Re: Secrets of iTunes and iPod, music server

Guido Neitzer <guido.neitzer@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Steven Sullivan <ssully@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

> > Apple's AAC is highly tuned, but it's still proprietary.

> It is not.

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding

My bad. I was confusing AAC per se with iTunes AAC-encoded tracks with 
DRM.

> >  LAME MP3 is 'free' and works just as well, and on more platforms.

> AAC is more advanced than mp3, creates smaller files with the same
> quality or better quality with the same size.

Only at lower bitrates, viz. the hydrogenaudio tests
http://www.listening-tests.info/
..  And MP3 does work on more platforms and devices than AAC.  

From the soundexpert pages, it is not clear that any of the top performers

are signficantly different at higher bitrates. Below 128 , AAC is 
usually considered a safer choice than MP3.

What's being encoded also matters, e.g. a person here ABX'd AAC artifacts 
on a couple of tracks at ~220 VBR.

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?s=d42fecf95112f88682253db3444f9f94&showtopic=61667

AAC's Hydrogenaudio wiki page is here

http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Advanced_Audio_Coding

listing pros and cons.

___
-S 
"Hey pip squeak, who's L Ron, some new rapper?" -- Nic