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Level 1

9 points

Convert Higher Bit Rate Songs to AAC Settings

I was wondering if it is possible to change itunes' sole "on the fly" conversion setting from 128 to 320 AAC? I know it isn't available in the program interface, but perhaps a preference change via command line?

I have a 160GB ipod classic and over 200GB of lossless CDs in itunes. Two libraries won't work, because I track play counts, etc. (plus, it's simply a pain). And the same with dougscript's aac workflow script.

I can hear the difference every time between lossless and 320 aac in a double blind test, but the difference is extremely slight, and therefore I'm willing to have 320 on the ipod in order to fit all my CDs. 128 is too low though and very noticeable to me. Any ideas?

Intel Core Duo iMac 17", Mac OS X (10.4.8), 1.8GHz 1.5Gb RAM

Posted on May 2, 2010 4:18 PM

22 replies

afiser

Level 1

0 points

Aug 24, 2010 8:59 PM in response to sdent

i would very much like this feature.

it would make it possible for me to have all my flac music converted to alac on my computer with a better sound setup than my ipod(or if apple adds flac support that would be cool but is not happening). And still be able to fit it on my ipod in decent quality. 128 is far to low.

Chris CA

Level 10

82,440 points

Aug 24, 2010 9:15 PM in response to sdent

See this -> Lossless to AAC Workflow v2.2
Dunno if it syncs playcounts and such.

dknightd

Level 3

705 points

Aug 25, 2010 5:43 AM in response to sdent

sdent wrote:
I was wondering if it is possible to change itunes' sole "on the fly" conversion setting from 128 to 320 AAC? I know it isn't available in the program interface, but perhaps a preference change via command line?

I haven't been able to find anything. It would be nice.

I'd like the option of choosing the bitrate, and, choosing to only re-encode loss-less for the ipod.

sdent wrote:
I can hear the difference every time between lossless and 320 aac in a double blind test, but the difference is extremely slight, and therefore I'm willing to have 320 on the ipod in order to fit all my CDs.

That is amazing. I've tried to do that many times. I've yet been able to ABX lossless vs 320. Any tips on how you are able to do this?

sdent wrote:
Any ideas?

Use crappy earphones, or, listen to your ipod only in noisy places so the difference is harder to hear? Sorry, not really much of a solution

Chris CA

Level 10

82,440 points

Aug 25, 2010 6:28 AM in response to dknightd

I haven't been able to find anything. It would be nice.

Read my response above.

dknightd

Level 3

705 points

Aug 25, 2010 7:06 AM in response to Chris CA

Chris CA wrote:

I haven't been able to find anything. It would be nice.

Read my response above.

Hi Chris,
Read your response. Lossless to AAC Workflow has been around awhile and is a workable solution for many (maybe the OP as well). It will not update ratings and playcounts, since it requires you set the ipod for manual syncing.
What he was looking for was a way to change the default 128 setting of apples built in solution. Sometimes this kind of thing can be changed in a pref file. Sometimes not.
I haven't tried losslessaccworkflow in ages, maybe I should give it another shot as well. It gave me enough problems before to give up on it, maybe those have been sorted.
David

afiser

Level 1

0 points

Sep 10, 2010 12:18 PM in response to sdent

too bad they didnt do this in the new itunes 😟

Dec 9, 2010 7:21 PM in response to afiser

I've been using this to get my lossless FLAC files to play on the iPhone. Just wondering if anyone has figured out a hack to alter the fixed 128 bitrate. (I really wasn't expecting the FLAC QT component to play nice with this but was pleasantly surprised)

Convert Higher Bit Rate Songs to AAC Settings