CW-ALAC 1.0.1.0
Cole Williams ALAC Encoder
Cole Williams Software Limited

OVERVIEW
========

CW-ALAC is a Windows command-line lossless audio encoder for converting WAV,
RF64 and FLAC audio to Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) in an M4A container.

The encoder uses an extensively reworked and optimised implementation derived
from Apple's open-source ALAC code. CW-authored code provides the Windows
command-line frontend, M4A writer, metadata handling, FLAC runtime support,
validation tools and performance work.

PACKAGE
=======

  Type:          Windows command-line encoder
  Output:        ALAC in M4A
  Version:       1.0.1.0
  Architectures: x64 and x86

BASIC USAGE
===========

  cw-alac.exe input.wav output.m4a

or:

  cw-alac.exe input.flac -o output.m4a

To replace an existing output:

  cw-alac.exe input.wav -o output.m4a --overwrite

FAST MODE
=========

The normal lossless ALAC encoding path is used by default.

Apple's faster ALAC path can be selected with:

  cw-alac.exe --fast input.wav -o output.m4a

Both modes remain lossless.

INPUT SUPPORT
=============

Built in:

  - WAV
  - RF64
  - Integer PCM at supported ALAC bit depths
  - Mono, stereo and multichannel audio

Optional:

  - FLAC through libFLAC.dll

For FLAC input, keep the matching libFLAC.dll beside cw-alac.exe. WAV/RF64
encoding remains available without it.

Run:

  cw-alac.exe --features

to see runtime features.

OUTPUT
======

CW-ALAC writes ALAC audio in an M4A container.

The current M4A writer uses a 32-bit mdat atom and rejects an encoded media
payload above 4 GiB rather than writing an unvalidated large-file layout.

Release validation covers mono, stereo and 5.1 audio, 16-, 20-, 24- and 32-bit
PCM, and sample rates up to 192 kHz.

METADATA
========

CW-ALAC can write standard M4A/iTunes metadata, including title, artist, album,
album artist, genre, date/year, track/disc numbering, comment, composer, lyrics,
copyright, encoder identification and JPEG/PNG cover artwork.

Run:

  cw-alac.exe --help

for the complete current option list.

EXACT AUDIO COPY
================

CW-ALAC works as an Exact Audio Copy User Defined Encoder and writes M4A
metadata directly.

See EAC.txt for the recommended EAC configuration and copy-ready command lines.

RUNTIME FILES
=============

For FLAC input keep together:

  cw-alac.exe
  libFLAC.dll

libFLAC.dll is optional for WAV/RF64 input.

NOTES
=====

CW-ALAC is lossless. It does not resample audio or intentionally alter the
decoded PCM signal.

For multichannel material, conventional WAV/FLAC channel order is converted to
the channel order required by ALAC before encoding.

PROJECT
=======

Product: CW-ALAC
Version: 1.0.1.0
Company: Cole Williams Software Limited
Copyright: Copyright (c) 2026 Cole Williams. All rights reserved.
