Quality of downloaded music

I was recently discussing with a HiFi buff the virtues of downloading music (say from iTunes) against buying a factory burnt CD of the same music. He informed me that the quality of the factory burnt CD is much better than the downloaded equivalent - something to do with zeros and ones?!
Is this the case and, if so, how marked is the difference?
Any advice would be much appreciated.

"But - and that's the question - although it's possible to determine differences using high-tech equipment, most people won't hear a difference. "
In my experience as somewhat of a HIFI 'buff' I would say that you don't need high-tech equipment to hear the difference. Your Ipod with slightly better than stock headphones will clearly show you the difference between say 128 AAC and a raw AIFF file ripped from a CD. Most people don't notice what they are missing but a side by side compairison will show compressed audio is missing something. AAC is plenty good enough for ipod listening but on my home stereo it doesn't quite stack up to a CD.
pp
cube   Mac OS X (10.3.9)  

Similar Messages

  • I-tunes downloaded music bad quality

    Every time I download music from i-tunes and then upload it to my i-pod mini - the sound quality is horrible compared to the cds I loaded to i-tunes. Any suggestions or insights?

    Does it sound OK in iTunes on your PC/laptop? Or just bad on the iPod?
    http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/musicstore/ipod/

  • Want to download music and sound from YouTube?

    I had used Dirpy to download music and other sounds from YouTube for my personal use only in FCE, so when Dirpy bought the farm this week, I went in search of an alternative.
    A lot of searching brought up sites that wanted me to download something - scary - and one even asked for my email addy so that what I wanted could be mailed to my email function.
    I found one that did not require me to download anything from its site, was simplicity itself to use and gave exceptional results.
    I dragged the site's URL to my desktop, pasted the URL of the desired music clip from YouTube into the site's box, and in no time at all the sound was converted to MP3 and was deposited directly into iTunes.
    Before you follow suit, check it to assure yourself that it is legitimate. And be absolutely sure to read up on copyright laws as they relate to music.
    I like it. See what you think.
    I tried to include the link in this post, but this apparently contravenes the rules of this forum, and it was rejected. The name of the site is Listen To You Tube and should be easy enough to find.
    Allosaurus

    ListenToYouTube.com: Terms of Service
    By using the service provided by this site you acknowledge and agree to the following terms of service/use:
    1. This service is not to be used to download audio that is copyrighted.
    2. Audio quality is not guaranteed. MP3 audio is extracted from the flv video file as-is.
    Piracy: We do not condone piracy in any form. Our goal that this tool be used to obtain legal audio that would otherwise be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find. Youtube is a perfect source for these audio clips.
    To combat abuse, we purposely do NOT allow searching of audio files on our site, nor do we present a directory of files for browsing. Additionally, audio files obtained from Flash video are normally very low bitrate - low quality compared to an mp3 you would purchase or convert from a CD.
    This site is just a simple tool, and we hope you will find it useful.
    - If you are the copyright owner of any material and would like to block the conversion of any videos to mp3, please contact us via the Contact Page. We will block the conversion of those videos.
    - Anything you believe is copyright infringement, please contact us and let us know and we will block those videos from converting.
    - We partner with ValueClick to serve ads and/or collect certain information when you visit our website. ValueClick may use cookies or web beacons to collect non-personally identifiable information during your visit to this website in order to help show advertisements on other websites likely to be more interesting to you. To learn more about this “behavioral advertising” practice or to opt-out of this use of your anonymous information, you can visit http://www.valueclickmedia.com/about/privacy/display-member

  • I need to download music in 320kbps, how can I do it with iTunes?

    I need to download music in 320kbps in high quality for play a dj-set in clubs. I saw that iTunes gives max 256kbps....how can I see what's the kpbs for every song before download? And it's possible download at 320kbps in iTunes???Please help!

