rec.autos.simulators

This is a question for anyone who uses/has used the iTunes Music Store and
has created CD's from the AAC format files.

First, I think the AAC format sounds just fine.  No complaints really,
though it will never match true WAV/AIFF sound quality.  Thus my venture
into FLAC.

However, I also am not a huge fan of purchasing music that is tied to one
company in regards to my ability to use what I've purchased, and this would
go for ANY download service.

With that said, I have purchased about 250 tracks from the iTunes Music
Store since it opened shop.  It was simply economically smart to do so.  The
songs I wanted were one-off's. singles from other albums, etc... and to
purchase them all on CD's would have cost me thousands of dollars to get
them.

Now, here's my question.

I've burned all of them to CD using iTunes on my iMac.

Is it just me, or is the right-channel audio weak on CD's created from AAC's
from the iTunes Music Store?

-Larry

How do you feel paying for a lossy version of something? You mentioned FLAC,
so you obviously know that there are compression formats out there that are
lossless...

As a "musician" or whatever, I can't imagine ever selling people my "craft"
in a format that is doesn't reproduce it to the accuracy it was recorded and
intended. But I guess there's a whole arguement to be made there, that if
the user can't tell the difference.. is there even one. But, then again, my
parents are perfectly happy listening to 128kbps mp3's, which as we all
know, sound like shite. Plus, I guess if you just want the "hits".. it's
probably an ideal solution.

Ah well, back to sim racing. :)

Mike
http://mikebeauchamp.com

I guess it all comes down to convenience and attention spans, as a musician
you know what you're up against!

Craig

I have purchased somewhere between 225 and 250 tracks from the iTunes Music
Store.  I didn't do it because I like compressed formats, and I sure as hell
didn't do it because I like having my use of something I PAID for limited in
any way, though iTunes is the most liberal of all the DRM scheme's out
there.

No, I'd prefer to download FLAC/AIFF/WAV files.  But that will never happen,
from a bandwidth and DRM standpoint.  The Music Industry would never go for
it.

I purchased the tracks through the iTMS because it was by far the most cost
effective solution for me given the content I purchased.

Getting all of the tracks I purchased through the iTMS on CD's would
probably have required I buy 500-600 CD's (a rough guess) at a cost many
thousands more than the $225 - $250 I paid at the iTMS.  This is because
they are singles, one-off's, etc...  As you know, the average CD you buy has
1 or 2 good songs on it that you like (there are, of course, exceptions).
The rest is filler material.

That's also why I tend to by "Best Of" or "Special Collections" when I do
buy CD's (again, there are exceptions).

FLAC is truly awesome.  I, for one, would be quite happy to download
purchased music in that format but it will never be allowed.

This brings up another problem that is rarely discussed.  What happens if
Apple (or whatever music service you purchase your DRM'd content from) goes
out of business ?  It's simple.  ALL of your money is gone.  Down the tubes.
The music industry would never allow the music service to provide permanent
unlock keys, so if the computer you are using were to ever become
de-authorized (and you know it will due to OS reinstalls, hard drive
replacements, upgrades, etc...), your music is now wasted space.

There needs to be an open-industry standard for a DRM music format.  Of
course Microsoft is hell-bent on that being the WMA format, but I as a
consumer could never agree to that.  It has to be an open, non-owned
industry format that ALL of the music services use with a universal way of
authentication/authorization so regardless of whether your provider goes out
of business your purchased product is still useable.

Let's face it, companies and thier Executive branches take the money and run
all the time these days.  This is an entirely feasible scenario.

Now, as for the iTunes CD problem I reported.  I found out what the problem
is.

The reason the right-channel is sounding weak to me is because there is NO
musical energy above 14-15khz in the CD tracks that iTunes makes from the
AAC files.  This is VERY distressing for me, and if I would have known this
I would have never purchased all these tracks from the iTMS.  Now that I
know it, I won't be purchasing any more.

As you know, most stereo imaging comes from the higher frequencies, not the
lower frequencies.  Since they simply are not there, the imaging is getting
thrown off and making it sound, to me, like the right-side channel is weak.

