If Apple could create a new AAC codec that is only 1/3 of the size of an mp3 but, the same quality as the mp3, then we could put MUCH more music on a 16GB 'Touch. What do you think? This could be in the works. Instead of trying to make flash ram bigger, make the files smaller! It's perfect!
The new AAC codec could be called AAC+ or something. The extension would be .apc or something. I dunno... just an idea. What do you all think?
Don't you think that if getting better quality out of a smaller file was possible it would be done already? I'm sure they'll get some improvements as time goes on, but all in all compressed stereo audio is about as small as it's going to get.
It's not really important in the long run anyways, as storage capacity is just going to get larger and cheaper as the years go on making smaller compressed music less important.
What WOULD solve this problem for me is if Apple developed an audio container that stored two versions of a song in it, and tracked all the meta-data jointly. One version would be flagged as the "main" track and the other as the "portable" track. Both would be stored on your computer and managed in iTunes, when you played it on your machine it would playback the "Main" version, and update the playcount and other metadata for both. You could choose which one you wanted to sync to what device; so if you had an 80gb iPod classic you could have it get the "Main" version only (leaving the "Portable" track behind) so you got the best sound quality without "wasting" space on the portable device. Alternatively you could also have an iPod Shuffle or 8gb Touch and have the "Portable" version of the track sync, leaving the "Main" behind, letting you get the most onto the smaller device.
There should also be a piece of meta-data that forces a track to behave differently than the standard option.
I'd like it if you could set iTunes to rip CDs in both qualities that you defined at the same time (it would just do each track twice when you imported) and iTMS sell tracks like this by default. For iTMS, I could see them doing 160kbps AAC as the "Main" and 96kbps as the "Portable".
For some people, this would be great as they want Lossless copies on their computers, but syncing that to an iPod is not always ideal, so having your CDs import in Lossless and 128kbps (or 256kbps, etc) would be great for the "audiophile" crowd who wants to have the best experience on their expensive home speakers, but also wants to take some music out for a jog.
Personally, I'd set it for 192kbps and 96kbps. I have pretty crappy hearing, and can only hear the difference in 96kbps AAC to 128, or even 160, on some tracks and only if I listen really hard. On the other hand, having a higher quality master would be nice for transcoding to other formats, burning CDs for people with better ears, etc, is always nice.
I suppose they wouldn't even need a single container for the joint files, but that would probably simplify managing your library...
TV style iTunes library streaming on the iPhone and iPod Touch. More space without loss of quality.
