I have done this before but it no longer works. Some combination of the XiphQT component and the FLAC Import component allows one to open FLAC files natively in iTunes. After an update I was no longer able to open FLAC files in iTunes. If this was directly related or not I do not know.
I've tried Fluke, which has been no help, especially since the SetOGG script no longer works on Mac OSX 10.6.
Here is the link for the XiphQT component: http://www.xiph.org/quicktime/download.html
The other component is called FLAC importer, available here:
http://people.xiph.org/~arek/flac_import/
PS: I use the FLAC files (all of which are legitimate rips or downloads to mix with. Keeping an extra copy of each in ALAC, MP3 or AAC format would just be a terrible waste).
Conclusion
The situation is pretty much helpless. iTunes will never support FLAC and it's unlikely that ALAC will be supported in all DJ'ing software (which is of particular interest to me and is why I asked the question). The situation is also made worse by the fact that FLAC files themselves com in with three different types of metadata:
- Native FLAC
- OGG
- ID3v2+
The good news is that I have found an alternative media player which is cross platform, has a similar feature and look: Songbird.
Hopefully this question helps other people who also has this question. I also hope that if this situation improves that this question can be updated.
Best Answer
@Phillip Whelan Fluke has had 10.6 support since 2009. If you're experiencing issues with Fluke, which is considered the top offering at present, then I'd be curious about further inspection of the files or your system. Perhaps they are not 16bit/44.1KHz, or wrapped in the OGG Container?