|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
12-02-2003, 11:05 AM
|
#1 of 33 
|
|
Member
Join Date: Aug 2001
Local Time: 06:02 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 6,324
|
A High Resolution iPod in the future?
I wonder if we might see a hirez iPod in our future...
Hard drive space is coming down constantly in price and 120GB drives are commonly available...maybe they can shrink these things into an iPod for a premium priced version aimed at audiophiles or well-to-do geeks.
Just imagine being able to download DVDA and SACD tracks. I would pay $0.50 extra per track for higher resolution. Maybe iTunes could experiment with DVD Audio tracks to start...
What do you think?
Do you think Apple at some point in the future will do this given the overwhelming success of the iPod/iTunes phenomena?
Maybe I'm just a dreaming audiophile. 
By the way, www.positive-feedback.com Issue #10 is now up and an iPod review follow-up is included. This device is getting high marks for sound quality from the audiophile community...
no fears alone at night she's sailing through the crowd
in her ears the phones are tight and the music's playing loud
~skateaway
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
12-02-2003, 12:33 PM
|
#2 of 33
|
|
Member
Join Date: May 1999
Local Time: 11:02 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 8,065
|
Even with the existing compression, high-res stereo would take to 75 times as much space as MP3s. A typical album would take 3GB or more space. 3GB of download bandwidth for an album?
Plus, iTunes security has been breached. They'd come up with new encryption, but fear would remain.
High-res downloads aren't going to happen in this decade.
My (realistic) opinion.
|
|
|
|
|
12-02-2003, 01:20 PM
|
#3 of 33
|
|
Member
Join Date: Aug 2001
Local Time: 06:02 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 6,324
|
Quote:
|
A typical album would take 3GB or more space.
|
Good point on storage, but that means with a 120GB drive you can get 40 albums in hirez on a iPod. I don't see that as a big challenge.
Quote:
|
3GB of download bandwidth for an album?
|
I suspect that people would do one track at a time and this would be no problem if you had broadband or DSL speed.
no fears alone at night she's sailing through the crowd
in her ears the phones are tight and the music's playing loud
~skateaway
|
|
|
|
|
12-02-2003, 01:26 PM
|
#4 of 33
|
|
Join Date: Oct 2003
Local Time: 06:02 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 41
|
Quote:
Plus, iTunes security has been breached. They'd come up with new encryption, but fear would remain.
|
This is 100% FALSE
iTunes security has not been anywhere near "breached." All that happened is that someone -- any 3rd year CS student could have -- figured out that at some point encypted audio data needs to be decrypted before it is sent to the sound card. All this "patch" does is intercept the audio stream after it's already been decrypted and writes out the raw AAC to a file which without header information is unusable by anyone.
A nifty excercise to be sure, but ultimately pointless since it relies on an exact calling address within Apple's QT DLL. Once this DLL is patched by Apple, this hack goes away.
Once again, the DRM of the AAC files delivered by the iTunes music store was in no way compromised. Spreading things like this is FUD plain & simple. |
|
|
|
|
12-02-2003, 01:45 PM
|
#5 of 33
|
|
Member
Join Date: May 1999
Local Time: 11:02 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 8,065
|
Roland,
Regardless of whether or not the encryption was broken, the fact is that iTunes was once secure, and now it is not.
Once Apple patches it, there will be new hacks...the war will escalate.
|
|
|
|
|
12-02-2003, 04:04 PM
|
#6 of 33
|
|
Join Date: Oct 2003
Local Time: 06:02 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 41
|
Quote:
the fact is that iTunes was once secure, and now it is not.
|
No, that is NOT a fact. You still don't seem to understand that what this person did has No bearing whatsoever on iTunes or the files. Simply running a file through his "patch" does LESS than if you were to burn the AAC file to a CD-R and then re-rip it as an MP3.
There is nobody stealing anything from iTunes because of this academic exercise, and as I already explained, the resulting files are useless.
iTunes is as secure as it ever was. It's amazing how many people take the media's explanation of things hook, line, & sinker without ever questioning it or doing any research of their own. |
|
|
|
|
12-02-2003, 05:09 PM
|
#7 of 33
|
|
Member
Join Date: May 1999
Local Time: 11:02 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 8,065
|
Quote:
No, that is NOT a fact. You still don't seem to understand that what this person did has No bearing whatsoever on iTunes or the files. Simply running a file through his "patch" does LESS than if you were to burn the AAC file to a CD-R and then re-rip it as an MP3.
There is nobody stealing anything from iTunes because of this academic exercise, and as I already explained, the resulting files are useless.
|
It transcodes encrypted AAC to unencrypted AAC with no generation loss. You really think nobody will come up with a way to make valid headers and make these files usable?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
12-02-2003, 07:12 PM
|
#8 of 33
|
|
Member
Join Date: Jun 1999
Local Time: 06:02 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 3,356
|
back on topic...
I think Hi-rez on iPods would be a waste of time for a number of reasons:
- Uses up too much HD space. I know the size of these small HDs are getting bigger, but the size of the MP3s really clobbers that space in no time. 3GBs for a CD? Way too much space.
- Way too long to download. High Speed internet connection is nice, but it would still take too long with files of this size. Plus, many high-speed ISPs have download caps. My download cap is 10GBs/month, and I get charged for each GB over the limit. Downloading 3 hi-rez albums would cost me ALOT more than just paying for the songs.
- The difference in sound quality wouldn't be worth it. The iPod (and most other MP3 players) aren't audiophile type equipment. They have their limitations, and you would also need to upgrade to some pretty expensive headphones ($200+). Not to mention that outside noise would ruin alot of the advanteges. I use my iPod while commuting on the train everyday - and no matter how loud I play it, I can still hear the trains, people talking, cell phones, pagers, and notebooks. The noise would offset any detail you would hear.
- I know ripping DVD-A is possible, but how hard/easy is it to rip SACD?
IMO, MP3s at 256Kbps or 320Kbps would be the best balance between portability/speed/space and sound quality.
Ripping uncompressed CD-Audio should be good enough for audiophiles - but I still cant see people downloading 700MBs for 1 album worth.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
12-03-2003, 09:04 AM
|
#9 of 33
|
|
Member
Join Date: Aug 2001
Local Time: 06:02 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 6,324
|
Quote:
|
The iPod (and most other MP3 players) aren't audiophile type equipment.
|
Stereophile would seem to disagree with this statement in their latest awards and iPod product review.
Quote:
|
I know ripping DVD-A is possible, but how hard/easy is it to rip SACD?
|
That's why I suggested hirez PCM initially until DSD gets cheaper.
Quote:
|
Ripping uncompressed CD-Audio should be good enough for audiophiles - but I still cant see people downloading 700MBs for 1 album worth.
|
I see your point Marc, but I am trying to envision the future where 120GB or 200GB drives get real small and broadband speed increases. At that point, I think hirez is doable. By the way, I am about to get an iPod to hold uncompressed CD wav files from my ThinkPad. 
no fears alone at night she's sailing through the crowd
in her ears the phones are tight and the music's playing loud
~skateaway
|
|
|
|
|
12-03-2003, 11:46 AM
|
#10 of 33
|
|
Member
Join Date: Jun 1999
Local Time: 06:02 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 3,356
|
Quote:
|
By the way, I am about to get an iPod to hold uncompressed CD wav files from my ThinkPad.
|
Cool.
I assume you'll be getting the 40GB model... if you plan on having them uncompressed.
I only have last years 5 GB model, but even with higher bitrates, it's holding 650+ songs. I'll probably upgrade next year and dump of the old one to my brother.
Gotta have the latest toys.  |
|
|
|
|
