iTunes Download Bitrate Question.

256kps AAC is the current standard - there's no way to get a higher bitrate than that.

As for the issue, keep in mind that it's not only the bitrate, it's also the mastering source that's a factor (I'd actually argue that it's the most important factor of all). So if you downloaded a song that has zero dynamic range in the actual source master, it doesn't matter if you've ripped from a CD to ALAC or have a 320kps AAC, it's still going to sound bad. "Garbage in / garbage out", as the saying goes.

I wish they'd bump it up to 320kps AAC or, better yet, ALAC. But I've done ABX tests between their 256kps AAC's and a comparable CD rip, and it's not easy to tell them apart. And this is using the same mastering, btw.

The other thing you might be hearing, if you happen to have old 80's CD's like I do, are that the CD's are pre-"loudness wars" where-as iTunes only has the brickwalled reamasters.

A perfect example are metal CD's. I have a few from the 80's where the dynamic range is very good (believe it or not). But download the iTunes version and it's very fatiguing to listen to beause they have the remaster where the DR was squashed. A perfect example is the band "Slayer". So it's not a fair comparison as it's not just CD versus iTunes AAC, it's original master versus remaster.

There are two tools I use to back up what my ears tell me. One is Audacity with the AAC plugin, to look at waveforms and clipping, and the second is the dynamic range meter Foobar200 plugin. I can usualy compare an old CD rip / AAC iTunes download with these tools to confirm what my ears are telling me, which is that the AAC version is brickwalled / clipping / more ear fatiguing. I'm guessing that might be what you're experiencing - again there's a term for this called "the loudness wars" and even Apple is trying to get involved via their "Mastered for iTunes" program to increase the dynamic range of modern recordings and remasters.

I think that it is seriously stupid that we cannot download whatever type of bitrate that we want. We paid for a product, therefore we should get whatever we want. I've just been buying uncompressed .wav files from third parties because iTunes supports that format. Bitrate for .wav files is crazy, 1411 kbps, compared to iTunes miserable 256 kbs. Seriously, when you have very high quality speakers, they shouldn't get wasted with sucky audio. 320kbps is the best standerd quality that you can get, not 256kbps, but I don't settle for either. I just got some Bose™ headphones and don't plan on wasting them on mediocre quality music.

If you read this page from a guy I trust, you'll understand that the iTunes Plus bitrate is more then acceptable since it exceeds what you can hear: http://www.kenrockwell.com/apple/itunes.htm

But that does not take away that remastering is a matter of taste, and that ripping should be done with the right settings.

Yeah, I have a very similar problem to yours. I notice very distorted and almost wavy/rattling sound in some songs I have downloaded. It seems that it happens more frequently in songs with low bass, and I get it all the time in certain movie soundtracks. I wish that iTunes would provide CD quality downloads, even if they cost more, it would be worth it. But I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who noticed this problem with the downloads, I sent feedback on the website so hopefully someone will change something.

I think this may be a problem with iTunes playback. I have noticed it recently after upgrading to iTunes 11. I hear it even on songs that used to play back just fine. It sounds rattle-like even after turning off EQ, Sound Enhancer and Sound Check.

At first I thought maybe I had damaged my speakers by playing with the volume too loud, but when I listen to the same songs on YouTube at similar volume levels, they sound fine.

Unfortunately, if the problem is within iTunes, we have no choice but to wait for Apple to fix it with an update.

I don't trust that guy.

1) Before it gets to your ear, the sound must be converted from a digital existance to an analog waveform. If you have a decent digital to analog processor, it will want as much digital information as it can get. The less info you give the D to A processor, the less it will be able to output, although I suppose it can do some interpretation. After that, the wafeform must be amlified and then sent through speakers, and your ears finally get to listen to a version of the music. So a 3 step process, each step changing things a little. It would be best if the first step in the process started with the best representation possible.

2) The human ear has limits yes. On headphones you might not be missing out. But on good speakers, there are sounds that you can feel. I want to feel those sounds, not have them stripped away by some engineer who thinks I won't notice.

When CDs came out, they used a lower quality encoding so as to get 74 minutes on a disk. The public didn't seem to mind and records dissapeard. Now we are given an even worse format, and CDs are gone.

It is time we take a stand, stop buying music, make your own!

B

Lex Molinari wrote:

If you read this page from a guy I trust, you'll understand that the iTunes Plus bitrate is more then acceptable since it exceeds what you can hear: http://www.kenrockwell.com/apple/itunes.htm

But that does not take away that remastering is a matter of taste, and that ripping should be done with the right settings.

I understand this post is old, but if the OP is still around, check out two sites...bandcamp.com and hdtracks.com. They offer flac files at full studio bitrate. Make sure you have a program on your device to play them, bit you will hear a difference. Also, airplay might not be the best idea for hi fi audio, as airport expresses are garbage. Use a good line out dock from your idevice to stereo.

256kps AAC is the current standard - there's no way to get a higher bitrate than that. Yes there is 320kbps is the next to MP3 it goes higher but the format changes to FLV, FLAC and others infact it goes up to 920kbps bit rate but different music file format.

Feeling really let down by apple, assuming they'd provide the highest quality 320kpbs.

Noticed quality to be significantly lacking in 2 areas - the download file itself and how the iphone/ipod plays it back. 320kpbs through iphone is reasonably acceptable using an app that provides a 10 point equalizer. The existing equalizer presets just arne't dynamic enough. 256kpbs sounds so flat and lacking, the music is no longer multidimensional and it's broadness is reduced. When using a decent system with speakers that prduce decent highs and lows, the limitations become more apparent. Recently started using a cheap little £5 mp3 player which surpasses the quality I get from an iphone, sort it out apple!

256 Kbps AAC > 256 Kbps Mp3