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Apple's Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) Now Open Source

Posted by samzenpus on from the free-music dept.

Revotron writes "Apple has released the full source to their Apple Lossless Audio Codec under the Apache license. ALAC was developed by Apple and deployed on all of its platforms and devices over the last 10 years. Could the release of the ALAC source code mark a possible first step in opening up more of the iOS platform?"

14 of 526 comments (clear)

  1. Why not... by Lanteran · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...just use FLAC?

    --
    "People don't want to learn linux" hasn't been a valid excuse since '03.
    1. Re:Why not... by Tr3vin · · Score: 5, Informative

      If you use and iPod, FLAC isn't going to play.

    2. Re:Why not... by BasilBrush · · Score: 5, Informative

      It seems like FLAC has a slight compression edge

      Not according to this table.
      http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Lossless_comparison

      Note for the compression ratio, smaller percentage is better. ALAC is slightly better than FLAC. But it's so marginal it makes no difference.

    3. Re:Why not... by Yvan256 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      And going with a locked-down, Microsoft-created format is better how, exactly? And iPod/iTunes was compatible with MP3 from day one. I don't know any non-nerd who uses Vorbis or FLAC.

      And at least Apple had the insight of going with AAC, developed by Dolby, instead of trying to re-create the wheel like Microsoft always does.

      Take a screenshot with Windows: Microsoft BMP. Like there wasn't enough graphic formats at the time.
      Take a screenshot on Mac OS X: 24-bit PNG (Open format which already existed).

      Default audio format with Windows: Microsoft WMA. MP3 and VQF were available at the time.
      Default audio format with Apple: AAC (developed by Dolby)

    4. Re:Why not... by DJRumpy · · Score: 4, Informative

      No, the connectors that interface with the PC are standard USB or Firewire. This is FUD. Any MP3, AAC, AIFF, or WAV will work with an iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc. You are NOT required to use iTunes either. There are a multitude of alternatives (http://www.sourceforge.net). Even if you choose to use iTunes, it can be set to use MP3 if you don't like AAC.

      I mean seriously, 2 seconds on Google would net you a decent list of alternatives without any effort at all:

      http://www.pcworld.com/article/227348/apple_itunes_alternatives_make_managing_your_music_easy.html

      Frankly I think some of the folks on here are so Anti-Apple they dont' even bother to verify what they post anymore. They just regurge the same bile that seems all too common in here these days.

    5. Re:Why not... by Moridineas · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You're right, I think a lot of the whining done here is bizarre.

      The Microsoft tax doesn't affect me; I choose to no longer use Microsoft products.

      The Apple tax and Apple walled garden affects me; I choose to use Apple products.

      Nobody is MAKING me do either thing. I, as an individual, can make decisions. It's obvious that a very large percentage of the human race doesn't like it when other people make contrary decisions.

      Why does someone--in this case "nashv"--care what product I use ("Ok , ok, I couldn't resist showing my distaste for those infernal locked down devices.")? Why does he care what type of cord a product he doesn't like uses? It's just mere human tribalism and partisanship. It's an "if you're not with me, you're against me" mentality. Beyond my that, just how unbelievably minor and petty, that so many people seem to need to come online and bash somebody's choice of cell phone or music device.

    6. Re:Why not... by dabadab · · Score: 4, Informative

      You are NOT required to use iTunes either. There are a multitude of alternatives

      This is not true, at least not for everything. All the alternatives rely on libgpod and it does not support the newer devices:
      "This release has support for all iPod models except the iPod Nano 6g (the touch one). Most non-jailbroken iOS devices (iPod Touch, iPhone) are also supported with the notable exception of the iPad and the iPhone/iPod Touch 4 which are only supported as read-only devices."

      Maybe you should verify what you say by googling for two seconds ;-)

      --
      Real life is overrated.
    7. Re:Why not... by steveha · · Score: 4, Informative

      AAC, developed by Dolby,

      Incorrect. AAC was developed in an MPEG standards process. It was mostly based on the work of James D. Johnston ("JJ") who worked for Bell Labs at the time.

