The VideoLAN Forums

I got this program not too long ago and I was hoping that someone who knows how to use it might help me. I’m trying to rip a CD onto my computer and I want to compress it using external compression. The codec is Microsoft WMA9 professional and the bit-rate is Lossless.

Whenever I try to rip the CD using the compressed format, it always leaves it as a PCM format (far too much space is taken up). So what did I miss? Do I have to download the Wmal (Windows media audio Lossless) codec separately? If anyone can help me I will greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

You can't use external codecs with VLC. only wmv and wma with dmo. But I don't know for WMAL.
Use FLAC for lossless audio.

I think you misunderstood me; this is only for the Exact Audio Copy program ( http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/ ), Not VLC media player.

And the wmal codec does work on VLC media player; I’m playing this format right now.

I would use the FLAC lossless codec except that it isn’t compatible with another media playing device that I use (a portable DVD player) which only plays DVDs, MP3s and WMAs.

I finally got this to work! If anyone interested, here's how you can use EAC (Exact Audio Copy) to rip CDs and encode them with WMAL (Windows Media Audio Lossless) codec.

First you'll need to download Exact Audio Copy V 0.95 beta 4

Second, download Windows Media Encoder 9 Series

Install Window Media Encoder 9 Series, open up EAC, click on "EAC" in the menu bar and select "Compression Options". When the wndow pops up go to the "External compression" tab. Next to "Parameter Passing Scheme" select "Microsoft WMA9 Encoder" and also make the bit rate lossless. When you choose to compress the audio it will be encoded with WMAL.

Maybe not everyone is interested in this though, except for true audiophiles such as myself.

If you prefer FLAC (free lossless audio codec) encoding, download it at sourceforge.net