And where either WAV or AIF are not advantageous, FLAC and ALAC are indeed the next best thing.

For those using a MAC, may I suggest the free and excellently easy to use app called XLD. http://tmkk.undo.jp/xld/index_e.html

You can simply drag your FLAC files into its window, choose your format and where to place the converted files and click. I find it much easier for this type of thing than Audacity, since it allows for batch conversion.

Hope someone finds it helpful.

Good call Lou. It's quick and pretty much trouble free. And it's open source.

Thanks asterisk.

I've been using it for quite awhile and it works well.

I also have one called All2MP3 that does a good job, but XLD seems a little more versatile.

How do I "like" your post?

.

PayPal or International Money Order should do the trick Waddy.

A couple of questions about Bill's Bandcamp releases. I'm very grateful for these and they are plugging holes in my collection but my questions are about the situation where I already have the CD for a particular release.

Are these releases remastered recordings or are they just the original cd audio ripped to various formats?

Where I already have the CD I could still be interested in downloading the Bandcamp version in a lossless format such as flac if the audio quality is an improvement on the original. Some of Bill's CD Cherry Red reissues do sound noticeably better than the original but they do make it clear if the audio has been remastered or not.

Secondly, are any of them 24bit? Bandcamp says "We encourage artists to upload the highest quality sources they can get their hands on, and more and more tracks are 24-bit/96kHz". However, I can't find any information on the formats available for any particular release prior to purchase and access to the download screen.

At the moment, all you can get is "includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more" which doesn't tell you a great deal technically. Clicking on 'more' gives "You can also download in FLAC, ALAC (Apple Lossless), AAC, or Ogg Vorbis format. These options are, as we say in the interface, for "audiophiles and nerds." ". Well thanks for being patronising, Bandcamp, but as a nerd I need more information than that before buying!

Could more detailed format information be made available for each release before the purchase screen either on Bandcamp or on the Dreamsville web pages?