AAC -- iTunes Plus vs. High Quality vs. Custom?

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Level 1

71 points

AAC -- iTunes Plus vs. High Quality vs. Custom?

I'm never sure what to do with the audio format. In a perfect world I'd keep things in a lossless format but cheaper hard drives notwithstanding I just have too big a library.

But I want to make the best of a not perfect situation.

Right now my iTunes are set to import on the iTunes Plus setting. I take it that setting is better than the "High Quality" setting.

Would there be any point in going to the custom settings and bumping the bit rate and sample rate?

Any thoughts / advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

iMac 21 1/2", Mac OS X (10.6.5), iTunes 10.2.1

Posted on Apr 8, 2011 11:25 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

ed2345

Level 9

62,486 points

Apr 8, 2011 12:14 PM in response to jayessemm

The iTunes Plus setting gives you a bitrate of 256 kb/s. This is what most people use nowadays, and is equivalent to tracks purchased from the iTunes Store or Amazon.com.

Yes, it is better than the setting marked "High Quality (128)."

If you have audiophile-quality equipment and normally listen in quiet conditions, you may see a benefit from lossless, but most people do not bother.

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Answer 2

jayessemm Author

Level 1

71 points

Apr 8, 2011 12:21 PM in response to ed2345

Thanks

I figure I'll stick with the iTunes Plus -- I take it no point in doing the Custom thing and squeezing a tiny bit of a higher sample.

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