    You are going to get all sorts of responses (as you have seen)..here's my two cents -
    When possible, best to have "master" copies that are the highest bitrate possible. Lossless is ideal and given a choice between AAC 256 and mp3 320, I'd take AAC 256 as I can tell on some files a difference. Some files you wont hear much difference do to their range or the quality of the original.
    All my CDs are converted to Lossless. They play of course great.If I want, I can make AAC 256 from them with just the direct compression "loss."
    My downloads from iTunes remain at AAC 256 and I have from days gone by some MP3's that are ranging from 128 up to 320 bitrate. I hope to replace those later.
    The only advantage of Mp3 is if you have multiple "players" that don't play AAC files. Again, having a Lossless copy you can then make mp3 version for those players.
    I'll be short on the iTunes store - I have downloaded very good copies of songs at 256 and then all the older material (stuff from decades ago) sound horrible. However, LP version of the same album and some CDs were evidently cut from different "masters" than what iTunes got. I often think the problem remains with the high speed method of conversion. No one checks the quality and not all "masters" (I should say original source) are the same when it comes to transfers. So if you prefer more modern stuff, iTunes is pretty darn good. If you like say some Glen Miller or Ethel Waters or...its hit and miss.
    Bottom line - mp3=good, AAC 256 Superior and Lossless =can't be better

  • How to download music, photos & videos?

    I have received a reply in this regard to go through an article for the same question but it didn't work out. I want an alternate way to download content
    from internet as i'm still unable to download anything from internet from the mozilla ff browser. I also wanna ask that is there any other web browser for the firefox os?

    LavishingLavish,
    There are currently no other browsers available to download from the Firefox Marketplace. Other developers may create a new browser, but so far, none have been uploaded to the Marketplace.
    I am sorry to hear that you are also having difficulties downloading multimedia files onto your Firefox OS device.
    Posting the same question on multiple threads and forums can cause confusion and make it more difficult to provide quality support. To help us better support you, and have all the information pertaining to your issue, please provide additional information by replying to your original thread:
    * [https://support.mozilla.org/pt-BR/questions/1027285 How can i download music and videos?]
    Please provide the following information:
    * What is the model of your phone?
    * What is the OS version and Build ID found in the Device Information page? Please visit [http://mzl.la/Gzz6Kp this link] if you need help finding the Build ID of your phone.
    * Please provide the exact steps to reproduce the issue you are encountering.
    * How often do you encounter this issue?
    I am closing this thread since it's a duplicate, but please reply to your original thread so that we can follow up with you.
    Please be sure to include as much detail as possible, including any websites that may exhibit this issue, and any error messages that you may be receiving, exactly as they appear. This will ensure that we will have all the information needed to investigate into this. Thank you for your help and we look forward to hearing from you!
    - Ralph

  • Burning downloaded music to cr-r but discs dont play

    hello
    We have an iMac with OSx 10.6.8.
    We have been burning music downloaded through soulseek to disc to play in a cd player. It all seemed to be  going ok- but for some reason even a disc that previously played in our Bose wave music system cd will not now play ( in fact its messed up the Bose which wont play any music cd now).
    We have been trying to sort out what has gone wrong and have read various online forums where commentators have noted that  you need to make sure that iTunes is set to audio cd, etcetc. We have not used iTunes to burn- we have downloaded music through soulseek into a document folder and have burned to disc from there. Cant find anything there to set for audio cds- it just seems to do it automatically.
    We're not sure what we have done wrong.
    Not sure how to redo all this from iTunes as we are beginners to all this. Idiots even....
    Can anyone explain in words of one syllable how to sort this out?
    Many thanks
    Rarmy.

    Providing that your music file's are not protected and of a usable format?
    1. You will need to Import the files from your doc folder into iTunes
    see > Adding music and other content to iTunes
    2. Then burn then to usable CDs using iTunes
    see > iTunes: How to Burn a High-Quality Audio CD

  • How to re-download music purchases

    Somehow I lost the files from music that I purchased a few years ago. How can I re-download the albums? Will I need to pay again?
    Second question: What is the present quality level of iTunes downloads (bit rate)? I am missing the "iTunes plus" information on the website.

