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Higher quality music...

post #1 of 10
4/27/11 at 4:21am
Thread Starter 

I've been listening to bad quality mp3s all my life on Ipods. Can anyone reccommend a way for me to get higher quality music? I've read about Itunes plus : http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1711

 

Anyone have any experience with that? Or know a different website where I can find high quality files like that without buying CD's and ripping them myself?

 

I recently bought a pair of beyerdynamic DT 990s (My first pair of headphones other than ipod earbuds) and a simple total airhead amp and really enjoy how awesome they sound but feel the quality of my music really sucks now that I can hear it so well.

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post #2 of 10
4/27/11 at 5:37am

buy CDs and rip them in high quality lossless formats like wma and flac.

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post #3 of 10
4/27/11 at 7:16am

cd's really are the best way

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post #4 of 10
4/27/11 at 7:29am

CDs ripped to FLAC do sound really good but if you don't have a huge collection of them already or do not like to wait sites like HD Tracks and Linn Records are good sources for CD quality FLACs as well as 24/96 audio.  Downside is that their collections are limited.  

 

http://www.head-fi.org/wiki/high-res-music-download-sites

https://www.hdtracks.com/

http://www.linnrecords.com/

 

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post #5 of 10
4/27/11 at 9:26am
If you have already purchased the album, you can legally download the lossless files over a torrent or various music forums. I often find good rips on tehparadox.com. Just make sure that the person includes an EAC log to show it's legit. If you already have the CD just rip it. I don't like having to buy albums twice.

iTunes plus is still only 256kbps, which isn't very good. Lossless files are usually around 800-1000kbps.
Edited by macrocheesium - 4/27/11 at 9:29am
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post #6 of 10
4/27/11 at 11:17am

I would be careful in proclaiming what is legal or not in this regard.  I would say more but IIRC such discussions are against the TOS.  Maybe UE could pop in and set us straight on both fronts.  

 

 

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post #7 of 10
4/27/11 at 4:43pm

320kbps is best and you can change formats whenever for the iPod. I've had a few people tell me that once you put it to lossless you cant change back.


 

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post #8 of 10
4/27/11 at 7:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trillian View Post

buy CDs and rip them in high quality lossless formats like  wma alac and flac.


 

Fixed that for you.wink.gif


Edited by Achmedisdead - 4/27/11 at 7:26pm
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post #9 of 10
4/28/11 at 7:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cifani090 View Post

320kbps is best and you can change formats whenever for the iPod. I've had a few people tell me that once you put it to lossless you cant change back.


 


Think you got them flipped. Once you convert to lossy you can't go back to lossless. Afterall lossy compresson methods dump data that they deem unnecessary. No way to retrieve that which is no longer there.

 

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post #10 of 10
4/28/11 at 7:44am

Lossy will always be bad compared to a good analog recording and real 2 channel stereo. Too many digital artifacts compared to analog.  Analog is a constant signal, digital opens and closes all the time.  Therefore, digital is super bright and one cannot stand to listen for long periods of time vs analog that can be enjoyed for hours without fatigue.

The real thing is a 2 channel tube amp & preamp, a good turntable, a good LP record and a pair of great sounding speakers; but for portable and short periods of listening on the gim or doing other kind of exercice I settled with a Muvo2 MP3 player, Senheiser ear buds, MP3s compressed with EAC and LAME @256kb joint CBR. I can achive best of my portable needs: Great battery life, SQ is great, ultra portable and easy to manage.  Ah, and I don't need to see photos, a touch interface, to watch movies in a 4" small screen, etc.  All I need is to listen to music when I don't have access to my home stereo.


Edited by judgmentday - 4/28/11 at 7:45am
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