Just received an e-mail about the upcoming Eagles new "album.
It says the following: "The full album available in high quality audio download. Available in two formats: MP3 256k and FLAC. Order now, this will be available for download on the release date of October 30."
Will either of those two formats allow me to play their album on iTunes and my iPod.
The album will be available as a "physical CD" also. I would think that should work??
Anyone know anything about this??
Thanks.
Frank
rdowns listed the formats the iPod can play. MP3 256K is one of them.
Here are some definitions:
MP3 is an audio format derived from the MPEG movie standard (it technically stands for "Motion Picture Experts Group movie version 1, layer 3", which is a subset of the MPEG-1 standard,) and is the most universally accepted "lossy" audio standard around. That means that the recording is not "CD perfect". The 256K refers to the amount of computer data per second required to store the file, 256 kilobits per second, or 256,000 ones and zeros of computer data per second of audio.
FLAC is a "lossless" file format, which means that it will sound
exactly the same as the source material. Most labels use the commercial CD as the source material for digital recordings, but if the Eagles label uses the original master tapes, it is possible that the FLAC file could sound
better than the commercial CD. Unfortunately, neither iTunes nor the iPod can play FLAC files, meaning you would have to convert it to a format the iPod understands.
Apple sells their music in AAC format (Advanced Audio Codec, a subset of the MPEG-4 standard.) It is less compatible, but is fully compatible with iTunes and iPods. AAC is a newer "lossy" standard than MP3, so while it is not a 'perfect' reproduction the way FLAC is, it does sound better for a given bit rate than MP3. So an AAC file at 256K would sound better than an MP3 file at 256K. Apple sells theirs in two versions, 128K AAC and 256K AAC (also called "iTunes Plus".) If the album is made available in iTunes Plus, then that would be a better choice than the straight-from-the-label MP3, but would still sound marginally worse than the straight-from-the-label FLAC. (But it would be easier to play in iTunes or on an iPod.)
At present, The Eagles label does *NOT* offer their music in iTunes Plus, though. Which means that the file you would buy from Apple would sound slightly worse than the MP3 version from the label, and would have DRM (meaning there are technical measures in place to prevent you from sharing the music with others; iTunes Plus, as well as the two file types from the label, do not have DRM.)
The easiest to deal with, however, would be a CD. You go purchase the physical CD, then import it into iTunes in whatever format you like. (You could use a 'high bitrate' AAC like Apple's iTunes Plus files, or you could even use Apple's version of a "lossless" format, "Apple Lossless", which would sound exactly the same as the physical CD, and would likely sound exactly the same as the direct-from-the-label FLAC file (but is compatible with iTunes and the iPod, unlike FLAC.)
