watcher666 Posted November 17, 2004 Report Share Posted November 17, 2004 Hi I just copied a song from iTunes to Hi-MD, and you know what? It sounded pretty good! :smile: It's so much better than connect! Just download the song you want, Burn it to a CD-RW (so you don't waste a CD) leave it in the drive, open SS and import as a PCM then write to Hi-MD! When written onto MD at 256kbps (Hi-SP) i was very impressed! The treble was just a bit to high but at PCM it sounded really good with a noticable quality improvement! I loved using iTunes before when i had my ipod (which im now beginning to think was faulty as it sounded cr*p) and is worth the extra effort if you want to get your music online! :grin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dex Otaku Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 It seems like an awful lot of extra work and time for something that can be done just by importing and converting the track directly with SS, then putting it to HiMD. Not to mention wasting a CDR for something that doesn't require one at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watcher666 Posted November 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 Not to mention wasting a CDR for something that doesn't require one at all.But i said...... Burn it to a CD-RW (so you don't waste a CD)Also, i thought that if you imported the file into SS that it would convert it into ATRAC, but this way the track is not re-coded as it's in PCM and will sound as good as it would on an ipod and is also a good way to do a format comparason! All in all the process took around 45 second's longer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xispe Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 i've compared: mp3s converted to pcm and mp3s converted to atrac3plus 256 kbps. There was a slight difference, but nothing noticiable. By the way, i used nero and deamon tools to burn a virtual cd image on nero, and then recorded from it in soniccrap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dex Otaku Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 But i said...... Ah! So you did. Also, i thought that if you imported the file into SS that it would convert it into ATRAC, but this way the track is not re-coded as it's in PCM and will sound as good as it would on an ipod and is also a good way to do a format comparason!Yes, imported tracks get transcoded either when you write them to HiMD/MD or whenever you choose to do so. I missed the actual point of what you said the first time though - to use mp3 decoded to PCM and put PCM straight to the HiMD to avoid transcoding. Which is a valid point. I, personally, just avoid transcoding mp3s. I usually find HiSP transcoded material is good enough for portable listening, though. I'd rather have 2:20 / HiMD-formatted MD80 @ HiSP than the 28 minutes you can get with PCM, too. I reserve PCM for recording. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watcher666 Posted November 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 I missed the actual point of what you said the first time though - to use mp3 decoded to PCM and put PCM straight to the HiMD to avoid transcoding. Which is a valid point.Thants ok! :smile: My main point, is that if people like using connect and dont mind the LP2 quality, then using itunes this way gives them the same quality and a vastly improved library of music to choose from! And it's cheaper :grin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doclloyd Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 But I thought all the music purchased off the iTunes Music Store is 128KB AAC format. Am I mistaken on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watcher666 Posted November 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 But I thought all the music purchased off the iTunes Music Store is 128KB AAC format. Am I mistaken on this?No, your not mistaken! As i said, people who don't mind the LP2 132kbps that connect offer's probably wont mind the 128kbps AAC from itunes! The difference is barely audiable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embio Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 sonicstage can recognise Virtual CD's. Using most CD Burning software, burn a 'CD' to an image file (how to do this will depend on your software), then use a program called alchohol to mount the image to a virtual drive! sorted! better still, CD's can be well over 750MB, so many songs can be burned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeriyn Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 Erm, Connect only offers tracks in LP2? WTF... if I'm going to pay to download a track, it better be in farking lossless or WAV. I think I'll just buy CDs the old fashioned way. eBay. :rasp: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 iTunes is no different, Cor..and the same goes for most online music stores it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadeclaw Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 That's correct, none of the online stores offers anything better than 128k. That's why I call these online stores hopelessly overpriced. Ten or more Euros for a quality, that is partly below FM-radio is simply way too much. The only one, that stands above is AllofMP3.com, which is in Russia. But then, that one's legality is doubted by the music-industry, as it uses a radio license for its service. And giving a credit card number to someone in Russia is not for everyone... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeriyn Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 iTunes is no different, Cor..and the same goes for most online music stores it seems.Oi, iTunes Store sucks too, then. Anyhow, none of the music I listen to is on either Connect or iTunes. If Sony would've made mora.jp available to the US, then quite a lot of the music I listen to would be obtainable that way. Well, I think Avex Trax might have a deal with Sony, but I doubt Toshiba EMI does... :rasp: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dex Otaku Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 There are actually a few indie labels popping up around the world that are choosing formats like the lame VBR "--alt-preset standard". One fairly prominent company in the UK has put their entire catalogue online at 50p/song in the above format. Said label was home to many of the punk and alternative greats of the 70s and 80s. So - not everyone selling music online is completely insane in terms of expecting people to shell out too much money for absolute crap quality [my opinion of iTunes music store and Connect]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latexxx Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 That's correct' date=' none of the online stores offers anything better than 128k. quote'] Real's music store (rhapsody) sells 192 kbps aac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syrius Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 There is always MusicMatch Radio or On Demand, on CD quality audio. Of course it's only streamed, but you know.. my new motherboard has optical output... and.. eh heh heh.. *evil smile* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeriyn Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 Good points, both of you, but the price of music tracks ordered online individually is very close to the total cost of the entire CD. If I'm paying for my music at all I want fresh, unmolested 16/44.1 PCM. Not encoded into various lossy formats. :sleep: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadeclaw Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 Real's music store (rhapsody) sells 192 kbps aac.According to the FAQ it is 128k. In addition, it is not available outside the US. I'm in Germany. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latexxx Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 Powered by the extensive and easy-to-use music directory of the award-winning Rhapsody digital music service, the RealPlayer Music Store provides the highest quality of any download store: 192 kbps RealAudio® 10 with AAC.http://www.realnetworks.com/company/press/...c_momentum.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 I'd jump out of a moving car before downloading anything made by Real on my computer. Seriously. :rasp: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watcher666 Posted November 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 not everyone selling music online is completely insane in terms of expecting people to shell out too much money for absolute crap quality [my opinion of iTunes music store and Connect].Crap Quality? It really isnt that bad. I was the biggest doubter of online music at only 128kbps, but the test songs i have downloaded from itunes are definatly NOT crap! It's not brilliant but it's not crap either! To me it sound's like LP2 and that's after being converted to Hi-SP! Can you give it a go and then report? It's only 79p for a song! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepootleflump Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 Can you imagine sitting there downloading 500mb+ music so you could have it in lossless format. Off course it has to be compressed to make it useable. You should be able to choose higher levels of compression. Frankly can't be bothered with buying music online. I tend to buy an a CD album from the shops or online, never that desperate to get my hands on the music and like to get something for my money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syrius Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 Good points, both of you, but the price of music tracks ordered online individually is very close to the total cost of the entire CD. If I'm paying for my music at all I want fresh, unmolested 16/44.1 PCM. Not encoded into various lossy formats. :sleep: Right. Please notice I was talking about the streamed services, not the pay-per-download ones. I'm sure it's lossless audio for both Rhapsody and Music Match. (this last one could be using WMA 9 lossless) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryzir Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 This site lets you choose which codec/bitrate you want to use, it even has losslesss formats (flac, wav). http://allofmp3.com/index.shtml?r=915418891 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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