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"Lost" Apple Lossless?

I's an Apple + subscriber and have enjoyed re-downloading Apple lossless versions of many of the songs on my iMacs, iPhone, etc.


Recently, on one of my iMacs I inadvertently converted hundreds of songs to Apple Music ACC audio files, which rendered the files in a smaller, but less enjoyable format.


I want the Apple lossless files back, but when I select one and try to convert it, I get a message saying tat the song "could not be converted because protected files cannot be converted to other formats."


I can re-down load the songs, but there are 800+ on the playlist I'm most interested in.


So, can I "remove download" or otherwise delete the smaller files, then re-download the playlist from the cloud to re-gain those lossless files?


Thanks for any advice.


PS - the song files from the same playlist on my other devices have retained their lossless format.

iMac 21.5″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Sep 21, 2021 5:17 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 21, 2021 8:02 AM

Hi,

You previous files will have been matched with AAC 256 Kbps or if uploaded, transcribed to AAC 256 Kbps. When file is removed and redownloaded , you get the 256 Kbps versions (non DRM). With Apple Music you can redownload as ALAC but they have DRM.


You will need to restore the originals from backups. You could copy the tracks from your other computer.


JIm





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2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 21, 2021 8:02 AM in response to Innov8-1

Hi,

You previous files will have been matched with AAC 256 Kbps or if uploaded, transcribed to AAC 256 Kbps. When file is removed and redownloaded , you get the 256 Kbps versions (non DRM). With Apple Music you can redownload as ALAC but they have DRM.


You will need to restore the originals from backups. You could copy the tracks from your other computer.


JIm





"Lost" Apple Lossless?

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