When will iTunes offer hi-res audio files?

It would be nice, but it isn't likely. Most people cannot tell a difference when listening through cheap speakers and headphones.

With the streaming service takeover, hi res stuff is liable to get even harder to find.

 

Silly child the future of music is streaming! Go back to 2003 where you belong!

 

To be honest, and as someone who has delved in music production, the highest format you need is 320 Kbps, I was a FLAC and WAV type of person myself, but at 320 Kbps, the quality is so high that unless you have bionic ears and can slow down time you won't notice it. From what I understand, Apples AAC 256 format is roughly the same equivalent as MP3 320 due to the compression method. The only negligence I've found on Apple's part is making sure that the files they host are not just 128 re-encoded with 256, it's still 128.

I understand you are an audiophile and I am too, sometimes I can hear a crappy bleed of the cymbals in iTunes, but like I said, 320 kbps MP3, although it is lossy, you won't notice much of a difference when it comes to WAV.

I made WIPs in WAV and MP3 @320 that I listened to through Sennheiser 280HDs and I could not hear a difference between the two files.

Yes I agree with you that hi-res audio needs to happen, no I don't think people need to download 25 - 80 MB songs. 320kbps for a 7 minute song gets you a file approx. 13 MB in size. The same file is 7-8 MB with 256, and its about 43-60 MB using WAV. Think of those poor AT&T and Verizon customers. Not to mention streaming Apple Music in the backwoods.

Performance over Quality will make you the most money.

 

Why would you want a very low quality music file over a higher version. If, you want to save space stick to 320 MP3. I love lossless music, with a high quality system you can really hear tell the difference.

--- Post Merged, Apr 5, 2016 ---

I would look on HDTracks or Pono. I would also recommend using ALAC over AIFF. There is loss of quality, if use the right settings. ALAC is smaller, bigger is not always better.

--- Post Merged, Apr 5, 2016 ---

There are already many hi res steaming services. High quality music downloads are slowly becoming more common as the demand for it goes up. That is how capitalism works.

--- Post Merged, Apr 5, 2016 ---

I have done blind sound checks for the same songs at 320 MP3 and Lossless and I can hear the difference. I also think that some over price headphone are not good as many people think they are. I owned many $200 -$350 headphones. I got tired them of falling apart after only months. I bought a pair of Bose SoundTrue In-Ear Headphones for $100, I get better sound from these earbuds than those fancy cans.

 

I agree than mobile streaming for Hi Res not compatible with most mobile plans. I also agree that a any formats other than FLAC or ALAC are over sized. I like own my music not rent it. You can find most what you want for free on the torrent sites for the cost of your internet and the hard drives you need to store it on.

 

Ok now could you hear that difference on standard speakers from an iMac, MacBook Pro, or iPhone that a vast majority of Apple customers listen on? Just because we are perfectionists when it comes to audio sampling doesn't mean that's what iTunes needs to sell. They should sell up to 320 kbps and if FLAC, ALAC is your thing then you already know where you can get that. I only mentioned AIFF because it's one of the default lossless export formats for Logic Pro.

 

Lossless audio is overrated. IMO, I can't even tell the difference between a 320 mp3 and 24/192 KHz FLAC on a volume level matched double blind testing even with good audio gears. I would take any 160 - 320 kbps MP3 version of a well mastered audio over a 24/192, Quad DSD, Quad DXD version of a crappy mastered track any day.

 

Have you looked to see if your desired content is on DVD-A or DVD-V?

It will provide greater than 16/44.1k. I personally have been locating my content in DTS 5.1, as my car plays it, and the sound is spectacular for a car audio system. DTS seems to be much better that Dolby Digital 5.1, as it seems to lack the dynamic compression.

--- Post Merged, Apr 10, 2016 ---

That reminds me, is still have quite a collection of the MFSL UltraDisc II before they went OOP.

 

There was a youtube video somewhere that was made by an Audio Engineer explaining the differences in sound quality, wish I could find the video, but it basically states that an MP3 @320 kbps is so close to lossless that it's hard for most people to hear the difference, the only real difference is the file size. And the human ear's limitations prevent people from hearing the difference between anything 44.1k and up.

If you are a music producer or remix/mashup artist, then yes you should go with the lossless audio formats, but if you are just wanting music to listen to while you're doing other things then MP3 is fine. Lossless audio is really only meant for having pristine audio for adjustments. No one wants to edit lossy audio because it introduces more artifacts from the existing artifacts. Even if the artifact was .0001 of a second, introducing a reverb on the track could potentially sample part of the reverb from the artifact and now you've got a reverb with an artifact of .1 second which is noticeable.

 

I still buy CDs of albums that require it - e.g., for mostly classical, electronica, and the stuff that really turns me on. I still rock the Discman....how's that for dating myself.

I'd like to get a Cayin N6, but not sure about the price. I'd notice the difference, since I can hear the difference easily between formats, but not quite ready to bleed $600 on a DMP...

Folks that say you can't hear the difference have never used high end headphones or amps. Or maybe they're like my dad, who's worked in a heavy machinery factory for 40 years.

 

This is true but how many users are really going to be able to hear the difference with music they got from the iTunes Store? Most of these people are 18 year old kids who've never had a decent pair of headphones in their life and Beats are considered high quality for them.

 

We are totally in agreement on this point. Hence why I say "people who have never used high end headphones."

 

I know a lot of people say they can't tell the difference, but I have been able to tell the difference before. For example, I'm a big fan of classical music. When a flute plays a solo and plays really high notes, if the file is "lossy", sometimes you can hear "crackling" when it plays those highest notes. I've compared it by listening to a specific recording of a Mozart Flute Concerto through Apple Music (and hearing the "crackling") and then listening to a FLAC file I ripped from a CD of this very same recording (no crackling--despite the headphones, volume, and everything else being the same). So yeah, it's not a big difference I guess, but it is a noticeable difference to me and one that makes streaming seem inferior to me. So I'm not exactly happy about "streaming is the future".

 

That's called crappy encoding. Clipping occurs if the encoded lossy file has a higher dynamic compression than the source/master file.

 

I have for a very long time bought DVD Audio, SACD and Blu Ray Audio disc. My problem is, there aren't "a lot" to choose from.

However, I start to compare/listning my cd-ripped ALAC files to all the "new" Mastered For iTunes albums iTunes are coming with these days.. And 99% of them sounds great to me and I had bought a lot. They do sound way better than my cd-rip. So I enjoy it!

Ofcourse I would "love" high res" but for now, Mastered For iTunes is doing great!