EAC and ALAC (qaac)

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Software Needed

Installation

Note: This guide assumes that EAC has been configured for secure ripping, if not please review this guide.

  • Download the latest version of qaac - CLI QuickTime AAC/ALAC encoder
  • Uncompress the zip archive into a directory (e.g. C:\qaac). Alternatively you can uncompress just the files from the x64 directory (64-bit) or just the files from the x86 directory (32-bit) into a directory (e.g. C:\qaac).
  • Check for Apple Application Support
    If you believe that you already have the required Apple Application Support (e.g. iTunes installed) you can run this check:
    1. Open a command prompt window (press ⊞ Win+R, then type cmd and press ↵ Enter).
    2. Change directory to where the qaac or qaac64 file is located (e.g. type cd\qaac and press ↵ Enter).
    3. Type qaac64.exe --check (for 64-bit) or type qaac.exe --check (for 32-bit) and press ↵ Enter.
      A version number should be displayed.
  • If you do not already have the required Apple Application Support
    You can install iTunes.
    1. Download iTunes64Setup.exe (64-bit) or iTunesSetup.exe (32-bit) and install.
    2. Run the check for Apple Application Support above.
  • Alternative to installing iTunes
    It is possible to extract the necessary Apple Application Support files without installing iTunes.
    1. Install 7-zip, if not already installed (the script used below requires it).
    2. Download iTunes64Setup.exe (64-bit) or iTunesSetup.exe (32-bit) and move to the directory where you extracted the x64 (64-bit) or the x86 (32-bit) qaac files above.
    3. Download makeportable2.cmd and move to the same directory.
    4. Double-click on the makeportable2.cmd file.
    5. The script will create a new subdirectory (\QTfiles64 or \QTfiles) in the same directory.
    6. Run the check for Apple Application Support above.
      If all is working as expected, makeportable2.cmd, iTunesSetup.exe, and/or iTunes64Setup.exe are no longer needed.

Configuration

  • Open EAC and insert a CD into the drive.
  • Click the EAC menu and select Compression Options.
  • Click the External Compression Tab, and put a tick in the box for use external program for compression.
  • Change Parameter Passing Scheme to User Defined Encoder.
  • Change Use file extension to .m4a (alternately you can use .mp4).
  • Click the Browse button and locate the qaac.exe or qaac64.exe that you unzipped earlier.
  • Remove the ticks from Use CRC check and Add ID3 tag.
  • Tick Check for external programs return code.
  • If you are using EAC 1.0b2 or newer, then in the Additional command line options box, copy and paste from the following example(s):‎
-A --title "%title%" --artist "%artist%" --band "%albumartist%" --album "%albumtitle%" --genre "%genre%" --date "%year%" --track "%tracknr%/%numtracks%" -o %dest% %source%

Includes cover:

-A --title "%title%" --artist "%artist%" --band "%albumartist%" --album "%albumtitle%" --genre "%genre%" --date "%year%" --track "%tracknr%/%numtracks%" %hascover%--artwork "%coverfile%"%hascover% -o %dest% %source%
  • Note: Remember that you cannot change the compression level.
QAAC configured for ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec)
  • Do not worry about the bit rate is shown in the bit rate drop down box; this will be ignored, as will the quality setting below it.

Copy Image & Create CUE Sheet

When extracting to an Image & CUE Sheet, the Tags (artist, album title, track titles, track numbers, etc.) are located in the CUE Sheet so you don't need to tag the Image.

No Tags:

-A -o %dest% %source%

No Tags (except for the cover):

-A %hascover%--artwork "%coverfile%"%hascover% -o %dest% %source%


qaac command line usage

See also

EAC and ALAC (refalac) - refalac shares much of the code and functionalities with qaac, works very similar to qaac -A (ALAC encoding), and is packed in the same archive with qaac, but refalac does not require Apple Application Support (e.g. iTunes) or codec specifier options (such as -A).