[jeycam]

That's becoming interesting. Personally, I didn't like the new sound, too. It's a pity that I can't do A/B comparisons...

 

[Jubei]

It's hard to do a comparison between iTunes 9 and 10  on the same PC, but the perceived increase in loudness could mean "improved" sound for some, while others may see it as simply like having a "loudness" switch pressed. Anyway, I only use iTunes for syncing and creating playlists and never really use it to listen to music - only use it to sample tracks when compiling playlists.
 

 

[Bombarde]

They seem to have broken the ability to bypass iTunes volume controls when feeding remote devices like the AirPort Express. In9.x, you could check a box to essentially send a fixed high-level output to the remote speakers, so that volume adjustments in iTunes had no effect on the remotes.
 
That doesn't seem to work anymore. 

 

[krmathis]

They seem to have broken the ability to bypass iTunes volume controls when feeding remote devices like the AirPort Express. In9.x, you could check a box to essentially send a fixed high-level output to the remote speakers, so that volume adjustments in iTunes had no effect on the remotes.
 
That doesn't seem to work anymore. 

A real shame that Apple have removed that very useful feature (to me).
I miss it!

 

[wgb113]

I think yous are all nuts!!!  These tin ears don't notice any difference.
 
Bill

 

[Bombarde]

After listening a bit, I don't know that it sounds "different" to me, but I miss the ability to decouple the remotes from volume adjustments made on the computer. I have to have the Master volume at max to get what I'm used to at he remotes. Hopefully it's just a bug they"ll fix.

 

[Mad Max]

I'm liking the new sound.  It's not as bad as it used to be compared to uLilith and Foobar2000.  Even the newest version of Foobar2000 sounds a bit better.  Soundstage is still pretty messed up on on iTunes and Foobar2000 compared to uLilith.  It improves more if you set iTunes to High or Realtime priority in Task Manager.
 
Good job Apple, now get it to sound as good or better than uLilith plus add VST support for advanced users. 

 
 
 
... Hey, what can I say, gotta be optimistic here, even if it is in vain. 

 
 
Edit: Is it just me or is video playback worse than before?  =\

 

[sw98]

I stumbled upon this thread, I had another one going:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/543510/itunes-10-2-qualiy-playback#post_7348465
 
Maybe it's just me but iTunes 10.2 seems a bit muddy on playback.

 

[Mad Max]

Yes it is.  =\
 
I think it's gotten worse with the latest update, not completely certain on that.
 
Fortunately, there's Foobar2k and uLilith which are much better alternatives for playback.
 
Edit:  I'm noticing this latest version sounds significantly more closed-in than foobar/uLilith.

 

[sw98]

Quote:

Yes it is.  =\
 
I think it's gotten worse with the latest update, not completely certain on that.
 
Fortunately, there's Foobar2k and uLilith which are much better alternatives for playback.

Does uLilith support Last.fm scrobbling by any chance? I think Foobar2k does but I have all my files in WAV so I can't tag them in Foobar2k.
 

 

[Mad Max]

Possibly.  Check the Lilith Audio Player thread.  uLilith is the English version of Lilith, which is in Japanese.

 

[sterling1]

My experience so far with 10 2 1 1  suggests  different but perhaps  better bass.  I'm running flat EQ or EQ off. I have Quick-time set for direct out and audio devices set for 24/96. Path is PC, running Windows 7, where 256, or 16/44.1  signal is up-sampled to 24/96,  then sent  to  X-FI  HD from USB, and from there  to  optical in at Sony pre/pro.

 

[Mad Max]

Resampling colors the sound.

 

[sterling1]

It sounds real good. In fact, I cannot distinguish the sound of my iTunes library from the same material played from vinyl, SACD, or CD players. Only problem I have had is when digitizing vinyl, using analog input, instead of USB, I need to unplug my wall wart and run on battery power to preclude the introduction of very low level noise which otherwise would allow me to distinguish materials residing in the iTunes library; but, of course, that's got nothing to do with iTunes.

 

[sw98]

I guess I'll just keep 9.2, I re-installed 10.2.1.1, checked to make sure the EQ was off or flat, verified my output in QuickTime to make sure it was 24/96 WASPAI, and checked Windows 7 audio settings to make sure my sound card is outputting 24/96 and iTunes has exclusive rights and playback from 9.2 still sounds better to me. Oh well, I give up.