If they're any good I'd happily pay that. All we need now is HD music on iTunes to complete the circle.
So-called "HD Music" is a total SHAM. There is no audible difference between 24/96 and 16/44. There isn't one test study to show otherwise including consumer double blind trials. It's a marketing gimmick. The only reason some albums sound better is that they were mastered better (a CD press would sound identical, but they typically won't make a CD version (without altering volume levels at least which is exactly what they do on SACD) because the illusion would be destroyed). The one thing Apple COULD do, however is offer uncompressed AIFF versions of albums (AIFF is better than WAV since it supports tagging and album art and WAV does not).
If anything, Apple has destroyed sound quality with iTunes. In case some haven't noticed, most (not all) iTunes albums are heavily compressed with very little dynamic range. Yes, many CDs are too, but iTunes versions of albums I already have are noticeably louder (i.e. more compressed).
There's a certain irony that most albums on old fashion LP/Vinyl from the '60s and '70s have more dynamic range than your average CD these days. It's not a format problem. It's a mastering choice made by people that believe LOUDER = BETTER FOR SALES, especially since they know most people listen on crappy ear buds and two-bit car stereos in loud environments where it would be hard to hear quieter passages so they make them all as loud as possible. This largely kills many types of music for the home environment with a quiet room and good speakers, but since when has a minority's desires ever meant anything to a majority?
The ONLY thing >16-bit music has over 16-bit is more dynamic range. NO albums outside some high-end classical ones are using the full 16-bits, let alone more than that (and even a CD can accommodate up to 18-bits in the most sensitive frequency bands using noise-shaping to shift the noise into a band you are insensitive to). Your typical average pop/rock/hip-hop/rap album made these days probably uses about 8-10 bits dynamic range and that's a FACT (many have less than that, maybe even 4-6 bits worth of volume differences; sample one into a waveform editor and see for yourself; it looks like "IIIII" all the way across indicating it's pegged out on the meter. A good virgin LP has about 12-bits of dynamic range and can convey audio information to as high as 22kHz without excessive noise making the signal essentially useless. Within a few plays, it will top out around 18kHz and eventually down to more like 16kHz from groove damage from the stylus during playback. Thus, any Redbook CD can easily capture an LP in its full "glory" despite some absurd claims from BS sources like Stereophile which base their claims on nonsense rather than science or actual double blind listening tests.
I record at 24/96 with Logic Pro for headroom (the only REAL reason to go above 16/44). The final result is noise-shaped filtered down to 16/44 and sounds literally
identical the master mix. In fact, I hear no audible differences at 256+kbps AAC even, although it's possible some complex material could exhibit an anomaly now and again (doubtful anyone wold notice, though without a direct comparison), which is why AIFF would be a desirable improvement on iTunes. Anything beyond that is a gimmick. That won't stop them from doing it anyway if they can convince the gullible uneducated public that it is not only better but like the difference between NTSC and HD video!!! Yeah!!!! It's not, of course. It's not even remotely like that.
Given the subjective nature of audio, they can make any wide-eye claim they want and some people will spoon it up. It really hasn't worked so well for SACD thus far, though despite at least many albums being remastered for less compression. They don't make a ton of sales like the CD did over vinyl (largely to do with lack of wear and ease of song selection; most of my best vinyl albums like Dark Side of the Moon sound very favorably comparable to the CD versions (SACD multi-channel is a whole different ball of wax, of course as more channels do change the sound a lot).
