Azazello1313 Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 pretty cool. the premise is, they give you 5 GB of storage for free (more if you pay, and they give you 20GB free for a year if you buy just one album from amazon's mp3 store). you can upload all the music you want within that restriction (or other documents if you want to use it for free online cloud storage and/or backup). anything you buy from amazon mp3 doesn't count against the limit and stays in your cloud for free. you can then stream anything in your cloud to any computer or android device any time you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 I'll have to check this out. I've noticed Amazon whole-album downloads are cheaper than iTunes, though iTunes has the (to me) hugh advantage of providing m4a format, which is way better quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukon Cornelius Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Brent was pimping this somewhere else a little while ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 m4a format, which is way better quality. at 256k, I don't think there are many people on the planet, if any, who can tell the difference between AAC and mp3 encoding in a blind test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrTed46 Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 at 256k, I don't think there are many people on the planet, if any, who can tell the difference between AAC and mp3 encoding in a blind test. Depends on what equipment you use...if it's like a ipod/cell phone player using stereo headsets I don't think I would care. But if it's on a high end system, I think this is where you start to hear a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaman Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 at 256k, I don't think there are many people on the planet, if any, who can tell the difference between AAC and mp3 encoding in a blind test. But I don't look at my music... and I can actually tell the difference on my iPod Like the volume and clarity of the song. Maybe it's the way iPod processes the formats but MP3s sound a bit more muffled compared to an iTunes download. I use Share pod to transfer mp3s into the iPod maybe something gets lost there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 Depends on what equipment you use...if it's like a ipod/cell phone player using stereo headsets I don't think I would care. But if it's on a high end system, I think this is where you start to hear a difference. from what I've read, there is a difference at lower bitrates that may be detectable. at higher bitrates, this distinction all but disappears. here's a bit from wikipedia: in terms of whether AAC is better than MP3, the advantages of AAC are not entirely decisive, and the MP3 specification, although antiquated, has proven surprisingly robust in spite of considerable flaws. AAC and HE-AAC are better than MP3 at low bit rates (typically less than 128 kilobits per second). This is especially true at very low bit rates where the superior stereo coding, pure MDCT, and better transform window sizes leave MP3 unable to compete. However, as bit rate increases, the efficiency of an audio format becomes less important relative to the efficiency of the encoder's implementation, and the intrinsic advantage AAC holds over MP3 no longer dominates audio quality. here's one listening test that is typical Here’s what I found: 256K Wild Sage: Both versions of the song sound great - I can clearly hear the plucking of the guitar strings, the breathiness of the vocal, no distortions anywhere. However, the MP3 and AAC sound nearly identical. No clear winner here. The MP3 version is 1.2MB smaller, though. Leaving on a Jet Plane: Same situation here. The song sounds great - clear vocal with subtle intonations and a general sense of brightness - but neither sounds appreciably different. 192K Wild Sage: No surprise here - this version sounds a bit muddied compared to the 256K version. However, there's still no clear distinction between AAC and MP3. The MP3 is almost 1MB smaller. Leaving on a Jet Plane: The pattern holds true. Not as good as 256K (of course), but very similar between the two file formats. 128K Wild Sage: Finally a difference! In this version, the AAC is a bit clearer and brighter than the MP3 which suffers from slight muddiness and a slurring together of some sounds. The filesizes are almost exactly the same, making the AAC the clear winner here. Leaving on a Jet Plane: And here the AAC is slightly superior in drum clarity. Otherwise, the songs sound fairly similar and are exactly the same size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 But I don't look at my music... and I can actually tell the difference on my iPod Like the volume and clarity of the song. Maybe it's the way iPod processes the formats but MP3s sound a bit more muffled compared to an iTunes download. I use Share pod to transfer mp3s into the iPod maybe something gets lost there there is potentially much more at play here. how were the mp3s encoded and what was the bitrate? these questions are infinitely more relevant than the container they ended up in. point here being -- no one is going to be able to tell the difference between an mp3 they bought from amazon and a m4a they bought from itunes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrTed46 Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 there is potentially much more at play here. how were the mp3s encoded and what was the bitrate? these questions are infinitely more relevant than the container they ended up in. point here being -- no one is going to be able to tell the difference between an mp3 they bought from amazon and a m4a they bought from itunes. I actually prefer flac (lossless) files. Those are hard to find online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiley Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Yeah, it's cool. I use dropbox, basically same concept except a folder is linked on my desktop and I can add anything to it then either share to the public or view/edit/work straight from my iPad. I think it's 4GB too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukon Cornelius Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 I actually prefer flac (lossless) files. Those are hard to find online. werd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 I actually prefer flac (lossless) files. Those are hard to find online. well yeah, anything lossless is going to be better than compressed formats like mp3 or AAC/m4a. file size will be several times larger as well. but even then it takes some pretty serious equipment and pretty good ears to hear a difference between a 256k or higher download from amazon or itunes and a lossless file. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukon Cornelius Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 well yeah, anything lossless is going to be better than compressed formats like mp3 or AAC/m4a. file size will be several times larger as well. but even then it takes some pretty serious equipment and pretty good ears to hear a difference between a 256k or higher download from amazon or itunes and a lossless file. when i convert from, lossy to m4 or mp3 you can hear the difference very easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 when i convert from, lossy to m4 or mp3 you can hear the difference very easily. do you mean from lossless to m4a or mp3? if that's the case, then again the question is what encoder and what bitrate? the encoders amazon and itunes use are very good, and they output at a high bitrate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 do you mean from lossless to m4a or mp3? if that's the case, then again the question is what encoder and what bitrate? the encoders amazon and itunes use are very good, and they output at a high bitrate. I use iTunes lossless protocol to import CDs and these are then stored on disk as m4a. I used to import as mp3 and there are definite differences between the two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 I use iTunes lossless protocol to import CDs and these are then stored on disk as m4a. I used to import as mp3 and there are definite differences between the two. that's different from what you buy on itunes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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