iTunes and AIFF/FLAC support, 24-bit music, HDTracks etc

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Level 1

8 points

iTunes and AIFF/FLAC support, 24-bit music, HDTracks etc

Ok guys I know this has probably been asked before, but I have done my research and most topics are pretty old so I will proceed to ask this again so that I can get answers as of today (January 2014).

First question is, does iTunes support 24-bit music? If so, in which of these formats (ALAC, FLAC, WAV, AIFF) ?

Second question, does iTunes support hi-res sample rates? If so, in which formats and how high?
Please answer in this format:

ALAC up to xxx Khz
FLAC up to xxx Khz
WAV up to xxx Khz
AIFF up to xxx Khz

Please answer only if you are 100% certain of what Im talking about here and you have tried it as you answer. This post refers to iTunes as of today, version 11.1.4 (latest release as of January 2014).

Thanks!

Posted on Jan 24, 2014 11:36 AM

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Answer 1

slim142 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 24, 2014 7:00 PM in response to slim142

Anyone?

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Answer 2

ed2345

Level 9

63,560 points

Jan 24, 2014 8:52 PM in response to slim142

Slim, iTunes does not play FLAC at all. It can handle the other formats up to 192 kHz. You can set this in your playback preferences, as shown below. (This screenshot uses iTunes 11.1.)

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Answer 3

slim142 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 27, 2014 9:58 PM in response to ed2345

Hey ed2345

Thanks for your answer! I have changed my settings to 192 and 24 bits, I wasnt even aware of this!

Looks like AIFF sounds like the best option.

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Answer 4

TNTPayne

Level 2

194 points

Jun 22, 2014 4:09 AM in response to ed2345

This is all great for the PCs, but the latest version of iTunes for the Mac does not give you this... I have converted "The Complete Studio Recordings - Chrome Dome" by Joe Satriani to Apple Lossless Audio from Original 24-bit/96kHz “High-Resolution Audio” FLAC files. I have kept the same bit of 24-bit/96kHz and it will play in iTunes, but it will not let me transfer to my iPOD... yes, I have enough room on the iPOD... it tells me that it can't play on the iPOD. I just bough the iPOD earlier this year.

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Answer 5

ed2345

Level 9

63,560 points

Jun 22, 2014 7:50 AM in response to TNTPayne

TNT,

I have seen many cases of the iPod tripping on sample rates other than 44.1 kHz, even for tracks that work fine in iTunes. You may want to make a downsampled version for the iPod and keep the hi-res tracks in your iTunes library.

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Answer 6

Jan 15, 2015 10:57 AM in response to ed2345

I had a simpliar problem: wanted to transfer to my iPod Classic some files that I bought in HDTracks, which were ALAC 24 bit / 192 Khz.

What I did is downsample to 24 bit / 48 Khz, which seems to be the maximum compatible with iPod/iPhone.

I did this with Bigasoft Audio Converter, which I downloaded from the OS X app store.

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Answer 7

Jan 25, 2015 1:21 PM in response to slim142

I ran into the same problem with my FLAC files. It's hard to compromise quality, especially for albums by Hans Zimmer, John Murphy, and Two Steps from ****, but tis life. If you're not interested in downloading some third party program to convert like I wasn't, there is this nifty little site that converts music for you for free. No ads, no tricky layouts, just simple upload, convert, and download the file when it's done. They offer a pretty limited selection of conversion options, but better than not at all.

Formats: mp3, wav, wma, ogg

Quality (kbit/s): 96, 128, 192, 320

Link: http://media.io/

Hope that helps!

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Answer 8

kv450

Level 1

13 points

Mar 8, 2015 2:04 PM in response to mvaldivieso

Thanks. Who'd have thunkit that Apple would treat Windows users better that Apple loyalists.

I may try the media.io site, but if i wanted a lower sampling rate, I would have just gone off my own CDs. I like the HD tracks cuz the music biz killed the SACD.

Why did I bother buying the 160 gb Classic if I can't load it with hi-def music files. Pity the Apple literature and support pages didn't mention this at that time or since.

Oh well...I don't sound that bitter, do I?

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