iTunes goes DRM Free and steps up to 256kbps AAC

05/31/2007 05:20:20 PM · #26

Originally posted by RainMotorsports:

While AIFF is a direct rip format, is it really what they call it on cd's? I wasnt sure its all in all a raw PCM wave signature. Just Curious.

Don't know. But since AIFF is a lossless format, I've always assumed it preserves the original fidelity on the CD track. I've done a couple of test CDs, with various tracks of various styles. I rip them from the CD into the various formats and then burn them back to CD and challenge people to listen to the CD on their best stereo equipment and tell me which song is from an MP3, which is from an iTunes store AAC, and which is from the original CD. Nobody has yet identified the origin of the tracks.

SamDoe1

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8

05/31/2007 07:28:09 PM · #27

CDs (generally) when ripped into a lossless format will come out as WAV files, I don't have any idea what AIFF even is... Anyway, I can distinctly tell the difference between 128kbps ripped MP3 files and CD quality music. I listen to my stuff on a Klipsch ProMedia THX sound system which plays off my computer. Where you can really tell the difference is in the bass, the bass is so much more clean and accurate when played in lossless format. MP3 encoders often delete the lower end of audio files (<40hz) because most audio systems cannot even play that low.

I rip my CDs to a specific standard which offers the closest to CD quality you can possibly get with an MP3 using Exact Audio Copy for ripping and the LAME MP3 encoder for encoding. The encoder encodes in VBR (variable bit rate) which changes the bit rate according to the portion of the song therefore saving space (lower bit rate for not as complex a portion, etc).

Anyway, it all boils down to the kind of system you have. If you have laptop or standard computer speakers that you got when you bought it, you most likely can't and won't be able to tell the difference between the two. Buy a high end home audio or car audio system and it'll stand out like VHS to DVD (well maybe not that much, but it'll show).

lunachicken

Nikon D90

05/31/2007 07:50:33 PM · #28

Careful who you share your files with :) Clicky

bod

06/01/2007 04:18:08 AM · #29

Is the increased bitrate really worth the extra money?
//www.maximumpc.com/article/itunes_256_vs_128_bit

Message edited by author 2007-06-01 04:18:16.

RainMotorsports

Nikon D60

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR

06/01/2007 07:12:34 AM · #30

Originally posted by bod:

Is the increased bitrate really worth the extra money?
//www.maximumpc.com/article/itunes_256_vs_128_bit

If you compare MP3 128 to 256 (different story), you see benifits in the high ranges, but in truth the difference is good but not excellent.

Just get a piano solo and screw head phones a Buick Lucerne with the premium sound system. Youll definitely hear the difference between CD and compressed. Weather the average person will hear the top end difference hard to say. MP3 at 256 still cuts off above 17,000hz. Not sure if AAC improved upon that at all.

Message edited by author 2007-06-01 07:12:54.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR

06/01/2007 08:33:00 AM · #31

Sameer and Jeffrey: I've got a very nice sound system, though I admit that I use it rarely now that A) it's in the basement and B) this is the age of the iPod. I have used my system to test sound quality as described in my previous message. I'd invite both of you to burn me a test disk. Pick a few songs that you think represent good test cases for detecting the quality in those highs and lows, and send me the disk but don't tell me which tracks were ripped at which bit rate. Let me see if I can hear the difference.

RainMotorsports

Nikon D60

06/01/2007 08:44:05 AM · #32

Originally posted by strangeghost:

Ill have to get around to it but why not. It would have to be something I have an original copy of so that i can get the original sound. But Acoustic and Piano versions of some alternative music is where i hear it.

As i said before you really cant tell in the lower regions like bass no point in comparing rap/hip-hop. But acoustinc versions of breakin benjamin and The Red Jump Suit Apartus i can come up with.

For good measure we should compare MP3 128, AAC 128, AAC 256, and Original.

SamDoe1

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

06/01/2007 11:56:22 PM · #33

Originally posted by strangeghost:

I'd love to do this, and actually I'd love to do a few tests of my own on the differences. I'll have to try and find a cd worthy of this though. Need to have ones that have a good range of highs to lows and everything in between. Any suggestions?

Age of the ipod is no excuse. :) You can get several different kinds of adaptors to plug your ipod into anything you want. I just recently got one and put it in my car so I could listen to it on my hour long commutes for work.

Message edited by author 2007-06-01 23:57:59.

06/01/2007 11:59:45 PM · #34

Originally posted by SamDoe1:

Rainman suggests acoustic piano, and I agree. There's a purity of sound there that should be a good test case for audio purity. I like violin for the same reason. I have the two disc set of violin sonatas and partitas by Itzhak Perlman. All solo violin and absolutely breathtaking in its sound textures. Maybe we should agree on a set of test track parameters, and all make a disk for each other?

06/02/2007 12:01:23 AM · #35

Originally posted by SamDoe1:

Age of the ipod is no excuse. :) You can get several different kinds of adaptors to plug your ipod into anything you want. I just recently got one and put it in my car so I could listen to it on my hour long commutes for work.

Agree, but for convenience sake, nothing beats my iPod and my Koss headphones. I also have an aux-in for my car stereo. Gotta have good sound in the car!

SamDoe1

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Canon RF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM

06/02/2007 12:03:19 AM · #36

That sounds good, now I need to find someone with a real cd of piano and/or violin. I have a few tracks of Pachibel's (sp?) Canon in D in MP3 form that work extremely well on my speakers. But I got them from a friend and don't have the physical CD. Maybe we should start a new thread for this and let this one get back to the topic?

cools98

Canon EOS R5 Mark II

06/08/2007 12:08:25 PM · #37

I'm confused. Please help. I have iTunes 7.2, but the song I want to download is still only $0.99. Does that mean that it is the lower quality version. Is there something different that I need to do?