CD vs iTunes

[Cosmos_i7]

I know that you can rip a lossless file from a CD and get very high quality music, I have done so myself for many albums. I use a Fiio E10 along with Audio Technica M50s. But really how much difference is there between the iTunes download and the CD? I'm asking this because I have iTunes credit and I am just tempted to buy the album from iTunes. Also the fact that I will be away on the day the album is released and I want to listen to it on the journey. So another reason iTunes is convenient.

 

What are your opinions? I know many would say iTunes quality is terrible, but I am not so sure. Listening to an iTunes download and its CD counterpart. Also I am not using baseline audio equipment either, which is why most can't tell the difference. 

 

I'm am really stuck right now. I have a small CD collection but the fact that I have credit just makes the choice that much harder.

 

Thanks.

[helping]

320 bit dl is fine. 

[Cosmos_i7]

320 bit dl is fine. 

I think iTunes is 256kbps most of the time, I have few 320kbps songs, most are either 256 or upwards of 1000 depending on the album. I would draw the line at 256 personally. 128 is cutting it but still not bad. 

[_ASSASSIN_]

320 bit dl is fine. 

except itunes has shit DRM and @ 256kb

go get CD and rip it although it takes much more effort on your part, but you do get .flac so I say go for it, unless you can get it on bandcamp, beatport, or junodownload

[iWearKiltz]

I'd recommend iTunes based on the convenience but it also has a good bitrate which doesnt really disappoint many. just remember, you're going on a trip and you wont be sound whoring whilst getting a train journey (or whatever) as you'll most likely hear background noise..

 

personally i use good play music and i have all access which is unlimited access to all songs without owning them. i use it at home and commuting

 

ive never seen anyone bring up bitrate from itunes before, so i dont really see their bitrate as a massive issue

[Cosmos_i7]

except itunes has shit DRM and @ 256kb

go get CD and rip it although it takes much more effort on your part, but you do get .flac so I say go for it, unless you can get it on bandcamp, beatport, or junodownload

I have been using iTunes for years and I have no plans to switch. I use ALAC files not FLAC since it is most compatible with my devices. If it works I don't see why I should switch. That's like having a flat tyre and changing the entire car!

[_ASSASSIN_]

I have been using iTunes for years and I have no plans to switch. I use ALAC files not FLAC since it is most compatible with my devices. If it works I don't see why I should switch. That's like having a flat tyre and changing the entire car!

not really, .flac is awesome because it maintains loss less audio quality while being compressed

[Cosmos_i7]

I'd recommend iTunes based on the convenience but it also has a good bitrate which doesnt really disappoint many. just remember, you're going on a trip and you wont be sound whoring whilst getting a train journey (or whatever) as you'll most likely hear background noise..

 

personally i use good play music and i have all access which is unlimited access to all songs without owning them. i use it at home and commuting

 

ive never seen anyone bring up bitrate from itunes before, so i dont really see their bitrate as a massive issue

Yh thats what I was thinking, since it will just be my M50s through my iPhone, and on a train and aircraft I will most likely not be able to here the finer details. Thanks.

[Benjio]

not really, .flac is awesome because it maintains loss less audio quality while being compressed

 

Aren't ALAC files compressed/lossless as well?

[_ASSASSIN_]

Aren't ALAC files compressed/lossless as well?

no, they are basically .wav with tagging features

[Cosmos_i7]

Aren't ALAC files compressed/lossless as well?

 

no, they are basically .wav with tagging features

As far as I know they are lossless.

 

ALACs are just Apple's FLACs. I use them because of compatibility. Most of my devices can't read FLACs.

[_ASSASSIN_]

As far as I know they are lossless.

 

ALACs are just Apple's FLACs. I use them because of compatibility. Most of my devices can't read FLACs.

get an audio player that supports it

[Cosmos_i7]

get an audio player that supports it

But why?

 

Why should I have to when I have the equipment already? I'm not going to dump my iPhone because it can't read FLACs, nor am I going to dump my iTunes library. I don't have an interest in FLACs, ALACs work fine for me. I have the space and equipment for them?

[tycheleto]

I think the best way is to try it for yourself. Take a CD you are familiar with and you think sounds good, rip it in full AIFF and in 256kbps, and compare them for yourself. I doubt the difference is that major on the M50, especially when on the go, but some people may be more sensitive than others to this

[Cosmos_i7]

I think the best way is to try it for yourself. Take a CD you are familiar with and you think sounds good, rip it in full AIFF and in 256kbps, and compare them for yourself. I doubt the difference is that major on the M50, especially when on the go, but some people may be more sensitive than others to this

Will try that, I have a single downloaded from iTunes and the same Album ripped to full bit rate. Will try and see if I notice. Thanks.

[isen]

just keep what you're doing as long as you're happy with it. TBH ALAC+ iphone is good enough for me when I'm commuting. On the other hand , can you distinguish the quality differences between 320 mp3 and FLAC or ALAC orelse It's not worth the larger file size.

[tycheleto]

Will try that, I have a single downloaded from iTunes and the same Album ripped to full bit rate. Will try and see if I notice. Thanks.

Sound can be a very subjective thing. Most people with some experience can give recommendations based on what the average person might hear, but it's hard to predict for everyone.

