iTunes and Lossless...

[Andrew]

Are wav files ripped as 16bit pcm the equivalent of what you hear on the cd?

Wav files are compressed. Any compression results in quality loss.

WRONG - 44.1/16 WAV (or AIFF) files are uncompressed - and the same as CD. They are the same as the original source. Same with lossless.

MP3, MP4, AAC are all compressed.

ALAC, FLAC, and all other lossless forms are the same as the original but just work like ZIP. There is no audio compression applied.

YOu cannot take a lossy AAC or MP3, convert it to lossless, and get back what you lost. All you did was make a bigger file from a shitty source.

This isn't rocket science folks, yet so many get it wrong.

Thank you!

[StyxCollector]

ACTUALLY, basically, Apple and all these other MP3 companies are in the business of steering you towards compressing your music. They really push these MP3 players, and promise 15,000 songs, 20,000, 30,000 songs fitting on the player....what they fail to put iin BIG, BOLD letters is that those figures are based on bit rates of 128.

They tell you but it is in print like this

[StyxCollector]

OK....and unless one is some sort of sound geek, who would notice the difference?

A normal CD sounds good to me.....

Agreed. I import music at 256kbps, and that's plenty good for me.

same here. if you cant tell the difference why bother. pluys its not worth the extra space if it sounds the same

Ugh. Anything under 320 is unacceptable for MP3 or AAC. 256 is OK for ATRAC3+. I'm one of those people that can hear the difference. The easiest way to tell to me is the "swish" you may hear. Also listen to cymbals. Sometimes it's even easier than that.

That's also why there are $39 DVD players and $3000 ones

[Rick]

OK....and unless one is some sort of sound geek, who would notice the difference?

A normal CD sounds good to me.....

Agreed. I import music at 256kbps, and that's plenty good for me.

same here. if you cant tell the difference why bother. pluys its not worth the extra space if it sounds the same

Ugh. Anything under 320 is unacceptable for MP3 or AAC. 256 is OK for ATRAC3+. I'm one of those people that can hear the difference. The easiest way to tell to me is the "swish" you may hear. Also listen to cymbals. Sometimes it's even easier than that.

That's also why there are $39 DVD players and $3000 ones

I made a friend of mine a few CD's and he said he couldn't even listen to them because they sounded like shit. They sound fine to me. I work out on the ramp at the airport though, my hearing sucks to begin with.

[StyxCollector]

I made a friend of mine a few CD's and he said he couldn't even listen to them because they sounded like shit. They sound fine to me. I work out on the ramp at the airport though, my hearing sucks to begin with.

Hearing loss is no joking matter. Since 1991, I've worn earplugs at concerts and gigs I play and it's saved my hearing. I have slight dip @ 8K in my right ear, but otherwise good hearing. WOrk hazards like the environment you work in definitely affect your hearing without protection (which I hope you wear).

[Rick]

I made a friend of mine a few CD's and he said he couldn't even listen to them because they sounded like shit. They sound fine to me. I work out on the ramp at the airport though, my hearing sucks to begin with.

Hearing loss is no joking matter. Since 1991, I've worn earplugs at concerts and gigs I play and it's saved my hearing. I have slight dip @ 8K in my right ear, but otherwise good hearing. WOrk hazards like the environment you work in definitely affect your hearing without protection (which I hope you wear).

Always. They used to back the planes off the gates with the engines, and that got up to 125db. Even hearing protection can only do so much I guess.

[stevew2]

I made a friend of mine a few CD's and he said he couldn't even listen to them because they sounded like shit. They sound fine to me. I work out on the ramp at the airport though, my hearing sucks to begin with.

Hearing loss is no joking matter. Since 1991, I've worn earplugs at concerts and gigs I play and it's saved my hearing. I have slight dip @ 8K in my right ear, but otherwise good hearing. WOrk hazards like the environment you work in definitely affect your hearing without protection (which I hope you wear).

Always. They used to back the planes off the gates with the engines, and that got up to 125db. Even hearing protection can only do so much I guess.

