Downloading from iTunes question

[J.4knee]

I've read a lot of folks talking about iTunes and Apple's lossless format. I've never used iTunes and perusing the site briefly I did not see an option to download music in this format. Can someone give me a brief descriptor of how to accomplish this. It may be as simple as I have not looked long enough at iTunes but anyway I'd be interested in any info. I do not like the sound most mp3 copies provide. So any info would be a boon for me.

[jamesV]

J,

I don't have any apple mp3 players but I do believe that the lossless format is for copying your own cd's. I can be totally wrong on that. Others with better knowledge about it should chime in.

James

[joshnich]

I think that James is correct that the lossless format is only available for copying CDs on to the computer. In Itunes go to preferences select general and near the bottom of the dialogue box you set what happens when you insert a CD next to that is a buton for import settings.

Josh

[wuzzzer]

iTunes only has one default compression format when purchasing songs from them. I don't remember what the bitrate is but I've never thought songs I downloaded sounded too bad.

[seti]

Downloads from the iTunes store are all in AAC format. Read about it here.

Ripping CDs is another matter all together, and that is where YOU select the desired codec.

I've been using iTunes since it first came out and have a large collection of lossless files. It has always been a good format for me. I'd like a mini mac, 1tb storage and a small LCD as a media server. That is of course with a decent DAC in front of it.

[J.4knee]

So if I am getting this correctly you cannot purchase/download lossless from Apple, but you can cut your CD's etc over to it using iTunes...correct???

[seti]

I found this on a website.

Songs
purchased through the

iTunes Music Store are encoded as 128kbps AAC files. AAC files
normally have a .m4a file extension (i.e. U2 - Vertigo.m4a). However
because Apple uses DRM to "protect" the files (more on this below),
iTunes purchased songs have a .m4p extension.

So why
the gripe over music quality?

First
off let me state that "music quality" is subjective. It is
influenced by the equipment you use to listen to it on, the type of
music you listen to, how the music was recorded in the first place,
and finally - your ear.

The
gripe is that 128kbps is about as low as you go for music quality.

[toddvj]

So if I am getting this correctly you cannot purchase/download lossless from Apple, but you can cut your CD's etc over to it using iTunes...correct???

Yes, absolutely correct.

[skonopa]

I've read a lot of folks talking about iTunes and Apple's lossless format. I've never used iTunes and perusing the site briefly I did not see an option to download music in this format. Can someone give me a brief descriptor of how to accomplish this. It may be as simple as I have not looked long enough at iTunes but anyway I'd be interested in any info. I do not like the sound most mp3 copies provide. So any info would be a boon for me.

When you purchase music through the iTunes store, the normal format are files encoded to 128kbps AAC. In addition to that, they also apply DRM (FairPlay) to the files, thus restricting them to pretty much iPods and up to 5 computers (thus making them impossible to play natively on non-iPod devices - of course, there are work-arounds, but still). In addition to those files, there are so called iTunes Plus files, which are encoded to 256kbps AAC, as well as being completely DRM-free, thus any device that supports the AAC format will be able to play these. I don't know how many of the tracks available in the iTunes music store are availble in this "plus" format, but you will definitly want to opt for these whenever possible. They used to cost extra (something like 30 cents more, if memory serves me), but now they are the same price as the "regular" DRM-restricted files.

As for lossless format - you cannot get anything in lossless through the iTunes music store. You'll have to do it the "old-fashioned" way of buying the CD and ripping it yourself into lossless. You will have to setup iTunes yourself to use lossless, as it defaults to 128kbps AAC for ripping "out of the box". To do this, open up iTunes and from the menu, select "Edit->Preferences". On the dialog box that appears, make sure the "General" tab is selected and click the "Import Settings" button. On the dialog that appears, select "Apple Lossless Encoding" on the "Import Using" drop-down list. Press "OK" on all the dialogs to get back out to the main iTunes window. This will setup iTunes to use Lossless encoding when ripping CDs into it ("Importing" to use Apple's parlance).

Personally, I don't even bother with iTunes music store, opting to get music downloads through eMusic (which uses very high-quality variable bit-rate MP3, and completely DRM-free), and purchasing the actual CDs whenever possible. I just refuse to buy into any of the DRM formats out of principle, as well as ensure maximum compatibility with everthing from my Creative Zen to my iPod Touch to my music server, plus who-knows-what other device I may end up playing these files on. The only downside (if you want to realy call it that), is that you won't find any of the current mainstream hits from the big labels on eMusic, but then again, I really don't care about the current mainstream hit anyway, so no loss there for me as far as I am concerned (believe me, I am definitly not shedding any tears over the fact that I can't get Beyonce tracks on eMusic, for example). That does not mean you won't find any mainstream music on there, though, but they will typically be older artists, i.e, Creedance Clearwater Rivival, or The Black Crows, for example.