Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Holy Cow, My iTunes Library Shrunk!
- Thread starter wrldwzrd89
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Well, let's be fair, if you know you're going to be constrained by the hardware (e.g. the built-in speakers) then why not use the most space-efficient method that still sounds as good as the speakers can reproduce.
I've never heard of HE-AAC until today though, and I'd be curious to try some tests on it myself.
I've never heard of HE-AAC until today though, and I'd be curious to try some tests on it myself.
When we were ripping my dad's LPs to MP3 (gee, "ripping" sounds so literal when discussing vinyl), we could hear the difference between the raw audio and 256kbps even through cheapo headphones that he'd gotten for free from an airline. Are laptop speakers really that terrible?
Yeah... I know. The internal speakers on the iMac aren't that great. However, they're good enough for my needs. I see no compelling reason to use different ones, for what I do anyway.You're saying you can't tell the difference between the 256-kbps AAC file and your 64-kbps HE-AAC file, yet you are doing this test on your crappy built-in laptop speakers?
Haha..!!
Good question. The reason I had lossless audio is because I liked to analyze my song's bit rates. Dumb reason for lossless... which just hit me today. Hence the switch to HE-AAC.
Didn't they used to bundle external speakers with the iMacs?
There is a discernable difference in sound quality between lossless and even high-quality compressed audio. Also, it's good for archival purposes because if you end up needing to re-encode from one compressed format to another you tend to lose additional quality even if you keep the bitrates.
Please..
Re-read my post. I was asking the OP why he needed lossless, not why have lossless in general since he doesn't have any speakers that would benefit lossless audio and he seems satisfied with the internal speakers.
Please..
Re-read my post. I was asking the OP why he needed lossless, not why have lossless in general since he doesn't have any speakers that would benefit lossless audio and he seems satisfied with the internal speakers.
Sorry, didn't realize it wasn't a general question.
And anyway, just because he's not using decent speakers now doesn't mean he never will. Heck, you can tell the difference listening through earbuds on an iPod. If he's not keeping a backup copy at lower compression, he may regret it later.
That's a shame. When did they stop?
Yeah, just as well he backed up. I used the apple buds for about 18 months, then started branching out. I can't listen to anything through my computer speakers now, it just sounds awful compared to what I'm used to.
Just, on one track. So not much of a test.
Doesn't sound quite as appalling as you'd expect.
Loss of bass and highs and it's kind of lifeless.
Here's someone did a frequency analysis - http://www.driverheaven.net/audio-video-editing-encoding/179249-aac-he-aac-vs-mp3pro.html
That is good enough for me not to use it....... To me it isn't a real issue. Between hard drives getting cheaper and cheaper... I think I will stay with my current setup.
Thanks
AAC-HC sounds bad even compared to a 128kbs aac. Very lifeless and not very defined sound field. Even thogh it sounds clean, most of the stereo field is lost. Also I don't think iPods play the high frequency track. So it sounds just like a 32 kbs aac on an iPod. Bit I haven't tested on the latest iPod firmwares, so it may that apple added that feature in the latest firmwares.
iPod support was added with the newest "regular" iPods, and added to iPhone/iPod touch as of OS 3.1.
That said, I am starting to notice a few compression artifacts in some of my songs. Nothing terrible, though - and certainly tolerable for me.