Lossless (ALAC) iTunes downloads?

Consequently I never purchase music downloads from iTunes. I buy CDs and rip them myself using lossless settings.

Mauro,

As mentioned above, there are other online music download stores that sell lossless downloads.

So if I put a CD in my Mini and click yes I want to import it, what do I get? There are no settings I can find. What do I need to import lossless?

nsxvfr wrote:

So if I put a CD in my Mini and click yes I want to import it, what do I get? There are no settings I can find. What do I need to import lossless?

When the CD is present, you will see a button at the lower right for "Import Settings." Click it and set "Import Using" to "Apple Lossless Encoder."

ed2345 wrote:

nsxvfr wrote:

So if I put a CD in my Mini and click yes I want to import it, what do I get? There are no settings I can find. What do I need to import lossless?

When the CD is present, you will see a button at the lower right for "Import Settings."

Or just go to iTunes prefs > General - Import settings.

Thanks. After enlarging the window the "settings" button magically appeared.

Message was edited by: nsxvfr

I have a question. If I import a cd at the higher quality setting will that higher quality version sync to my iPhone music player so I can listen to the better quality on a good set of headphones?

John22 wrote:

I have a question. If I import a cd at the higher quality setting will that higher quality version sync to my iPhone music player so I can listen to the better quality on a good set of headphones?

Yes, If you have the lossless version in your iTunes library, it will sync to your device.

Whether it will make a difference or not will depend on limitations of the audio circuitry in the iPhone. But if you already have the good headphones, it would be easy enough to rip a few example tracks in ALAC and give it a try on your iPhone.

Have you done ABX testing?

I understand the desire for lossless but I don't believe you can tell the difference between a 256kbps AAC and lossless. Very few people can hear difference between 128kbps AAC and lossless.

People think they can but it is psychosematic - with ABX testing they can not reliably tell the difference.

it all depends on the quality of your stereo and the quality of music(the source must be good) For instance using mp3 or poor quality turn table and cartridge to make a mix/dance album it cannot sound good.

But even on an average stereo with a good source you already can hear the difference between 128 and 320.

It is like in the old days listening to a cassette or a lp.

With mp3 in general you miss all the depth in the music.

So only .wav or .flac or apple lossless(and a view more) are the real cd quality media.

what "depth" do you miss?

I don't know about Apple's current mp3 encoder but back in the day, it wasn't very good.

However, with lame, I highly doubt you can tell the difference between a 192kbps vbr and the original. Even with extremely good speakers. People think they can, but when it comes to ABX test - they can't.

ABX test is where you listen to A knowing it is lossless, B knowing it is lossy, and X knowing that X is identical to A or B but not knowing which. You have to determine which it is. Half the time you will get it right by luck, and when people do an ABX test with lame at 192kbps VBR encoded music, guess what - they get it right roughly half the time, meaning they can't really tell.

I doubt the majors do the encodes for Apple.

And I seriously hope Apple does his encodes from Studio Masters, if it's the case they have the possibility to sell CD quality music.

As for the online store that sell Lossless music http://bandcamp.com/ is also a good store, you can select (for the same price) which audio format you would like to download, you can choose from MP3 (320, VBR V0), Ogg Vorbis, Apple Lossless, FLAC and AAC.

(two years later...)

_A.T.Omix_ wrote:

I doubt the majors do the encodes for Apple.

And I seriously hope Apple does his encodes from Studio Masters, if it's the case they have the possibility to sell CD quality music.

Apple does not encode anything.

The labels do their own mastering/encoding/tagging and submit the completed files to Apple.

_A.T.Omix_ wrote:

I doubt the majors do the encodes for Apple.

No need to speculate. Here is the information:

Mastered for iTunes

I've all but stopped purchasing my music from the iTunes Store since deciding that anything less than lossless is no longer acceptable. Generally I just listen on Spotify until the CD arrives in the post; then I rip it myself.

So, all I can say is I for one will be more than happy to resume using iTMS once they start delivering the music I enjoy in the format I enjoy. I really miss the convenience and, given the (huge) volume of music I have already purchased from iTMS, Apple is probably missing the revenue.

Yeah, I don't like the idea of buying.