iTunes Store Song Quality and a few Questions

[Blascock]

Hi. Ok so I have a question, I know the iTunes Plus songs are higher quality, 256kb/s but I can't seem to find if its VBR. Are the itnes plus songs vbr??

Now just some other questions I had:

1. How come songs I import from a CD using 256k VBR AAC format don't have the little bracket that says (VBR) the way MP3 VBR songs do?

2. Does anyone know why/when all of the iTunes songs are going to be in the DRM-free higher quality format? All of Amazon's songs are DRM free 256k VBR MP3s.. I would buy from there, but I'm a quality-wh0re and know that 256k AAC sounds better

[Galley]

1. I'm no expert, but I believe all AAC uses some sort of VBR.
2. The record companies are angry at Apple for having such a large market share, and are depriving them of DRM-free tracks. Like you, I'm holding out for AAC (or better yet, Lossless).

[cruiser]

Hi. Ok so I have a question, I know the iTunes Plus songs are higher quality, 256kb/s...


...really? I've bought a couple of albums and some individual songs from the iTunes store but when I play them the bit rate is 'only' 128 kb/s. Is this due to a setting in my iTunes and if so, how can I change it?

EDIT: I've just noticed that Blascock refers to iTunes 'PLUS' songs... what's that then?

[Galley]

...really? I've bought a couple of albums and some individual songs from the iTunes store but when I play them the bit rate is 'only' 128 kb/s. Is this due to a setting in my iTunes and if so, how can I change it?

EDIT: I've just noticed that Blascock refers to iTunes 'PLUS' songs... what's that then?

iTunes Plus tracks are 256Kps, but are also free of nasty DRM.

FAQ (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1711)

[s.metcalf]

The great thing about being a consumer in these format wars is you have the power to demand a better product by declining the inferior one. MP3 is old technology and I wouldn't touch it. I'm satisfied with 256k AAC at this stage because I judged it to be imperceptibly different from an audio CD and anything higher would just balloon my storage requirements. Still, I rarely buy music online anyway and would still rather buy a physical album than one on iTunes for a similar price.

[bbwi]

I don't own a good enough audio system to tell the difference. I'm curious as to why people who are particular about the Kind, Quality, and DRM, why they don't just buy CD's and rip them? That way you get exactly what you want, no?

[zinfella]

I don't own a good enough audio system to tell the difference. I'm curious as to why people who are particular about the Kind, Quality, and DRM, why they don't just buy CD's and rip them? That way you get exactly what you want, no?

If you believe that CD's give the best sound quality, but they don't.

[probably]

If you believe that CD's give the best sound quality, but they don't.

:???: He suggested that people buy CDs, which are considerably higher fidelity than anything purchasable as a download, and rip them.

[calcu007]

If you believe that CD's give the best sound quality, but they don't.


CD gives you the best uncompressed audio at 1,411.2 kbit/s, compared with ACC and MP3 format. They are lossy formats (compressed audio) with a maxim bitrate of 320 kbit/s