The Mac Observer

Skip navigational links

Choose text size: Select small text. Select medium text. Select large text.

You're viewing an article in TMO's historic archive vault. Here, we've preserved the comments and how the site looked along with the article. Use this link to view the article on our current site:
Third-party Decoder Released for Apple Lossless Audio Format

Third-party Decoder Released for Apple Lossless Audio Format

by , 6:00 AM EST, March 7th, 2005

iTunes' recent Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) encoding option has always had a catch: only iTunes, QuickTime-supported systems, and iPods can read the format. David Hammerton, however, has released the first version of a basic decoder that allows other systems and players to recognize the files.

Only a decoder is currently offered, but Hammerton notes that writing an encoder should be fairly easy. Additionally, his decoder only handles mono and stereo ALAC files--ALAC itself can support up to 8 channels. Like the encoder, Hammerton says adding support for multiple channels should be "trivial."

Hydrogenaudio is offering a rather extensive discussion on the decoder, as are countless posters on Slashdot.

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Spider Posts: 2997 Joined: 12 Aug 2001
Mon Mar 07, 2005 11:11 am Subject:

if it is so trivial, then why is he talking now instead of when it is added to this program?


 Reply | Quote
Close Name:DrShakagee -   TMO Forum Mod Posts: 941 Joined: 14 Jun 2001
Mon Mar 07, 2005 1:09 pm Subject:

Quote
Spider wrote:
if it is so trivial, then why is he talking now instead of when it is added to this program?


Probably to test the waters and see if Apple sues him


 Reply | Quote
Close Name:jadams Posts: 33 Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Mon Mar 07, 2005 2:56 pm Subject:

Quote
DrShakagee wrote:
Quote
Spider wrote:
if it is so trivial, then why is he talking now instead of when it is added to this program?


Probably to test the waters and see if Apple sues him
Careful, they might sue you for implying they are litigious...


 Reply | Quote
Close Name:Guest
Tue Mar 08, 2005 8:31 am Subject: I gotta Reality Check here

This is Mac Observer right? And 1 whole day on this story with no Reality Check
So I guess I have to do it for him.
Let's see...

Ha Ha, all you iLemmings! It is obvious that your proprietary iPods and Apple ar going down because of this.

How was that?


 Reply | Quote
Close Name:Seawolf Posts: 11 Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Wed Mar 09, 2005 3:41 pm Subject:

...or maybe it's because in reality it's not THAT easy.


 Reply | Quote
Close Name:Guest
Wed Mar 09, 2005 4:30 pm Subject:

Because one needs multi channel and non-16bit ALAC files to test with, which iTunes can not create.


 Reply | Quote
Close Name:Guest
Wed Mar 09, 2005 4:33 pm Subject:

Because one needs multi channel and non-16bit ALAC files to test with, which iTunes can not create.


 Reply | Quote
Close Name:davidneale Posts: 987 Joined: 26 Aug 2001
Wed Mar 09, 2005 5:14 pm Subject:

Quote
Anonymous wrote:
Because one needs multi channel and non-16bit ALAC files to test with, which iTunes can not create.


Was that stereo or just plain echo?


 Reply | Quote
Comment on this Article


Guest Posts Visible. Hide Them.
Back to top  Page 1 of 1    

You cannot edit your comments.   You cannot delete your comments.

Comments are currently closed. Please email the author instead.


Recent Headlines - Updated November 22nd

Fri, 7:07 PM
Games - Soccer Sim Championship Manager 2010 Released for Mac
6:47 PM
Games - EA Publishes Original Monopoly for iPhone
6:15 PM
News - Original Apple I on Ebay for $50K, w/Letter from Steve Jobs
6:11 PM
Games - New iPhone Games: Secret of the Lost Cavern Ep 1, New DJ Nights, More
5:47 PM
Games - Star Trek D-A-C Game Headed to the Mac Next Month
4:57 PM
Product News - TidBITS Releases “Take Control of Syncing Data in Snow Leopard”
4:26 PM
John Martellaro's Blog - Particle Debris (week ending 11/20) Stationery Pads Go Poof
2:59 PM
Free on iTunes - Musée du Louvre, Art Lite, SketchBook Mobile X and More.
1:50 PM
Deal Brothers - Acer P215H bmid 21.5” Widescreen LCD Monitor:  $139.99
11:24 AM
TMO Appearances - Jeff Gamet Shares More Holiday Gift Ideas on MacJury
10:43 AM
Product News - Cocktail 4.5 for Leopard Adds QuickLook Cache Clearing
10:06 AM
News - Hack Enables Mac OS X 10.6.2 on Netbooks

The Mac Observer Reader Specials
  • __________
  • Buy Stuff, Support TMO!
  • Podcast: Mac Geek Gab
  • Podcast: Apple Weekly Report
  • TMO on Twitter!