Question:
Hi everybody, I find ACC format slightly better than MP3 when playing classical music on my Hi-Fi through iPod. I am on a music buying spree now purchasing music in ACC format as a result but there are rumours that this may be a dying format. What does everybody think? Is this a false investment?
Answers:
I don't know whether ACC is better than MP3, but what I do know is that there are more devices on the market that will playback MP3 audio files rather than ACC audio files. So, say in the future you don't have an iPod, (or any other Macintosh device), would you still be able to play the files? I'd personally stick with mp3 if the difference really isn't that great.
Answers:
The music mogols have a massive cacaine habit to keep up, so they don't want you to buy music - they want you to rent music. They'll be so tempted to use the digital rights management (DRM) that's embedded into all legit. downloads to switch-off what you've already "bought" to encourage you to upgrade to some new wizzy format (how many people have bought the Beatles on LP, CD, DVD-A, super-audio CD,...)
MP3 will always be here, I reckon so will AAC/MP4 so long as you don't buy it via iTunes (and to be honest the 128kbit AAC sold on iTunes is only just fit for purpose).
Answers:
I loved the concept of digital music, in fact so much so that I did a dissertation on it at uni 7 years ago. However, DRM and the bit rate that downloadable tracks have been encoded in have ruined my love affair with it.
I now only buy CD's and rip them into digital format, I prefer ogg vorbis as I can play these on my phone, but have to stick to trusty MP3 and WMA for my mp3 player.
My recommendation to the OP is to continue to buy CD's. You can use itunes to rip these onto you ipod and if aac is not used in the future you'll still have the cd.
Answers:
Thanks to everyone for your reply. I will seriously consider choosing MP3 format from now on. I have heard that ogg vorbis is good but it doesn't work on iPods and may also be a dying format... don't know. In terms of continuing to buy CDs, this is not always the easiest or indeed the cheapest option and I really like how easy and practical it is to get digital music online. The other problem I've just discovered is that the XBOX360 doesn't play ACC/MP4 from attached iPod and wondering if there is any cure for this issue? (apart from probably using MP3 from now on).
Answers:
Personally I would never buy an MP3 or ACC, use play.com or any other online record shop and buy the CD. Rip it to what ever format you want for your mp3 player or ipod. when your pc drive fails you still have the CD but any data stored is most likley lost including your paid for mp3s.
Also if you buy a CD you feel you have bought somthing. mp3's are available for free if you know where to look so why pay for them? unfortunalty I only use these mp3s as a trial to save money I no longer buy the crap albums that I have downloaded and only buy the good ones on CD so I now save £10 for every crap album I dont like. I always delete the downloads after listening to them. I also do the same with DVD's download watch a bit then if its good buy the DVD on release I cant get 5.1 digital surround out of a downlaod and that is what I want.
Answers:
Personally I'd go with Ogg Vorbis. I'm currently making the switch myself. I've not run any blind/ABX tests between it and AAC, but from most of the ones I've seen it slightly nudges out AAC.
I'm a big fan of mp3's (encoded by Lame) but can distinctly tell between an aac/vorbis track and an mp3, especially with classical music.
Ogg Vorbis is also completely free and open source. It's also included in most/all Linux distro's. It doesn't quite have the support mp3 has (which is second to none), but it is increasing, especially with the availability of Rockbox now on the iPod. I'm currently considering getting a Nano to play my Ogg's as my Shuffle doesn't have that capability.
I'd also go with what Little John said. Sites such as iTunes often cost just as much as if you were to buy the cd. Buy the cd, then you automatically have a lossless original, and a natural backup. And should you change your mind about lossy format, you can re-encode from it again.
With regards to the 360, just wait until they get a public release out to play homebrew on it. The media capabilities of the 360 are very poor given how powerful it is. What for the community to get involved and it'll become hugely powerful and compatible with most common filetypes.
Answers:
Hi everybody, I find ACC format slightly better than MP3 when playing classical music on my Hi-Fi through iPod. I am on a music buying spree now purchasing music in ACC format as a result but there are rumours that this may be a dying format. What does everybody think? Is this a false investment?
What rumours? Complete rubbish to be frank. That's not to say you're not getting good advice about other formats - you are - but AAC is not just not going anywhere, it's becoming more successful. AAC was developed by Dolby Labs and contrary to what you may have heard is supported by loads of manufacturers, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, and Motorola - i.e. the big mobile phone manufacturers trying to get you to use their phones as music players (which I think probably is the future even if the current lot aren't very good). So, if you're using AAC, I wouldn't give it a second thought. It's the kind of thing that gets tech and audio people frothing at the mouth, but there are also very credible reports from blind testing that people can't tell the difference between AAC at 128Kbps and CD. A comparison between AAC at 128Kbps and MP3 at 192Kbps is also frequently made. The people who would spend £100 a metre on speaker cable will now be aghast. Maybe they have better ears than me!
A completely separate issue is the DRM (copy protection). Personally I don't find the copy protection side of it annoying as actually they're quite generous. The annoying part is that you get limited to the Apple iPod Ecosystem. For all those people with iPods and AirPort Expresses and Mac minis in their living rooms (like me...) this isn't really so bad but frankly it would be nice to be able to use a Sony or Nokia phone instead of an iPod, or to use a media streaming box, which Apple doesn't make. One way or another I think this will eventually go away, but it is here now. But is Apple going anywhere? I don't think so. Is any future successor going to chose a marketing model that deliberately renders obsolete everyone's music collection? While that may be a record company's fantasy, it doesn't strike me as either rational or likely, and anyway, the DRM can be hacked.
So, to get to your question: if you buy classical music from iTunes I don't think you need have any real concern that devices to play it will be around for many years to come. If you buy CDs and encode in AAC (iTunes default) you can use tons of players beyond the iPod. Now, you may prefer to use MP3 or Ogg Vorbis (which can't BTW be played on an iPod without non-trivial hacking), but I wouldn't let fear that AAC is going to go away be the reason you do that.
Answers:
Now, you may prefer to use MP3 or Ogg Vorbis (which can't BTW be played on an iPod without non-trivial hacking), but I wouldn't let fear that AAC is going to go away be the reason you do that.
There are GUI installers for putting Rockbox onto an iPod. The same with iPod Linux. I put iPod Linux on my old 4G within a few clicks of a GUI installer. I then had a dual boot option. It was easily removeable too, as there was a GUI uninstaller to set your iPod back to how it was. It's very much the XMBC for the iPod. And if you have an Xbox with XBMC you'll know how good that is and how much more it improves the product.
AAC is definitely a format for the future. Mp3 is still very good, but if you want the best from the audio go with Vorbis/AAC. Around 200-220kbps average is usually best. Anything lower and the track loses transparency. Anything higher, and you may as well bite the bullet and use a lossless format like Flac or Wavpack.
The only thing I don't like about AAC is the lack of free encoders (apart from the Apple one, I don't like iTunes). The Nero encoder is said to be the best, but this obviously costs. Also AAC isn't a "free" format. Royalties have to be paid, which only helps keep prices slightly higher. Ogg is completely free, open source and has good backing. In fact from looking at the 2006 poll on HydrogenAudio, it's 2nd behind mp3 for what people use to encode their tracks.