The iTunes software can play Apple Lossless (ALAC) files, and you can rip your CDs to Apple Lossless inside iTunes. Lossless files are much bigger (several times larger than MP3s) but the file retains more audio information and the quality is at least as good as a CD. However, some people will still find this level of quality unacceptable.įLAC and Apple Lossless While MP3s and AACs are "lossy" compression formats (so called because the MP3 creation software removes audio information to keep file sizes down), you can also play "lossless" songs in iTunes and on your smartphone. MP3 and AAC If quality is a concern, but if you crave the convenience of MP3, you can always set iTunes to rip at the highest possible bitrate of 320kbps, which most people consider indistinguishable from CD-quality audio. Here's a range of options, from the lowest rung to the highest. "We live in the digital age, and unfortunately it's degrading our music, not improving." "My goal is to try and rescue the art form that I've been practicing for the past 50 years," Young said. Convert that CD-quality audio to MP3 or AAC, and you've lost a great deal of richness and complexity.
By Young's estimation, CDs offer only 15 percent of the recording information contained on the master tracks. Bitrates for most tracks on iTunes average 256kbps AAC audio encoding, which is drastically inferior to the quality of recorded source material in almost every case.
Young's big beef: Digital music files download quickly, but suffer a significant loss in quality. Speaking at the D: Dive Into Media conference on 31 January, the outspoken musician expressed his deep dissatisfaction with the MP3 format and called for an end-to-end reboot of the consumer digital audio ecosystem, from file formats to playback devices.
Neil Young is right: Those songs on your iPhone do sound like crap, and it's time we demand better-sounding alternatives for our digital music.
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