Does anyone know what the streaming quality of iTunes radio (desktop and mobile versions) is? It sounds like 256 kbps aac, but I'm not sure.
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Streaming quality of iTunes Radio
- Thread starter Brandon263
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Im considering switching to iTunes Radio (with iTunes Match) from Spotify (Premium), and music quality is an important deciding factor.
I have iTunes Match and iTunes Radio is good and is a Pandora killer but it's still in beta form as it tends to repeat already played tracks so I wouldn't switch as yet. I mean you can try it if your a dev by downloading iTunes beta version or iOS 7 beta 4 to try it out but keep Spotify for now
While I do have iTunes Match and a lot of music in there, I NEVER listen to it anymore in favor of Spotify as the I personally find a huge difference in the sound quality between 320 and 256. I wish iTunes would swap to 320 sooner than later.
Yeah, to be honest, I can hear a difference as well. (MOG sounds better than Spotify or iTunes Match, but Spotify is more convenient as I can use it on my iPhone, iPad etc.)
I really wish Apple would upgrade the bit rate of their songs or offer lossless versions for those who want them.
I'm not quite sure how iTunes radio is an alternative to Spotify. It doesn't even work the same way. iTunes is more of an alternative to Pandora.
Are you kidding me? Spotify's so called 320k is nothing close to MOG 320k. While technically 320k Spotify filters out a huge chunk of high frequencies. I compared iOS7's iTunes Radio today after it came out Sept. 18th. It sounds like 256 AAC to me. I did subjective tests with Pandora Premium, MOG and iTunes Radio with iTunes Match same songs and sections on an iPhone 5 with LTE connection with Klipsch X10i reference type earbuds. MOG still is by far and away the best sound. iTunes Radio was better than Pandora premium, but not as good as MOG, sadly. I loved everything about iTunes Radio and thought it's sound is quite good, again just not as good as MOG...
Not really.
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You can use MOG and iTunes Radio on your iPhone, iPad, etc. can you not? I agree MOG is the best sound. I too wish iTunes Radio would upgrade theirs to 320k AAC which should then be better than MOG's 320k MP3 format!
I tried it in the car and it was the same volume level as my iTunes. My only gripe vs Pandora is it doesn't seem to keep up with the streaming well. Just one use in the car so far, but that's what I've found.
I'm going to keep my Pandora paid account for a while but will keep trying.
The volume is DEFINITELY lower on iTunes Radio then my other music apps on my phone. I usually keep my volume at 30 in my Lexus, and pretty much every Lexus I've owned around 30 is the happy point for my ears (they put awesome stereos in these cars), but with the iTunes radio, I find myself turning it up to 35-38. Not a big deal, my stereo goes to 60, so it's okay if I have to turn it up a little more. LOL
As far as quality, it sounds amazing, I am not sure what the bitrate is. If it's 256kbps my data plan is going to suffer. I only get 4 gigs of data a month.. Hopefully they will have a quality setting like Spotify and Pandora do.
As far as quality, it sounds amazing, I am not sure what the bitrate is. If it's 256kbps my data plan is going to suffer. I only get 4 gigs of data a month.. Hopefully they will have a quality setting like Spotify and Pandora do.
I already use iTunes match...so this is awesome. Cancelled my Pandora subscription yesterday.
Keep in mind tho, this is NOT spotify...this is Pandora. You can't pick the songs you want to hear...it's still a radio style music discovery app.
Check it out, I went to sound settings and tried them all. "Off" is the loudest. It may not sound as good as "bass enhancer" "dance" or "rock", but it is louder. "Acoustic" is good too.
iTunes Radio Streaming Quality is Horrid.
I have been playing with iTunes Radio and like the features, but the sound quality I just now compared to my Rdio account and its horrid.
I have some nice Dre Beats, and get good beat sounds, but wasn't from iTunes Radio, so I played the same exact song on Rdio, and it was 100% louder and way better quality.
Is there something I'm missing with iTunes Radio and the quality?
I have been playing with iTunes Radio and like the features, but the sound quality I just now compared to my Rdio account and its horrid.
I have some nice Dre Beats, and get good beat sounds, but wasn't from iTunes Radio, so I played the same exact song on Rdio, and it was 100% louder and way better quality.
Is there something I'm missing with iTunes Radio and the quality?
I like iTunes Radio because of its integration with iTunes Match and its really good curation of music, but I'm finding Spotify the better choice because of on demand, fast playback. With iTunes Match I sometimes have to wait a few seconds before a song buffers, but with Spotify, playback is instantaneous. I also value the ability to just look up any random song and play it when I want, so for now, I'll keep using Spotify.
Spotify Premium's quality, while similar or better than iTunes Radio, is noticeably worse than MOG's. Does anyone know why?
Spotify Premium's quality, while similar or better than iTunes Radio, is noticeably worse than MOG's. Does anyone know why?