Jump to content
IGNORED

iTunes + and Apple lossless


Recommended Posts

Hi All,

 

until now I have downloaded Music in iTunes + at 256 mbit/sec. I have transfered the download to Apple Lossless - eg 871 or 1081 mbit/sec. The other day i trasfered a tune, and discovered that i was offline - that made me wonder WHAT IS APPLE LOSSLESS at all - does it give me more bits/sec = better music, or is it just unpacking a zip-file so it takes more space om my harddisc?

 

Hope to get some god answers

 

Juppe.

 

Link to comment

Online or offline won't make any difference, sorry. The computer doesn't download a better resolution version from iTunes when you convert to apple lossless, it just transcodes the bits you've got to a different file format.

 

Your analogy to zip files is close, except it would be a better analogy to say it was like taking a jpeg photo and re-saving it to tiff. More hard disk space taken, but no improvement in quality.

 

Link to comment

Lossy compressed files lose data, and converting them never gets that lost data back.

 

Lossy compressed files, which AAC and MP3 audio files are, should be used as the final result. Their format was created to make the file more portable while sacrificing quality. If you take an AAC file (the default format of the iTunes store) and convert it to lossless, WAV, or AIFF, all you will have is a lossless/WAV/AIFF version of that lower quality file.

 

A perfect analogy would be photoshop and jpeg files. When working in Photoshop, you want to save in a file format which preserves all the information, like TIFF, PICT, or Photoshp's native format. Then, when you want to save the file into a more compact version to send over the internet to someone who has low bandwith on their internet connection, you would save a version of that file as a jpeg. Jpeg files, like AAC and MP3 audio files, selectively lose data to make the file more compact.

 

One last thing If you keep saving a file over and over as an AAC, MP3, or JPEG file, the file will eventually disappear. Each time you save as, these formats throws away data every time.

 

Hope this helps

 

CD

 

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...