Within the short span of time that it has been in existence, iTunes has managed to become one of the most successful media stores ever, whether physical or online. In addition to the great convenience of being able to purchase all kinds of media from any location at any time, one of the main things that makes iTunes so popular is the immense amount of media you are able to purchase. Whereas before, most music stores only allowed you to buy entire albums, iTunes revolutionized the game by also letting you purchase specific, individual songs off of those same albums. Yet, it is always important to pay attention to the file formats your music files are saved as, since there may at times be compatibility issues between Mac-based systems, like iPods, to PC systems.
Before you take the time to clean up your iTunes library, it's important to understand why these problems occurred in the first place. There are almost always compatibility issues when content is downloaded from somewhere other than iTunes. File sharing networks, burned CDs, and torrent sites are examples of non-compatible music sources. The information downloaded from these places can be either incorrect or missing entirely. There isn't a way to prevent that from happening unless you solely purchase from iTunes. The good news is that although it's inescapable, it is fixable.
Surely, the MP3 file format is the most widely known, since it can be played on virtually any digital music player or computer. However, despite its popularity, its bit rate, and thus sound quality, is not the best. The AAC file type has much better sound, while Apple Lossless is pretty much as good as it gets. Still, most people use AIFF and WAV files to burn CDs, probably because of smaller file sizes.
Regarding bit rates, again, it is the amount of data that is present within each second of sound you hear. With higher bit rates, the sound quality will be better, but the files will take up more disk space. Whereas the differences in file sizes between bit rates are quite distinct, the differences of their sound qualities are not as significant. Though most people will not mind lesser sound quality, there are many others, especially music professionals, that really depend upon those higher bit rates.
As we have seen records, 8-tracks, and cassettes fade away into the past, CDs will also soon become much rarer, as more music is bought online and then stored on digital devices. As you use your iTunes more, it is best to know as much as possible about file types and sound qualities in order to maximize your enjoyment.
Before you take the time to clean up your iTunes library, it's important to understand why these problems occurred in the first place. There are almost always compatibility issues when content is downloaded from somewhere other than iTunes. File sharing networks, burned CDs, and torrent sites are examples of non-compatible music sources. The information downloaded from these places can be either incorrect or missing entirely. There isn't a way to prevent that from happening unless you solely purchase from iTunes. The good news is that although it's inescapable, it is fixable.
Surely, the MP3 file format is the most widely known, since it can be played on virtually any digital music player or computer. However, despite its popularity, its bit rate, and thus sound quality, is not the best. The AAC file type has much better sound, while Apple Lossless is pretty much as good as it gets. Still, most people use AIFF and WAV files to burn CDs, probably because of smaller file sizes.
Regarding bit rates, again, it is the amount of data that is present within each second of sound you hear. With higher bit rates, the sound quality will be better, but the files will take up more disk space. Whereas the differences in file sizes between bit rates are quite distinct, the differences of their sound qualities are not as significant. Though most people will not mind lesser sound quality, there are many others, especially music professionals, that really depend upon those higher bit rates.
As we have seen records, 8-tracks, and cassettes fade away into the past, CDs will also soon become much rarer, as more music is bought online and then stored on digital devices. As you use your iTunes more, it is best to know as much as possible about file types and sound qualities in order to maximize your enjoyment.
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