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This one should be pretty easy. I thought it would be almost obvious. But someone asked on IRC and even assumed it was not possible. So, here is how you can encode to ALAC using foobar2000.

1. Grab a copy of FFmpeg. I am currently hosting FFmpeg v0.5 here on the site because it’s kind of hard to find.
2. Extract ffmpeg.exe somewhere. I recommend C:\Windows\System32.
3. Go to Tools -> Converter -> Output formats -> Add new.
4. Choose Encoder: Custom
5. Click the “…” button, and browse to where you extracted ffmpeg.exe.
6. Extension: m4a
7. Parameters:  -i – -acodec alac %d
8. Format is: lossless (or hybrid)
9. Highest BPS supported: 16-bit
10. Encoder name: ALAC

And now you can encode using ALAC just as you would with any other encoding format! Note that FFmpeg’s ALAC support still has a few bugs, notably the length of the file will be altered. (This means that it is not truly lossless, even though the audio content will not be altered.)

I have two main playlist view layouts that I use a lot. So what’s the most efficient way to quickly change the way the playlist view looks? All you need to do is create a new Playlist Layout. This feature is kind of hidden.

1. Enable layout editing mode. (Alternately, go create a scratchbox and insert a playlist view.)
2. Right-click on the playlist view.
3. Select copy.
4. Open the folder you installed foobar2000 to in Explorer.
5. Open the “themes” folder you find there.
6. Paste!
7. A new theme will be created called “Playlist View”.
8. Rename this file to whatever you want your Playlist Layout to be called.

You’re done! Now you can quickly change your layout using quick setup.