Asia Studios Massage

iTunes Canada - now open

Previous Thread Next Thread
X

xarir

Retired TERB Ass Slapper
Aug 20, 2001
3,765
1
36
Trolling the Deleted Threads Repository
Well, just made my first ever online purchase of music. I went through the iTunes store which is now open in Canada. For $9.99 (Canadian?) I was able to purchase an entire CD that costs $23.99 at HMV. Single tracks cost $0.99.

At the moment I'm burning my download onto a CD. The files are downloaded in AAC format but iTunes should be converting that to standard audio CD format on my burn.

Overall it's a pretty painless experience purchasing online. The selection was adequate as well. A nice touch is that it's easy to compare several different recording before making a purchase (I listen mostly to classical music).

So far, two thumbs up!
 
C

Chivas Regal

A Fine Lickor !
Jul 5, 2002
930
42
28
Omnipresent
www.chivas.com
Finally, I have been accessing the iTunes store through a friends US account.

xarir. I don't know why you are paying $23.99 for a classical cd in the stores. They generally aren't that expensive as there are no royalties to pay the composers...

Chivas Regal
 
X

xarir

Retired TERB Ass Slapper
Aug 20, 2001
3,765
1
36
Trolling the Deleted Threads Repository
Vanessa - Fer sure I have an iPod. Mine is a 2nd generation 20GB iPod. I've been considering upgrading to either a 40GB or 60GB photo iPod. The newer ones don't feel any lighter than my existing iPod (even though they are a few grams lighter according to the specs), but they are slimmer, more rounded devices that also have longer battery life than mine does. The battery life is really the thing that attracts me to the new iPods.

Chivas Regal - LOL. Yes, the music is generally off copyright these days. But the album I bought is a new recording by Claudio Abbado & the Berlin Philharmonic on Deutsche Grammaphone - these recordings are generally full price of $23.99 no matter where you go. Other labels cost much less but not DG.


On a general note. you can get pretty much anything on the iTunes store. There are all kinds of different music and there are audiobooks on there as well. It's interesting to experience the blur that technology is creating between content and the purchase of that content. Coupled with the ease of the iPod and you can seen that Apple really does have the killer app / hardware combo. I look forward to the time that I'll be able to buy DVDs online this way.


A note to audiophiles - I just listened closely to the CD on my normal audio system. (I'm "sick" today and not at work. :)) It sounds pretty good, but I'm wondering if the AAC encoding strips out some of the "inaudible" info. On the whole I'd say I got a good recording and at the price of only $9.99 it's worth it. But I'd be interested in buying the real CD anyway just to do a comparison. There are moments in the recording where it seems some of the detail isn't there. I'm not sure if it's the recording, or if my speakers are swallowing the detail as they sometimes do. So I'll take the CD over to Dad's place and try it out there as his system is far superior to mine.

Xarir's Audio System
Kef Reference 104.2
Proceed Amp5
Bryston SP1
Pioneer Elite DV37

Dad's System
B&W Nautilus 802
Mark Levinson 336
Proceed AVP
PS Audio Lambda Transport
Transparent Audio interconnects throughout
 
B

baci2004

Bad girl Luv'r
Mar 21, 2004
2,573
1
36
53
At the range!!!
Xarir- What bit rate are they and/or what's the average file size?
 
J

jiminy02

Member
Mar 8, 2004
56
1
8
I downloaded a couple tracks and they are 128kbps, lower than the 192kpbs that I've standardized on for ripping music from my CD's for my iPod. There doesn't seem to be any choice in the matter from what I can tell (would be glad to hear if you can select the bit rate you download at!).

The 2 songs I downloaded had file sizes of 5,642KB for a song 5:51 in length and 3,515KB for a 3:36 song, so roughly 1000KB/min of the track.

To me it seems like they have pretty limited selection so far (a number of artist listed with no tracks available to purchase) - hopefully they will flush out their selection as time goes by.
 
B

baci2004

Bad girl Luv'r
Mar 21, 2004
2,573
1
36
53
At the range!!!
I did a little test a few years ago, my results varied from song to song.
On one hand if you filter out all of the inaudible sounds you change the way they would have harmonically effected the sounds you do hear.
On the other hand when you remove them and with consideration to the hiss,cracks and pops that would also be removed you get a brighter sounding track with some background that you may have never noticed.

I rip all my stuff @160 and try not to think about it too much. When the drives get bigger and more affordable I will probably restore them all back to wave. I found with tracks that I have ripped I can bring them back to wave without any loss (128 and up) because they are only being commpressed. When you rip at a lower rate, some of the fat gets trimmed and as a result can never be truely restored.
 
B

baci2004

Bad girl Luv'r
Mar 21, 2004
2,573
1
36
53
At the range!!!
xarir said:
From the Get Info summary of a 10min 37sec downloaded track:

Kind - Protected AAC audio file
Size - 9.9 MB
Bit Rate - 128 kbps
Sample Rate - 44.100 kHz
Click to expand...
Does anyone know what AAC is? I think it's a Sony format.

Thanks xarir
 
K

kmark2000

Member
Mar 7, 2004
114
0
16
Sony's proprietary format is called ATRAC and is compatible with nothing but NetMD players.
 
J

jelloman

Member
Oct 24, 2001
31
0
6
I'm enjoying itunes.ca as well. I don't mind paying for downloads, especially if they are of good quality and the download is fast . . . itunes seems to deliver on both.

My disappointment, however, was discovering that you can only burn an itune 7 times. Following which, I presume you have to purchase the song again? Am I understanding this correctly or is there a means to circumvent this restriction.

The recording industry just doesn't get it . . . if you make a lot of CD's, 7 times is not much. It's just going to force people back to the free download sources.

Thanks,

Jelloman
 
C

Chivas Regal

A Fine Lickor !
Jul 5, 2002
930
42
28
Omnipresent
www.chivas.com
After using iTunes for a week now, I find that I use the American browser for top 100 charts. The Canadian site is still in it's infancy and does not quite cut it yet.

As a sidebar, I peruse the charts in iTunes use my Limewire to download and avoid the cash outlay. I only pay for the songs that are relatively obscure and hard to find.

All in all Steve Jobs gets it. If you have $$ to invest I would recommend buying some Apple shares and sitting on them for awhile...you won't be disappointed, especially with the new products and services that will hit the market soon.

Chivas Regal
 
R

RogerRabbit

New member
Jul 7, 2003
1,796
0
0
Canada...
xarir said:
From the Get Info summary of a 10min 37sec downloaded track:

Kind - Protected AAC audio file
Size - 9.9 MB
Bit Rate - 128 kbps
Sample Rate - 44.100 kHz
Click to expand...
I usually get the cd and process it at the higher setting, on my G4.

Is there a higher quality download service available to Canadians, that is compatible to a mac?

For example, www.puretracks.com is not available/ compatible to mac users:

'We value our Mac audience, however the Windows Media player for the Mac
platform is not currently compatible with Microsoft protected audio content.
Puretracks is currently working to make our service available to Mac users.'


:)
 
V

VincenzoTurismo

Banned
Aug 1, 2002
2,183
0
0
Toronto
You can download songs off of Kazaa and still upload them to your I-Pod. You just have to have the I-Tunes player.

Ciao,

VT
 
V

VincenzoTurismo

Banned
Aug 1, 2002
2,183
0
0
Toronto
No problem ;)

But I'm not promoting stealing music instead of purchasing it. I'll buy CD's here and there as long as I like the artist and mostly all of their songs. LOL

Ciao,

VT
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Previous Thread Next Thread
Toronto Escorts
Top Bottom