There's a really old thread so I thought I'd start another one. Is my only option for high quality music still CDs? I've been using Spotify which is 320kbps but for CDs I really want I'd like to go ahead and buy at a much higher quality but iTunes is still only 256 AAC right? I guess going to the store and buying the CD then burning myself isn't a huge deal...

[Edited on October 26, 2011 at 10:11 AM. Reason : l]

10/26/2011 10:10:48 AM

ibt Vinyl

10/26/2011 10:40:44 AM

what.cd + FLAC + moral/legal gray area acceptance.

[Edited on October 26, 2011 at 10:53 AM. Reason : ]

10/26/2011 10:53:16 AM

Sure I can find anything I want on usenet but I'd like a legal option to buy and download CD quality music. That not possible yet?

10/26/2011 10:56:03 AM

Sometimes you can get lucky and find a DVD-Audio mix of some albums. They sound amazing.

10/26/2011 10:59:52 AM

bandcamp usually offers FLAC downloads

also 320kbps (and even 192kbps VBR) MP3 are indistinguishable from FLAC for most listeners; I personally prefer 160kbps VBR AAC, which is about the same quality as 192kbps VBR MP3

10/26/2011 3:45:44 PM

I can tell a big difference between 192 and 320 and 320 and say 640 or above. I have a pair of Shure 535 IEMs though.

10/26/2011 3:50:51 PM

320kbps is the highest quality-level available for MP3, and that's CBR only; I prefer the VBR encodings because they're more space-efficient.

I don't think there are any lossy 640kbps encodings in common use, although lossless formats are reasonably common (lossless encodings of CD audio are 1411kbps).

10/26/2011 3:55:54 PM

Most of my lossy/flac stuff is around 640 or higher. I guess it's not a huge deal. I can deal with 320kbps or go buy the CD.

10/26/2011 4:02:48 PM

FLAC is not lossy

10/26/2011 5:06:32 PM

Free lossless audio codec? I realize FLAC still compresses it's still more lossy than MP3s. If that makes sense. Haha.

10/26/2011 6:05:09 PM

It is lossless: It does not remove any of the audio data, just as saving a BMP as a 32-bit PNG does not remove any of the image data even though the file-size is smaller.

get some schoolin' son: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Lossless_data_compression

10/26/2011 6:17:41 PM

Wait I'm confused. You said it's not lossy then you said it is?

10/26/2011 6:18:52 PM

^not lossy = lossless

10/26/2011 6:21:45 PM

Woops my bad. I was getting terms confused. I meant to say most of my lossless/flac stuff. Not lossy. Sorry long day.

10/26/2011 6:32:50 PM

Rethink what you really want. Buying digitally = no collectibility, which is usually very important among hi-fi enthusiasts like yourself (and me).

10/27/2011 12:40:23 PM

Completely agree. I just haven't bought a CD in ages and I use my laptop/iPhone for listening. If I bought a CD it would get ripped to a computer then sit on a shelf.

10/27/2011 1:08:57 PM

Yeah I make copies of all my CDs for my car, rip them to FLAC for listening on home audio system, then convert them to 320k mp3s for portable devices. May be overkill but whatever.

10/27/2011 1:43:10 PM