Music available only as lossless download

Posted by: Dungassin on 16 June 2013

I recently bought a copy of B.J.Thomas 'Living Room Sessions' and greatly enjoyed the track with Sara Niemietz duetting on 'Hooked On A Feeling'

 

So much so that I went looking for other music by her.  Alas, all I could find was MP3 or AAC downloads.  I opted for the iTunes download as that was 256kbps.

 

Is this the future where our (my?) desire for high quality recordings is to be thwarted?   So much for high res downloads.   Hmmmmph ...  

Posted on: 16 June 2013 by Steve C

John try bandcamp looks like theres flac and hard copies available. 

Posted on: 16 June 2013 by fatcat
Originally Posted by Dungassin:

 

 

So much so that I went looking for other music by her.  Alas, all I could find was MP3 or AAC downloads.  I opted for the iTunes download as that was 256kbps.

 

 

Higher bitrate doesn't always equal better sound quality. Low bitrate AAC sounds better than higher bitrate MP3 IMO. Although I don't know how Itunes compares.

Posted on: 16 June 2013 by Dungassin
Originally Posted by fatcat:
Originally Posted by Dungassin:

 

 

So much so that I went looking for other music by her.  Alas, all I could find was MP3 or AAC downloads.  I opted for the iTunes download as that was 256kbps.

 

 

Higher bitrate doesn't always equal better sound quality. Low bitrate AAC sounds better than higher bitrate MP3 IMO. Although I don't know how Itunes compares.

The iTunes is AAC 256kbps

Posted on: 16 June 2013 by Dungassin
Originally Posted by Steve C:

John try bandcamp looks like theres flac and hard copies available. 

Thanks.  I'll have a look later in the week after my cataract operation.

Posted on: 16 June 2013 by Bart

I've not listened extensively, but at least according to Apple (so it must be true eh), AAC is a "better" codec and at equivalent bitrates sounds better than MP3.  256kbps AAC may well sound "better" than 256kbps MP3. 

 

(And of course not all MP3's are encoded equally . . . many variables . . . )

 

For listening in the car, etc., I don't care that much.  For home, I really focus on lossless.

Posted on: 16 June 2013 by fatcat
Originally Posted by Dungassin:
Originally Posted by fatcat:
Originally Posted by Dungassin:

 

 

So much so that I went looking for other music by her.  Alas, all I could find was MP3 or AAC downloads.  I opted for the iTunes download as that was 256kbps.

 

 

Higher bitrate doesn't always equal better sound quality. Low bitrate AAC sounds better than higher bitrate MP3 IMO. Although I don't know how Itunes compares.

The iTunes is AAC 256kbps

I'm just making the point, you shouldn't choose between MP3 or AAC based on biterate, which you obviously did.

Posted on: 16 June 2013 by fatcat
Originally Posted by Bart:

I've not listened extensively, but at least according to Apple (so it must be true eh), AAC is a "better" codec and at equivalent bitrates sounds better than MP3.  256kbps AAC may well sound "better" than 256kbps MP3. 

 

(And of course not all MP3's are encoded equally . . . many variables . . . )

 

For listening in the car, etc., I don't care that much.  For home, I really focus on lossless.

I've compared AAC to MP3 when listening to Radio Paradise. Lower bitrate AAC is definitely better than higher bitrate MP3. IMO.

Posted on: 16 June 2013 by Dungassin
Originally Posted by fatcat:
Originally Posted by Bart:

I've not listened extensively, but at least according to Apple (so it must be true eh), AAC is a "better" codec and at equivalent bitrates sounds better than MP3.  256kbps AAC may well sound "better" than 256kbps MP3. 

 

(And of course not all MP3's are encoded equally . . . many variables . . . )

 

For listening in the car, etc., I don't care that much.  For home, I really focus on lossless.

I've compared AAC to MP3 when listening to Radio Paradise. Lower bitrate AAC is definitely better than higher bitrate MP3. IMO.

I don't know how you compare MP3 vs AAC downloads  unless you buy both, or can be bothered to go to the hassle of connecting the computer to the hifi, so all I can do is go on the bitrate, and the fact that I, also, can hear the difference between AAC from iTunes vs MP3 from Amazon, having compared AAC I've downloaded to MP3 downloaded by one of my kids.  So why are you criticising me for choosing the likely to be better AAC, especially if it has twice the bitrate?

Posted on: 16 June 2013 by Dungassin
Originally Posted by Dungassin:
Originally Posted by Steve C:

John try bandcamp looks like theres flac and hard copies available. 

Thanks.  I'll have a look later in the week after my cataract operation.

Decided to do this now, and have downloaded her Christmas Album in CD quality FLAC.  Incidentally, bandcamp didn't have the 'Live At The Cat Club' or 'Stand By Me', which I had already downloaded from iTunes.  I suppose that is because those were commercial releases and tied to some record company or other.