bmorey94 wrote:
Apple is saving the Apple Music stuff that they allow you to download as M4P, a lossy format they have kept hidden for a few years. It is not lossless like M4A, the audio file format used in music purchased from iTunes. M4P is protected so that it cannot be burned to a cd or converted to another format. It is also rather poor quality, and you can hear the difference in audio quality. Apple screwing its customers yet again.
??? M4A has a lossless version in Apple Lossless, but what you get from the Store is AAC 256k encoded. It is a lossy format, albeit a fairly reasonable quality, and Store purchases are not DRM protected. M4P is essentially a DRM protected version of AAC so equivalent quality to an iTunes Store purchase. The old M4P files Apple sold 5 years or so ago were of a lower bitrate and lower quality.
Apple Music is 256k AAC and other services use MP3 I believe, and offer it at 320k. On a pure bitrate comparison others offer higher quality, but the encoding is not the same format and some argue you get a bit more with AAC. You also need to weigh other factors. 320k files are going to take up more room so if you are planning on loading up a limited storage iPod you may prefer smaller files. And can you tell the difference listening to it through so-so quality earbuds?