Apple Lossless vs iTunes Plus

When comparing these file types, do use something other than the pc sound system.

I have difficulty descerning anything noteable using only the Altec 2.1 pc audio ... I do percieve diffs piping the sound into my main stereo.

I do find still greater diffs using FLAC vs. Apple lossless too... and this might be due to the media player or codec (s) being used. FLAC having simply more resolution and detail which offers greater presence. AIF is quite close though... and actually a near toss up.... again, I'm thinking it's the decoders and encoders being used.

In fact the Lame mp3 encoder I feel is better than the AAC format at the same bit rates. yet again, another encoder/decoder algorithim.

Sfar

You said:
“With drives costing $100 per terabyte right now everyone should have a second drive that mirrors the regular storage drive.”

Would you mind telling me where I can get a 1TB drive for $100?... internal or external?

I’ve yet to see that much acreage for that little $$$. Definitely not with eSATA drives… I'd sure be interested in it. Thanks much.

Ckorody……
Big thanks. I’ve been out of the hardware loop for a while it would seem.

Sfar……..
Thanks I’ll definitely use those links.

Sakahara……...
I continue to see diffs from one media player to another… one encoder/decoder, to another, more so than from one lossless file format to another.

I’d suspect any AAC files being sold by iTunes were ripped off a very good disc or even one such as we could go get… seeing as how they are paying the artist/lable for the rights to resell their info. It wouled make good sense for them to provide as good a source disc as possible… Wouldn’t it? I know too that some of these deals are time sensitive and run for predetermined lengths… likely with extensions available or matters of course. I say this as some tracks I’ve bought years ago are now no longer available from the iTunes store.

Re remote drive speed

Both the OS and the attached drive are important… though it does depend on the actual configuration or set up being used.

Wireless 11G has enough thru put to accommodate music very well. Even with lossless files… WAV, AIF, ALAC & FLAC. Usb too has sufficient speed to prevent drop outs or delays. The Vista OS wireless adapter protocol however does have some aspects which need to be configured differently or disabled entirely to avoid problems. For more info on speeding up Vista there are numerous resources online that cover all sorts of items one can do to gain speed. The ‘auto tune’ feature is primarily the obstacle that caused me a lot of trouble. I posted a resolution I found online in another thread here and the steps to overcome it. See this thread:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?icomp&1233137449&openmine&zzBlindjim&4&5#Blindjim

Ether net (wired networks) don’t suffer from the same idiosyncracies wireless ones may. My Vista laptop isn’t as ‘crisp’ feeling as are my desktops, but the result is more than acceptable. Quite good in fact and better in some respects aside from sheer speed. Albeit Vista appears to be as Windows ME (Melinium) edition … just a cash grab… as now there’s another OS just around the corner being readied for distribution.

Vista’s sonics though are superior to XP’s.