First Look: Apple Lossless Audio, Apple Options

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Comments about:

First Look: Apple Lossless Audio

[_thornrag_]

I read the claim that few could hear the difference with the ACC and source, but within 40 seconds comparing them on my Digidesign MBox > Tannoy PBM5 monitors the difference was obvious.

That would make you one of the few then, wouldn't it. Hooray!

I think the point is, if you're concerned about audio quality enough to be proud of the equipment you're using to play it back, then lossless is a no-brainer. Why would you even discuss AAC?

But for the *vast majority* ... AAC sounds great. At the office, in the car, on the train, or just in the background at home while you're shaving in the morning, AAC sounds just fine, and the capacity of an iPod is maximized. For a little garnish, maybe AAC at a higher bitrate is worth it. For those Sennheiser earbuds.

But for the hardcore audiophiles whose reputations are at stake, AAC is of course a terrible idea, and iTunes hasn't even been an option until the availability of lossless compression. In fact, for the hardcore audiophiles with a reputation and an unlimited budget, all of this is moot; the multi-terabyte RAID array is happily serving up uncompressed audio on a proprietary jukebox solution that makes no compromises in error correction or signal integrity.

But for the *vast majority* ... AAC is great.