When will creative labs become compatible with AAC fil

Question

I've been using itunes to upload music and I wanted to know when creativelabs will be compatible with the itune friendly AAC files.

Answer 1

Time to rip this post apart.
<<I'll hand it to you for persistence, although I don't know why you CONTINUALLY try to disrupt a tech forum for Creative with pro-Apple BS.>>
Pro-Apple BS? How was pointing out that AAC is an open format pro-Apple? It's not. Don't make up things. All I did was point out that AAC is open and that it can be played on any OS, or any MPEG-4 compatible software or hardware.
<<AAC is a proprietary format. It is, as you should know, based on the audio specification for MPG4, which came out over 6 years ago. Dolby Labs controls the licensing of this format, the codec and the chips to decode and encode it. The fees are substantially higher than those for WMA, and of course, than MP3.>>
Stop getting your information from that post on Napster that I debunked MONTHS ago. I proved that wrong and you know very well that it's wrong. Anyway, Dolby does control the licensing for MPEG-4 AAC, yes. However, licensing fees are not anything like you or that Napster post said. I provided information back then, so you can go back and look for yourself, if you're still choosing to throw your money away on Napster. If licensing fees are so bad, then why are there so many freeware players that play AAC files? MPEG-4 AAC files! Why? Why can I download a FREE operating system (Linux), and use completely free software to rip and play AAC files? Exactly. iTunes is freeware you know. Why can I download it for free and rip and play AAC files? Surely Apple isn't going to front the bill for millions of people to use iTunes to just rip, organize, and play their music.
<<AAC is not the logical successor to MP3. If only WMA or AAC are considered, then WMA is the clear winner in that race. >>
How is WMA the clear winner? Besides the fact that WMA sounds noticably inferior at any bitrate.... Even HE-AAC mops the floor with WMA9 Pro at low bitrates. Anyway, how is WMA the clear winner? AAC compatible digital audio players control *90%* of the hard dri've market, 43% of the flash market, and a combined total of over *70%* of the entire market. Let's not forget that the number one online music store, which controls over 70% of the market, uses AAC as it's format of choice, and the next biggest online store behind very distant number 2 Napster is using AAC as well. Soon Napster will be launching a "music to go" rental service that targets ALL platforms. Can you guess the file format of choice? AAC
<<In fact, WMA9 Pro is under consideration for the next generation "CD" compression. This, along with DVD-A and SACD. Note there is nothing from Dolby under consideration at all. >>
hahahaha says who? Actually, since MPEG-4 is part of the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray specs, AAC is already part of the deal And, right now, SACD has the same market penetration that CD at the same point in it's lifetime. So SACD is well on it's way to becoming the "next CD". As it looks right now, SACD will become the CD format of "tomorrow", while the iTunes Music Store is handling the current "CD quality" music business just fine. As it stands though, honestly, it will be a combination of two things. SACDs for audiophiles, and iTunes-like downloads for everyone else.
Also, Dolby only handles the licensing portion of AAC. AAC was developed by a number of companies, including Sony. Sony has a stake in SACD, blu-ray, and any optical disc technology that comes out. So I can guarantee you that they will not let AAC die, even if it kills their precious atrac3/atrac3plus format.
And another thing to consider is that the recording industry wants a standard across all platforms for digtial music downloads. And considering 70% of the market is AAC compatible, and by the end of this year, a certain online music store will have passed over $b in total revenue, you can imagine which format will win.
<<Even assuming the original poster meant he wants to load non-DRM ("Fairplay") tracks on his Creative player, it will not likely happen so long as Apple is intent on blocking 3rd parties from using purchased iTunes songs on any other player.>>
What does iTunes purchased songs have to do with AAC files ripped from anyother source? Exactly. Using Apple is an excuse for companies to not support AAC. It's their loss though. If Creative would support AAC, they would have opened themselves up to the market of millions of people who do use iTunes and Real Player 0+ to rip their CDs.
<<It is unlikely Creative will spend the license money for a purpose so limited as self-ripped AAC files when there are other free alternati'ves to somebody ripping their own CD's.>>
How are AAC files limited? AAC files can be played and ripped on any platform. If you want to talk about limited, you have to look at WMA. It only works under one OS and only certain players can play it. And what free alternati'ves are there? MP3 licensing isn't free. WMA licensing isn't free. If you're selling a player for profit, you HAVE to pay for WMA and MP3 decoding capabilities.
<<AAC is a good-sounding compressed format, but for mass acceptance it will always remain a niche unless Apple opens things up and Dolby lightens up on their expesi've licensing.>>
Mass acceptance? AAC has already been accepted by the masses. Over 350 million songs sold in AAC, and 70% of the digital audio player market is AAC compatible. I think players that DON'T support AAC are currently in the niche market
<<Something good like Oog Voorbis has a better chance of becoming the successor to MP3, I think, and even that remains a niche at this point. >>
Ogg Vorbis will never replace MP3s. First off, the sound quality isn't as good as AAC. Secondly, Ogg Vorbis requires a processor with a FPU. FPU require more battery power, so battery life is affected significantly. And most importantly, there are no CONVENIENT Ogg Vorbis encoders. Not to mention Ogg Vorbis still has a lot of bugs that need worked out. They only recently worked out a bug that was causing significant high end distortion that greatly affected the sound quality of the files. Plus Ogg Vorbis has no DRM container.
Also, transcoding a file degrades the sound quality significantly.