Better Sound in Preview than iTunes!?!??

[Mac Eagle]

I was just updating some music with iTunes Match and wanted to compare the old file with the new file. After the file was deleted I listened to it in preview in the trash can to compared to new file in iTunes. To my dismay, the old file sounded better... MUCH better. I then did some experimenting including deleting the newly matched file and playing that using Preview and amazingly it also sounded MUCH better than how it sounded when played through iTunes. I went and made sure that I am not using Sound Check or Enhancer and my EQ is set to off so unless there is some other config setting, iTunes should not be modifying the sound. I also played around with the EQ settings and actually the Rock setting made it sound the closest to how it sounds through Preview, but still not as good.

I did find this on the net so I am not the only one hearing this:

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/mu...preview-has-better-sound-than-itunes-osx.html

but unfortunately there was no answer to the problem in that post. Is this a widely know issue, can someone else try this themselves and see if they get the same results. Frankly, after hearing how good my music sounded through Preview I hate listening through iTunes now.

 

[dknightd]

With Crossfade, Sound Enhancer, Sound Check and EQ off
and itunes Volume set to full - they should sound the same
(do for me). You seemed to have checked everything
except perhaps the itunes volume slider

 

[Mac Eagle]

Well thanks, my iTunes volume slider was indeed set to maybe 90% of maximum and much to my chagrin that does seem to be what caused the perceived quality difference. I've often wondered why there was a separate volume slider in iTunes (convenience?) but I really didn't think about that being the culprit. Thanks for your observation! At least now I can go about upgrading my lower bit rate tracks via Match (other Match issues not withstanding).

Thanks Again!