Is it worth it spending $10000+ on a sound system? If you can hear the difference and like it, why not? If you cannot tell the difference or it really doesn't matter to you, you are wasting your money. Often you just need to disregard what others are saying for a moment, and go with what you like.

[Cosmos_i7]

Sound can be a very subjective thing. Most people with some experience can give recommendations based on what the average person might hear, but it's hard to predict for everyone.

Is it worth it spending $10000+ on a sound system? If you can hear the difference and like it, why not? If you cannot tell the difference or it really doesn't matter to you, you are wasting your money. Often you just need to disregard what others are saying for a moment, and go with what you like.

Completely agree, one of the reasons I got the M50s was because they were cheap when I got them and lots recommended them, plus I wasn't too keen on spending 300+ on higher grade headphones. The E10 was also on sale and can't really argue about that, got it for £30. Now it serves another purpose, fixing the sound issue on my Hackintosh, can always rely on USB!

 

I did my little test and found it difficult to notice a difference at all, if I did I would be really trying to listen for it. I have decided to go with the iTunes track, just for the pure convenience and the difference in my opinion is negligible. I often just use CDs because I can, its just nice but in practise not so much difference between them. 

 

Thanks for your help.

[Godlygamer23]

no, they are basically .wav with tagging features

Not really. I used it just now, and it takes up significantly less space than WAV files.

[tycheleto]

Completely agree, one of the reasons I got the M50s was because they were cheap when I got them and lots recommended them, plus I wasn't too keen on spending 300+ on higher grade headphones. The E10 was also on sale and can't really argue about that, got it for £30. Now it serves another purpose, fixing the sound issue on my Hackintosh, can always rely on USB!

I did my little test and found it difficult to notice a difference at all, if I did I would be really trying to listen for it. I have decided to go with the iTunes track, just for the pure convenience and the difference in my opinion is negligible. I often just use CDs because I can, its just nice but in practise not so much difference between them.

Thanks for your help.

No problem, always glad to help.

I too have the M50s, though I don't find myself using them much because my Westone UM3X IEMs are better.

Good that you found what works for you. I use AIFF at home because that's what my father uses for his hi-fi, and we share the entire library on a home server. However, I use 256kbps on the go because it's just impossible to enjoy the thousands of songs in my library on the go otherwise.

[h264]

If you get mastered ALAC tracks from iTunes for the album you want, they should be comparable to the CD.  The problem is not all iTunes songs are created equal, however a good number of these lossy files are mastered MUCH better than they used to be.  I talk about improving your source because SOME people are still running around with Napster tracks from 2000.

 

Call me old school, but I'd still rather rip the CD, personally.  Probably because I'd rather not be locked into the iTunes ecosystem.

[Aphexx]

as the difference between the audio files that itunes allows you to have and Flac is diminishing I think the next conversation people need to start having is where they want the money from their purchases to go to. 

 

I do love having the physical media and having that "unboxing" experience and seeing the time and effort made into the album art and the extras included in the CD packaging but I keep wondering how much of that CD purchase went directly to support that artist? how much of that Itunes purchase went to the artist that put work into the album that drives my workout and my daily commutes? 

 

with bandcamp only skimming 15% to 10% off the proceeds and offering Flac files I try to use that service over physical media and itunes 

[mr moose]

I'd recommend iTunes based on the convenience but it also has a good bitrate which doesnt really disappoint many. just remember, you're going on a trip and you wont be sound whoring whilst getting a train journey (or whatever) as you'll most likely hear background noise..

 

personally i use good play music and i have all access which is unlimited access to all songs without owning them. i use it at home and commuting

 

ive never seen anyone bring up bitrate from itunes before, so i dont really see their bitrate as a massive issue

 

You would rarely see any itunes users complaining about bitrate or quality because, in all reality, they probably wouldn't know the difference. How many would have ripped their own cd to a lossless format in windows and played on another device for comparison? I'm guessing not many. Add to that most itunes users listen through the supplied $2 earbuds not better quality headphones.

[Cosmos_i7]

You would rarely see any itunes users complaining about bitrate or quality because, in all reality, they probably wouldn't know the difference. How many would have ripped their own cd to a lossless format in windows and played on another device for comparison? I'm guessing not many. Add to that most itunes users listen through the supplied $2 earbuds not better quality headphones.

I let a friend try out my m50s and they were blown away by the quality. They went as far to say that the music is actually easier to listen to, and liking songs they never did before! Then when they asked me the price and I replied saying "£100" they gave me a look and said why would you spend more than £10 on headphones?.... The average consumer I say.

 

Still I like audio quality and use iTunes, it's not necessarily just for people with as you say "$2 earphones" I use it to rip my CDs and play all of my music, since it works and organises my music well.

[kuddlesworth9419]

iTunes is rubbish. Just use the File structure of Windows and organise everything yourself. It's simpler and will allow you to do whatever you want. I use VLC player and WMP mini to play all my music whether it's FLAC or just MP3. I have always had terrible experience with all music players after trying pretty much all of them. I just found all of theme to be quite pointless when I could do everything I needed and more with just the Windows folder structure. But thats just me.