itunes question

[wawa]

I want to download and burn to CD higher quality than the standard MP3 format. I want to do this in order to listen to the burned CD on a high quality home audio system. Itunes sugests the AIFF or Apple loseless format if, in their words you plan to "listen to your music with high-quality stereo speakers". This does not answer the question of if these formats are compatible with higher quality CD players. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with this? Which format is the best, or are they equal?

 

[WoodPeckr]

FLAC, compresses a file about half as much as an mp3.
FLAC stands out as the fastest and most widely supported lossless audio codec.

 

[big_mike]

AIFF is the standard format for CDs in general.

The sound problem that you'll encounter will be the MP3 and the compression/loudness levels that it was originally saved at.

 

[Anynym]

You won't be able to regain any of the quality lost in the compression that went into the file you download, regardless of the format you use to burn it to CD.

So although you can use a higher-quality codec to burn the CD, the sound quality won't be any better than the MP3. And it could become ever so slightly worse, as the songs are passed through another codec.

 

[Hobbyer]

You won't be able to regain any of the quality lost in the compression that went into the file you download, regardless of the format you use to burn it to CD.

So although you can use a higher-quality codec to burn the CD, the sound quality won't be any better than the MP3. And it could become ever so slightly worse, as the songs are passed through another codec.

That's right, you can't get better quality than the original source. That being said, I certainly can't tell the difference of the D/L'd Apple files compared to the original CD ripped to WAV. It's a very good algo, and even on a high quality stereo system you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. I have very high end headphones, listen with my eyes closed, in complete silence and I can't tell the difference.