Nearly all of my music purchases are digital download these days. if ALAC is offered, I'll get that. Otherwise, the best available AAC format, which usually ends up being iTunes Match level (256Kbps).
In the rare case I can only find something on CD, I'll rip to 256k AAC.
As music moves more and more to pure streaming, it dawns on me that thinking about audio file quality will soon seem as strange as owning CDs![]()
Not sure where to place this topic in the forum, figured I would get the most results here.
If I'm ripping myself, I use Apple Lossless. If I'm downloading or purchasing, I get FLAC and then convert to Apple Lossless. When I sync to my iPhone, I set it to automatically convert to 192k AAC to save space on my device. I only use my iPhone to listen in the car, so I can't hear the difference in quality.
Apple Lossless. And I put it on my 128gb Iphone 6 plus in the same format, But at least if you go full lossless you have a choice because you can have ITunes copy it to the device at a lower bitrate, I've listened to both Lossless and compressed and the lossless just has so much better openness in the soundstage and less brashness in the highs.
256kbps MP3. I like putting my things in the most common format and due to old habits.