[Waspinators]

I've been thinking about buying the Bob Dylan Collection from iTunes, but I use a Zune and I wanna be able to use the files on it. The one time I downloaded a song from iTunes it was in m4a, which doesn't work with anything but iTunes/iPod. Is there anyway to download it so that it'll work on anything, or convert it so that it will without losing quality? Thanks.

 

[krmathis]

iTunes Store only sell files encoded to AAC (in MP4 container), no MP3.
I am quite sure the Zune suport AAC. If not, then you can always decode to PCM (WAV).

 

[Gurck]

I was under the impression you could choose aac or mp3 from itunes, I never heard of them using m4a. Pardon my ignorance if I'm wrong, I don't buy Apple products.

M4a is not exclusive to itunes / ipod, it's just a codec like any other (eg. mp3, ogg/vorbis, flac, etc.). It's certainly less widely supported though. Are you sure the Zune doesn't play it? If not, you can check whether rockbox has a firmware for your Zune model, which would most likely support m4a, aac, and just about any other codec you can think of.

 

[leveller1642]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gurck /img/forum/go_quote.gif M4a is not exclusive to itunes / ipod, it's just a codec like any other (eg. mp3, ogg/vorbis, flac, etc.). It's certainly less widely supported though. Are you sure the Zune doesn't play it? .....

Exactly. A quick google suggested that the Zunes does support non DRM AAC. (as do Sony DAPS) Microsoft isn't that stupid. If Bob's songs are 256 bps it shouldn't have DRM

I cannot for the life of me work out why on a audio forum devoted to audio quality why the MP3 codec is even considered when the far superior AAC codec (mp4) is available. It is not about Apple. It is about audio quality.

If the the players don't support AAC, regardless of the perceived sound quality DON"T BUY THEM. Force them to support it.

Sorry to be such a pain about this. I may or may not be an Apple fanboy, but I am definitely an AAC fanboy.

 

[nvkid909]

yes indeedy. i rip in ALAC, or if i'm too lazy i'll download the itunes plus (AAC non-DRM*). most players will play AAC. itunes plus is 256 AAC.

* apparently they have the email adress of the account that purchased them coded into the files, so if you go on sharing sites they can trace you. seems fair to me, i always say to people if they like it THAT much they should buy their own. it means that even people without ipods could go looking on iTMS for there own player, if they could just get past their fear of apple!

 

[Gurck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by leveller1642 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Exactly. A quick google suggested that the Zunes does support non DRM AAC. (as do Sony DAPS) Microsoft isn't that stupid. If Bob's songs are 256 bps it shouldn't have DRM I cannot for the life of me work out why on a audio forum devoted to audio quality why the MP3 codec is even considered when the far superior AAC codec (mp4) is available. It is not about Apple. It is about audio quality. If the the players don't support AAC, regardless of the perceived sound quality DON"T BUY THEM. Force them to support it. Sorry to be such a pain about this. I may or may not be an Apple fanboy, but I am definitely an AAC fanboy.

Actually any second-gen codec is superior to mp3. Aac is ok, but ogg/vorbis is the obvious choice because it's free.

 

[Scorpio12]

If these music files you have purchased via itunes have drm protection, you can't add it directly to zune, and the way to convert them to mp3 is burn them to cd, then rip it to mp3 with itunes, here is a tutorial - convert itunes music to mp3

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scorpio12 /img/forum/go_quote.gif If these music files you have purchased via itunes have drm protection, you can't add it directly to zune, and the way to convert them to mp3 is burn them to cd, then rip it to mp3 with itunes, here is a tutorial - convert itunes music to mp3

iTunes store have sold, and still do, sell songs both with and without DRM protection.
128kbps files have DRM protection, while 256kbps (iTunes Plus) files don't. For the future it seems like iTunes Store will be DRM free, as per announcement on WWDC 2009.

 

[Nocturnal310]

Its quite ironic and a shame...that Steve Jobs..a big fan of Bob Dylan from his childhood..doesnt sell his Vinyls ..or atleast Lossless (ALAC) tracks.

 

[milkweg]

Yea, well, Steve Job's is just another greedy yuppie so why expect anything better from him?