Different Song Time Lengths (iCloud vs Download)

[Tokenfreak]

Has anyone notice that songs that are matched and then downloaded from the cloud are different lengths than the songs in the iTunes store/Apple Music?

For Example:

A Song add to my library via Apple Music says it is 3:19. If I delete this song from Apple Music and upload a copy I have of the same song with iTunes Match and then download the new match song it says it is 3:17. If I delete the match copy and then just play the copy that was matched in iCloud it is 3:19 again. What gives? Is apple really giving us exact copies of these songs that are match? I just find all this a bit strange is all.

Anyone else notice this or have a similar issue?

 

[Tokenfreak]

Still having this issue. Song in iCloud/Apple Music is 4:09. After downloading the match song it is now 4:10. I delete the match song and then the time switches to 4:09 again since it is in icloud/apple music. I have confirm the time with other programs to to make sure it was not an iTunes thing. Anyone else having this issue?

 

[Rigby]

This is not uncommon. Most often the difference is brief silence at the beginning and/or end of the song. You can load the song into an audio editor and check.

 

[Tokenfreak]

This is not uncommon. Most often the difference is brief silence at the beginning and/or end of the song. You can load the song into an audio editor and check.

I understand that but why is it like that? I also notice a song a friend purchase plays a lot louder than a song that I have matched? They are suppose to be the same song from apple. If you view the properties of the song was is like -8.2 db and the other is like -1.5 db in volume. I have soundcheck off so I don't know why they are not the same loudness. Any ideas?

 

[Rigby]

I understand that but why is it like that? I also notice a song a friend purchase plays a lot louder than a song that I have matched? They are suppose to be the same song from apple. If you view the properties of the song was is like -8.2 db and the other is like -1.5 db in volume. I have soundcheck off so I don't know why they are not the same loudness. Any ideas?

There are many possible reasons. Apple often has multiple versions of a song from different album releases that may sound distinctively different (e.g. "remastered", dynamic range compression etc.). There may also be differences in the master files that the studios or artists supply to Apple (e.g. they are often specifically tuned for digital distribution channels and different from the CD versions). Replay gain meta data may have been added during encoding. If you have ripped songs from CDs, the ripping software may add silent frames at the beginning or end.