[redavaya-fi]

Are all songs from the i-tunes store lossless? I listen to RnB music most of the time, are lossless a waste of space and money (since 320kbps can be downloaded for free) for my type of music? Also my gear would be unamped (IE8 plus either an S9 or X1000 or Itouch if I would go ALAC). TIA!

 

[gilency]

none of the iTunes music is lossless. they are acc (like MP3, compressed). Thats why I never buy music from iTunes. I use only lossless music.
This is from wikipedia: "Lossless data compression is a class of data compression algorithms that allows the exact original data to be reconstructed from the compressed data. The term lossless is in contrast to lossy data compression, which only allows an approximation of the original data to be reconstructed, in exchange for better compression rates

 

[WesMiaw]

Lossless is not a waste of space and money in my opinion.

AAC is higher quality than MP3 though.

 

[redavaya-fi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gilency /img/forum/go_quote.gif none of the iTunes music is lossless. they are acc (like MP3, compressed). Thats why I never buy music from iTunes. I use only lossless music. This is from wikipedia: "Lossless data compression is a class of data compression algorithms that allows the exact original data to be reconstructed from the compressed data. The term lossless is in contrast to lossy data compression, which only allows an approximation of the original data to be reconstructed, in exchange for better compression rates

I'm confused. So, the songs from I-tunes are not what they call "Apple Lossless" files? Or Apple claims they're lossless but are not?

@Wesmiaw

I'm sure lossless files are well worth it for some who has the best and complete system but for some, including myself, who would just get a good phone and player and not amped them, would the cost and space be just a waste or would there still be an audible difference between lossless and a 320kbps file in an unamped but excellent gear?

 

[UglyJoe]

Really, it's almost impossible to tell the difference between a 320 kbps MP3 and a lossless file. The Apple store offers 256 kbps AAC files, which are better than MP3s, and they are no longer locked to 5 copies or whatever it is. It's an okay deal, and certainly cleaner than... other options.

 

[WesMiaw]

iTunes the software is a music/video manager and also serves double-duty as a gateway to the iTunes Store. Using iTunes, you can rip your CDs to Apple Lossless. You can also rip to MP3, AAC, WAV, or AIFF.

However, purchasing music from the iTunes Store is separate from that. The iTunes Store offers music in only one format: 256Kbps AAC and no DRM, as UglyJoe mentioned. It used to offer music in 128Kbps AAC and FairPlay DRM.

In my opinion the difference between 128Kbps AAC or 256Kbps MP3 and a CD is subtle but apparent on, say, a receiver in the range of $600-$800 and speakers in the range of $1500 in an acoustically okay room. I'm more familiar with speaker setups so sorry for the non-headphone comparison.

It does depend on the music, of course.

 

[gilency]

WesMiaw pretty much summarized it. MP3 and AAC are both lossy/compressed format. The higher the Kbps, the better the sound.
"Apple Lossless (also known as Apple Lossless Audio Codec, ALAC, or Apple Lossless Encoder, ALE) a type of audio compression created by Apple Inc.

Having Lossless in the name, obviously means Apple Lossless is a Lossless codec, unlike a lossy codec (such as mp3) where audio quality is lost forever in the name of smaller files, lossless stores the original CD track without loss, like zip for audio. Apple Lossless can compress CD quality audio file to roughly half its original size.

Apple Lossless files are stored in the MPEG 4 container and have a .m4a extension. The MPEG 4 container is also used for Advanced Audio Compression (AAC), a lossy compression (currently all tracks purchased from iTunes Music Store (iTMS) are AAC)" Apple Lossless
For listening on an MP3 player /iPod, AAC or MP3 files are OK. CD quality or losseless format (like Apple lossless, Flac, etc) are better for listening on speakers with a good stereo system.
I have everything pretty much in ALAC (Apple Losseless) because I dont see a reason to have 2 sets for each song and because I dont see a reason to degrade my music, especially now that storage keeps getting cheaper and cheaper. I think AAC/MP3's eventually will become obsolete.

 

[dallan]

Lossless (Apple or Flac) or WAV for me so i never buy from itunes, yuk. I have gotten rid of all others below that except one concert out of thousands. As i have upgraded i have even noticed a difference between those and the WAV files which i never have believed was possible, kinda depends on how detailed your system is. I am sure there are those who would argue that one though.

 

[redavaya-fi]

I guess I'm better off getting lossless, save them and just compress to fit my mp3 player. Atleast in the future, if budget permits, i could set up a high-end system and enjoy my collection of lossless.

Another newb question: Where do i download lossless files? I'm more into RnB/Soul type of music.

 

[moogoob]

I use iTunes almost solely to rip CDs. The few bits of music I buy on iTunes are things that are too hard for me to find in a physical format.

 

[WesMiaw]

iTunes will let you hold two versions of the same song. One could be Apple Lossless, and the other MP3. Then create one smart playlist of Apple Lossless and another smart playlist of MP3s, and use your MP3 playlist to sync to your iPod (if you have an iPod).

I don't think you'll be able to purchase the majority of your RnB preferences in lossless online. Your best bet is to rip from CDs.

 

[AtomikPi]

Probably the best option is to buy cd's and then:
1) Use EAC test and copy to make perfect flac rips. Tutorial here: EAC Guides
2) Use dbpoweramp (or foobar is ok but not as fast and simple) to transcode to high bitrate mp3's (I recommend v0 or v2) OR ALAC for your ipod.

 

[Berlioz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by UglyJoe /img/forum/go_quote.gif Really, it's almost impossible to tell the difference between a 320 kbps MP3 and a lossless file. The Apple store offers 256 kbps AAC files, which are better than MP3s, and they are no longer locked to 5 copies or whatever it is. It's an okay deal, and certainly cleaner than... other options.

I can tell the difference between 320kbps and FLAC files very quickly in blind tests. I highly doubt my ears are better than the average person's. Especially with classical music and opera, the difference can be quite substantial.

Most pop/rock/rap songs nowadays contain highly compressed sounds, so it can be very hard differentiating lossless from 320kbps on those genres, especially if it is a modern remaster. Your rig also plays a large factor in this. Personally, I think if you truly are after high quality music, getting lossless now is the best choice in the long run.

You can download lossless files on some download sites. I'm not sure I'm allowed to list them here so I won't, but using Google will quickly yield some answers for you.

My own preference is just to buy CD's and then rip them to lossless using EAC. I find iTunes to be somewhat inferior in the quality of its rips.

 

[krmathis]

1. No, all songs in iTunes Store are AAC.
2. Lossless is not a waste of space imo. But of course we all have different preferences, so your may be different from mine.

 

[gilency]

Quote:

Originally Posted by redavaya-fi /img/forum/go_quote.gif I guess I'm better off getting lossless, save them and just compress to fit my mp3 player. Atleast in the future, if budget permits, i could set up a high-end system and enjoy my collection of lossless. Another newb question: Where do i download lossless files? I'm more into RnB/Soul type of music.

That's a good idea. if you ever upgrade your system your files wont need much change. if on the other hand, all your files are lossy, then you are stuck and would have to re-rip your CD's, which is what happened to me before I knew better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by moogoob /img/forum/go_quote.gif I use iTunes almost solely to rip CDs. The few bits of music I buy on iTunes are things that are too hard for me to find in a physical format.

ditto

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif 1. No, all songs in iTunes Store are AAC. 2. Lossless is not a waste of space imo. But of course we all have different preferences, so your may be different from mine.

agree!