I can hear everything but what my daughter says.Does schools teach kids to talk so you cant understand what the fuck they are saying?? Is it just me??

[Rick]

I made a friend of mine a few CD's and he said he couldn't even listen to them because they sounded like shit. They sound fine to me. I work out on the ramp at the airport though, my hearing sucks to begin with.

Hearing loss is no joking matter. Since 1991, I've worn earplugs at concerts and gigs I play and it's saved my hearing. I have slight dip @ 8K in my right ear, but otherwise good hearing. WOrk hazards like the environment you work in definitely affect your hearing without protection (which I hope you wear).

Always. They used to back the planes off the gates with the engines, and that got up to 125db. Even hearing protection can only do so much I guess.

I can hear everything but what my daughter says.Does schools teach kids to talk so you cant understand what the fuck they are saying?? Is it just me??

Kids are amazing.

[stevew2]

I agree just talk loud enough,and dont mumble {i just misspelled}

[Abitaman]

Talking loss less, IF I have to convert to a compressed form, I use WMA format. It keeps things at cd quality. It compresses smaller than a mp3 file, but without the sound loss.
But, I suffer from slight hearing loss from the many concerts I have been to. So I can't tell a difference in WMA to cd, but I can tell a difference in mp3 to cd.

[StyxCollector]

Talking loss less, IF I have to convert to a compressed form, I use WMA format. It keeps things at cd quality. It compresses smaller than a mp3 file, but without the sound loss.
But, I suffer from slight hearing loss from the many concerts I have been to. So I can't tell a difference in WMA to cd, but I can tell a difference in mp3 to cd.

WMA or WMA lossless? WMA lossless is fine, just proprietary to Windows. And it doesn't get smaller than MP3; it's bigger. If it's smaller, you're not doing lossless.

[finalfight]

I made a friend of mine a few CD's and he said he couldn't even listen to them because they sounded like shit. They sound fine to me. I work out on the ramp at the airport though, my hearing sucks to begin with.

Hearing loss is no joking matter. Since 1991, I've worn earplugs at concerts and gigs I play and it's saved my hearing. I have slight dip @ 8K in my right ear, but otherwise good hearing. WOrk hazards like the environment you work in definitely affect your hearing without protection (which I hope you wear).

Always. They used to back the planes off the gates with the engines, and that got up to 125db. Even hearing protection can only do so much I guess.

I can hear everything but what my daughter says.Does schools teach kids to talk so you cant understand what the fuck they are saying?? Is it just me??

Sounds like you have developed selective hearing. I have the same condition - probably brought on by having three children!

[Abitaman]

Talking loss less, IF I have to convert to a compressed form, I use WMA format. It keeps things at cd quality. It compresses smaller than a mp3 file, but without the sound loss.
But, I suffer from slight hearing loss from the many concerts I have been to. So I can't tell a difference in WMA to cd, but I can tell a difference in mp3 to cd.

WMA or WMA lossless? WMA lossless is fine, just proprietary to Windows. And it doesn't get smaller than MP3; it's bigger. If it's smaller, you're not doing lossless.

Actually (I could be wrong on what I'm about to say, often am ) But I have an option of how big or small to make my wma file too. Depending on what I doing, on what size I use. But the regular wma sounds better than mp3, IMO. I know there have been several studies for and against wma. But wma to me sounds the best.-ERIC

[StyxCollector]

Actually (I could be wrong on what I'm about to say, often am ) But I have an option of how big or small to make my wma file too. Depending on what I doing, on what size I use. But the regular wma sounds better than mp3, IMO. I know there have been several studies for and against wma. But wma to me sounds the best.-ERIC

Codec (i.e. AAC, MP3, WMA, et al.) is different from bitrate (128, 192, 256, lossless, etc.). Codec is subjective and you'll never get consensus on what is "best". However, all lossless *should* sound the same since it should result in the original when played back.

If you're selecting different "sizes", I'd say you're not doing lossless.