    You do not redownload music.
    You buy one and only one download.  It is your responsibility to move copy/backup your music.
    Sorry.
    "iTunes Plus is the new standard on iTunes. iTunes Plus downloads are songs and music videos available in our highest quality 256 kbps AAC audio encoding (twice the audio quality of protected music purchases), and without digital rights management (DRM). iTunes Plus music can be burned to CD as many times as you need, synced to any AAC-enabled device (such as iPod, iPhone, or Apple TV), and played on any Mac or Windows computers you own."
    iTunes Store: iTunes Plus Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

  • Downloading music in the

    i notices all of mp3 does flac files, and seems to have qwite a few tracks
    anyway i was wondering if there was anywhere that you could download music at CD quality for the UK ?

    -Recoba- wrote:i notices all of mp3 does flac files, and seems to have qwite a few tracks anyway i was wondering if there was anywhere that you could download music at CD quality for the UK ?
    Unless someone develops some sort of DRM for lossless files, I doubt you'll see any (from mainstream artists, anyway) anytime soon.
    That being said, I've downloaded some .flac files from allofmp3. Mostly from recently released "Greatest Hits" compilations that I've had on vinyl for decades. (I claim 'fair use' )
    Message Edited by Igedit on <SPAN class=date_text>03-23-2005 <SPAN class=time_text>0: PM
    Message Edited by Igedit on 03-23-2005 0:2 PM

  • Since upgrading my phone to the iOS7, I can no longer download music or apps via my phone or computer - on my phone, it wont let me accept the 'terms

    Since upgrading my phone to the iOS7, I can no longer download music or apps on neither my iphone or through itunes on my computer.  On my phone, it won't let me accept the terms & conditions.  On my computer, an error message keeps flashing up: 'Error (-50)'.  Please help?...

    Sounds like the device is in recovery mode. You will need to restore the phone. See this support document for instructions. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1808

  • How do I use one of my songs as a ringtone??? and also I download music on the phone from the internet but it doesn't show in my playlist???

    Hi I've been trying to set one of my songs as my ringtone but it doesn't give me that option plz help with that.
    I've also downloaded music from the internet via UC Browser and on my old phone it would save it to my playlist but on the Iphone it doesnt y?

    You can't download music through anything other than the iTunes store or by syncing music that you have on your computer that is placed into iTunes. Once the music is in iTunes, you can sync it to the phone.

  • How do I add my new lapttop to my family iTunes? I downloaded music, but cannot play it

    How do I add my new lap top to my family iTunes? I downloaded music, but cannot play it on my laptop

    There's a couple of ways to get through to the authorisation controls in the 11.0.x versions.
    The control is still in the Store menu, but first (if you're using iTunes versions 11.0.x) you might need to bring up the menu bar to see the Store menu.
    If you're using 11.0.x, click on the wee boxy icon up in the top-left corner of your iTunes to see the "Show Menu Bar" control, as per the following screenshot:
    Then you'll find the control in the Store menu:
    Alternatively, if you don't want to bring up the menu bar, it's still possible to get into the authorise controls via nested menus accessible from the wee boxy icon. Here's a screenshot of where to find them:

  • Itunes has deleted my downloaded music. I still have my purchased songs in my library and I still have my downloaded music on my computer but the downloaded songs don't show up in my library. How do I fix this?

    itunes has removed my downloaded music from my library. I still have all of my purchased songs and videos but the downloaded songs are missing. I still have the downloaded songs on my cpu just not in my itunes library anymore. How do I get these songs back in my itunes library?

    Copy them from the other user account you were logged in with to your own account.  Or if you are using iTunes 10.3 or later and live in the use, redownload them via iCloud beta.  See this article for more information.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2519
    B-rock

  • I accidentally uploaded songs from cds to the wrong itunes library. i would like to move those songs to my regular itunes library that i use to purchase and download music, since my ipod cant sync to both libraries. how can i do this? please advise. thank

    i accidentally uploaded songs from cds to the wrong itunes library. i would like to move those songs to the regular itunes library that i use to purchase and download music, since my ipod cant sync to both libraries. how can i do this? please advise? thank you.

