itunes question

[nancy324]

I bought myself a nano this year and loaded songs onto it from my CDs and from itunes. I was really excited because I'd never owned an ipod before and I couldn't wait to use the vast itunes store of songs. However, I've been noticing that the songs from itunes don't sound as good as those from my CDs. The difference is somewhat subtle, and I only notice it when I go straight from a CD song to an itunes song.

I'm disappointed because I love the idea of paying $.99 for the exact song I want rather than having to buy a whole CD.

Has anyone else noticed this?

 

[marnold]

Nancy: I haven't noticed this because I haven't used ITunes yet. I have had two Ipods and only have loaded CDs on to them. I do know that Walmart online cells songs too...they are a little cheaper. If I were you, I would contact Apple directly about the sound quality. Let me know what you find out.

 

[materialsgirl]

Honestly, no. I have both iTunes downloads and ripped CDs on my iPod Touch, and find the sound quality to be identical - even when I play them on my high-end car stereo. I cannot tell the difference, and I consider myself rather picky about audio.

However, with that said, it really all depends on your ears. iTunes (and other music download sites) are selling you songs based on convenience, not quality (ETA - Apple does say the quality of their downloads "rivals CD quality", fwiw). In order for the songs to download at a reasonble rate, and not take up too much space on your hard drive, they need to be compressed. Compression always sacrafices quality/resolution. To most people, the loss of quality is not noticeable, but some people DO notice it. You're not alone. Make sure you're using good quality headphones (not the Apple ones), turn the EQ off on your iPod - those are about the only things I know to recommend. You are "blessed" with good ears, so you'll have to decide if audio quality is more important than convenience, or vice versa.

 

[nancy324]

Thanks, Em. My DH (an engineer like you) told me something similar. My earphones are v-moda vibes and they are fantastic. They come with three different sizes of tips so you can use the smallest possible size inside your ear. The CD songs sound like the band is having a concert inside my head. The itunes, not so much. Believe it or not, it actually makes a difference in my exercise performance on the treadmill!

 

[dss62467]

No, I haven't noticed this. I buy all my music from iTunes now, so I don't have to have cds hanging around. Never had an issue with the quality not being as good.

 

[nancy324]

I should probably buy one song from itunes that I already have on CD and compare the two on my nano to know for sure. Maybe some songs were just recorded with a fuller sound than others.