Stereophile magazine reviews the iPod (2 Viewers)

[nousername]

I never thought I'd see a high-end stereo magazine review an MP3 device. The October 2003 issue of Stereophile magazine gives the iPod a glowing review:

http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?934

 

[Scott L]

ooo didn't know AAC can compress hi-res audio with a 96kHz samp rate. Nice article!

 

[Pete_S]

As far as iTunes for Windows is concerned, it seems you can only encode AAC up to 48kHz. I tried converting a 16-bit (iTunes wouldn't even open a 32-bit) 96kHz wave at 192kbps and auto sample rate (other options were 44.1kHz and 48kHz) and iTunes spit out a 48kHz file at about 1/3 speed (a 2:53 song turned into 9:07).

Nero 6's built-in support for AAC produced similar results. The track again seemed to be about 1/3 speed, but the file was simply cut off once the 2:53 mark was reached.

If 96kHz is indeed possible in AAC, I wonder what software is available that will encode it?

 

[TyC]

So AAC supports 96kHz but not surround sound?

 

[Scott L]

I tried converting a 16-bit (iTunes wouldn't even open a 32-bit) 96kHz wave at 192kbps

Do you mean 24-bit here?

 

[Pete_S]

Scott L,

Nope, 32-bit was right. A double-check reveals that Windows XP recognizes the file as 24-bit (which may be my problem), but programs like Sound Forge 6 and Cool Edit Pro recognize the file as 32-bit.

I recently got a new turntable and soundcard, and I've been experimenting with different bitrates and sample rates to see how they effect the end result (16-bit, 44.1kHz for CD). In my limited experience, the click/pop reducer in Cool Edit Pro seemed to do a better job when it had a 32-bit file to work with. Anyway, that's a whole 'nother thread.