    See this older post from another forum member Zevoneer covering the different methods and software available to assist you with the task of copying content from your iPod back to your PC and into iTunes.
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2452022?start=0&tstart=0
    B-rock

  • Can I download music to my iPhone directly from my computer- WITHOUT using iCloud?

    Does anyone know how to download music from iTunes on your computer onto your phone without using iCloud?  It used to be that I would just plug in my phone, hit sync, and all the music I wanted (which I had selected in iTunes on my computer) would be added to my phone's music library.  Easy peasy.  Now, none of the music actually gets downloaded to the phone- if I'm connected to wi-fi, I can access all those selected songs through the cloud, but if I'm not, then the songs are grayed out in my playlists.  Each song has a little cloud icon next to it, and I can download the songs by tapping that… one at a time.  I talked to Apple support and they told me to go into the iTunes store app and select "download all," which I did try, but given the quantity of songs I have, and the rate at which things were going, it would have taken forever to get them all downloaded.  I have thousands of songs I like to have on my phone, and the point is to be able to listen to them in places without wi-fi (like my car, or on a hike, or an airplane); it is SUPER annoying that I can no longer quickly download all of those songs by simply connecting my phone to my computer.  I have searched high and low in these forums and I can't seem to find a solution; I would really appreciate any help anyone can offer. 
    Some details:  I have an iPhone 6, and I use iTunes on my Mac, and all of my software on both is up to date.  I do not subscribe to iTunes Match, so turning that off (as has been recommended elsewhere) is not helpful to me. 

    Thanks, but I should have clarified:  I already have USB syncing set up with iTunes on my Mac and have been adding music to my iPhone for years that way; now with the latest IOS, it no longer appears to be working.  I follow the exact steps I always have (and which are outlined in the link provided), but no actual music is downloaded to my phone- if I am not connected to a wi-fi network, I cannot listen to my music unless I download it from iCloud.  (And downloading it from iCloud is a laborious task because I have many songs.)

  • My new ios 7 in my iphone 4 will not let me download music from my apple computer. It says it doesn't have updated itunes. But when I try to get updated itunes, my computer will not support it. WHY

    My new update on my ipone 4, will not download music from my Mac computer. It says I must update my itunes, when I try to up date on the Mac, it says it has already downloaded the lastest version. How do I get music on my phone

    Check the required specs for the latest version of iTunes and iOS. What kind of Mac computer do you have and what OS does it have on it. Also, what kind of processor do you have, Intel?

Maybe you are looking for

  • Third Party Order close if some quantity undeliver to Customer by vendor

    Dear Friends In third Party Sales Process How to close the sales order 1. Customer Place Order = 10 pc 2. Purchase Order created = 10 Pc 3. Vendor Deliver the goods to customer = 8 Pc and MIGO and MIRO done on 8 Pc and Vendor unable to deliver remain

  • Error downloading and installing Yosemite

    Hello everyone, I have a problem. I downloaded about 5 times yosemite (5,16gb) and all 5 times downloaded gave me the same mistake at the time of 'installation this one : "Failed to verify this copy of the installation of OS X Yosemite. copying may h

  • Error 4280

    I'm trying to burn from a playlis and all I get is error 4280 can anyone help? presario 3000   Windows XP   cd/dvd teac dw-22e

  • For those who own FCP....

    Hi I know this is the iMac board, but my question is if you have Final Cut Pro, and use the iMac 2.1 Ghz (isight) how much RAM did you upgrade to? And if you did upgrade how does it run. Right now I have 512 MB and I was thinking about upgrading to 1

  • Methods of a view

    Hi experts , please explain the use of following methods,i mean what these methods are meant for: 1. WDDOINIT 2. WDDOMODIFYVIEW 3. WDDOEXIT 4. WDDOBEFOREACTION  Thanks, Sushant