Originally posted by rog
Hmm, the AACs from iTMS are supposedly from original source material so they sound better. Also, there are different AAC encoders so not all 128 bit AACs will sound the same even from the same source. Everything I've gotten form iTMS has sounded great to me. My ears and an iPod, often used on public transportation or noisy areas, are not good enough to really detect dramatic differences in sound anyway unless it's otherwise silent and I'm concentrating on the music. So I kind of think 192 would make me less likely to buy. Takes longer to download, takes up more space on my iPod. I'm barely able to fit all my music on my 20 GB iPod and it's mostly at 128 bit AAC. If it was all 192 it wouldn't fit. iTMS 128 bit AACs already probably sound as good as or better than a home ripped 192 AAC from a CD source using the default built in encoder. (apparently if you're a glutton for punishment, you can rip using a higher quality setting via Quicktime). Given that broadband is still not a household standard, a 50% longer download time per song doesn't make a whole lot of sense. They ought to stick with 128 and focus their efforts on expanding selection. 90% of what I look for on iTMS just isn't there.