      Basically, AAC started out as "PAC", which was JJ Johnston's follow-on to MP3. See slide 5 of this presentation (PowerPoint format, sorry, but LibreOffice Impress does open it):

      http://www.aes.org/sections/pnw/ppt/jj/pac_history.ppt

      JJ was quite unhappy with some of the compromised in MP3, compromises that were forced upon him by the standards process. PAC was his improved coder, which didn't include the parts he didn't like from MP3. PAC won the "bake-off" between prospective coders; it was enough better than the others that MPEG reconsidered their "backward compatible" strategy and decided to go ahead with "non-backward compatible" (NBC).

      The Wikipedia page on AAC makes strangely little mention of JJ Johnston and his contributions, but if you look at the footnotes you will notice "J D Johnston" being frequently mentioned, especially in conjunction with the patents involved.

      JJ is a good guy who deserves more credit than he gets on Wikipedia.

      steveha

      --
      lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
    8. Re:Why not... by teh+kurisu · · Score: 4, Informative

      A clock with a USB port is by necessity a much more complex device than a clock with an Apple dock connector. Aside from having to implement the USB mass storage specification, it also has to have its own audio hardware. Your MP3 player is just acting as a glorified hard drive, and the clock is doing all the work. Also, if you're using any audio functionality that isn't exposed over mass storage, or isn't supported by the clock's hardware, then it won't work.

      With an Apple dock connector, the clock only has to use the analogue signal from the dock connector's line out, and pass it straight to the amplifier. It will probably also use a subset of the Apple Accessory Protocol to provide audio controls - this works across a dedicated set of pins on the connector and is pretty simple to implement. With a dock connector, your iPod is doing all the work, so your clock is cheaper and with fewer compatibility concerns.

      It's no surprise that most manufacturers have gone down the route of including a dock connector at the expense of USB. The dock connector is supported by the majority (or certainly a large minority) of audio playing devices in users' hands, it's simpler to implement, and there won't be the questions over compatibility that would plague the equivalent USB device. It's not rudeness, it's good business sense.

      Most clocks like this will also have a standard 3.5 mm minijack line-in for compatibility with other devices anyway. Mine does.

      And yes, I'm still annoyed that Intel didn't think about implementing and standardising extra functionality such as this when it was designing USB 3.0. The time was right.

    9. Re:Why not... by am+2k · · Score: 4, Informative

      I don't know any non-nerd who uses Vorbis or FLAC.

      Actually, a lot of non-nerds do, they just don't know it. Nearly all games (on the consoles and PC/Mac) use ogg vorbis for the background music. The reason is that it doesn't cost anything (as opposed to mp3), and the game has to supply the music files and the decoder to play them anyways.

  2. Useful for Airplay by Drakino · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Keep in mind any Airplay compatible device can use ALAC, but can't use FLAC. This includes the Airport Express units that have been out since ~2004 or so, and the newer non Apple devices with Airplay compatibility. This is likely a move to assist with 3rd parties wanting to integrate more with Airplay, as the relevant network pieces (Bonjour) are already out there in source form.

    Sadly I'm sure most people here will go on and on about how it's not FLAC, and whatever. For once, just at least appreciate that Apple is continuing to throw some interesting things out to the OSS crowd instead of deciding to nitpick it to death. If you don't want to use it, thats fine. Just really tired of the nitpickery and general negative outlook geeks around here tend to have. Cheer up for once :-)

    1. Re:Useful for Airplay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Geeks don't tend to just get negative for no reason whatsoever.

      LOL thanks I needed that laugh. Please do go on believing your opinions are objectively better, though. It's lovely to see that level of arrogance justified.

    2. Re:Useful for Airplay by schnikies79 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Geeks are biggest fanboys on the planet. They get mad and everything, reason or not.

      --
      Gone!
  3. Re:Great, but how about patents? by BasilBrush · · Score: 4, Informative

    Apache License...
    3. Grant of Patent License. Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable (except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made, use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer the Work, where such license applies only to those patent claims licensable by such Contributor that are necessarily infringed by their Contribution(s) alone or by combination of their Contribution(s) with the Work to which such Contribution(s) was submitted. If You institute patent litigation against any entity (including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that the Work or a Contribution incorporated within the Work constitutes direct or contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses granted to You under this License for that Work shall terminate as of the date such litigation is filed.