Higher quality MP3s are coming our way, according to a recent report by CNN. Music executives have been working with Apple to bring songs that sound more like original studio recordings, instead of the compressed formats we have today.
Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Universal Music Group’s Interscope records:
“We’ve gone back now at Universal, and we’re changing our pipes to 24 bit. And Apple has been great,” Iovine said. “We’re working with them and other digital services — download services — to change to 24 bit. And some of their electronic devices are going to be changed as well. So we have a long road ahead of us.”
Lovine also has a hand in hip hop legend Dr. Dre’s high end headphones, Beats by Dre (which we reviewed).
High end MP3s would be a welcomed addition to iTunes, however it could come at a higher cost. Larger file sizes translate to longer download times. Most casual music listeners have stock Apple headphones with them, as opposed to bulky noise canceling headphones like Beats by Dre (consider the Z.buds by ZAGG). Given the limited capacity of storage on the iPhone, will people embrace higher quality MP3s?
[CNN]
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fyi, it’s Jimmy Iovine. An “i” not an “L”
Just as a point of clarification, Apple does not sell MP3s at all, they sell audio files in the AAC format. The last time they switched from selling 128K AAC files to 256K, it effectively doubled the sizes of each download. However, it seems that this is not the same sort of transition affecting file sizes, but one affecting more the player technology (playing 24-bit audio vs. 16-bit) so it will likely change the inner workings of iPods/iPhones more than it will library capacities.
Just my two, er, bits.
I need to get around to buying some high end headphones.
Could this finally mean an iPhone speaker upgrade?