The problem is not the AAC files.  They are fine.  It is the conversion
process that iTunes (Mac) is using when creating the uncompressed files for
the CD's.

I messed around with equalization a bit, and until you get to the 12k slider
there is NO change in the sound quality.  Musical energy 14/15k and above
simply is NOT THERE!

I am truly hoping that this is a problem with the Mac version of iTunes I
used to make the CD's.  I am going to use the PC version to re-create a few
of the CD's and see if the situation improves.  I'll report my findings
after I get a chance to do it.

If I cannot find a solution for this, I will be making no more purchases
from the iTMS.  That's a shame, because it really is the best service out
there.

-Larry

My PC Speakers and Sound Card cost MORE than the rest of my system put
together ($700) so as you can see sound quality is pretty important to me :)

-Larry

   I used to be very heavily into music, but I have become very
disenchanted with the whole industry.  The only cd I have gotten in last
couple of years was a gift. I have hundreds of CD's..but, with the
exception of the Live Rush in Rio cd, I can't say I have anything that is
new.

dave henrie

AFAIK EMusic sells tracks in a regular MP3. It's also cheaper and it
offers wide choice. I've just discovered it few days ago and now I'm
trying to find where's the catch, but it looks there's no catch
(aside that they're apparently dealing mostly with small recording
labels, thus it may not be attractive choice for those who want to
support RIAA ;>)

Alex.

Eldred
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Wot, not even blank ones..?   ;)

Regards, Rudy
(GPLRank -22)

Even uncompressed CD audio isn't lossless.

Jason

You may be interested to know that their terms of service changed
dramatically last November; they used to offer unlimited downloads of
unrestricted mp3 files (in LAME alt_present_standard VBR format) for a very
low monthly fee ($15 or so).  They actually offered that deal for several
years, but it finally caught up with them.  Many long time members were able
to download thousands of full CD's worth of music under that plan, all for a
very small price (if you d/l'd over 2000 tracks per month, they would tell
you to slow down you pace a bit, but many subscribers did, indeed, d/l about
2000 tracks per month each month....which works out to less than 1 cent per
track) .  Well, reality did come knocking eventually, and as of November,
the same $14.95 buys you only 65 tracks per month.  For a bit more, you can
get a 90 track per month plan.  As you note, this still represents a bargain
when compared to the alternatives (though it feels like highway robbery to
anyone who made the transition from their unlimited plan) -- particulary
when you consider that their downloads are in non-proprietary (and fairly
high quality) mp3 format.

Another place to look at is www.allofmp3.com, a Russian site that does,
indeed, offer lossless downloading of some files.  They also permit "on the
fly" encoding where you select the bit rate and file format just prior to
download.  Their prices are much lower than any of their competitors, but
there is still a good deal of debate over the issue of just how legal and
legitimate the service is for users outside of Russia.  You can find more
details here: http://www.museekster.com/allofmp3info.htm.

itazura

cheers,

uwe

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mail replies to Uwe at schuerkamp dot de ( yahoo address is spambox)
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Yeah, bugs on pins would be nice, too.

When e-music had their unlimited offer going, a frenzied collecting
mentality did kick in for many subscribers.  I think the prevailing thought
went something like this:  "this deal is way too good to be true and it
can't last long -- so I'd better go ahead and horde anything and everything
that looks remotely interesting NOW while I still can!"  The most amazing
thing is that it lasted as long as it did (well, that and the fact that they
aren't bankrupt yet).

itazura

Audioslave rocks!

But I must say I'm sad to see the cynicism and jaded views here on
music.  I guess I'm still young enough to be passionate about music. ;-)

--
Ped Xing
GPLRank -31.657

"A good racing driver doesn't really look like he's going that fast; but
in fact it's a clean, smooth, progressive performance that supplies the
real speed." -Sir Jackie Stewart

   There was a statement last summer that pretty much sealed the deal for
me.  Somebody official was asking why the soundtrack to the Spiderman movie
cost more than the DVD.  
    I'll still pickup a rare title or two...but not much else.

dave henrie