DRM music format and bitrate comparison |
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In this article, I will show you different online music's bitrate. The most popular online music store selling music with different bitrate. Also, they sold music in different format. for example, the iTunes music store selling music with protected AAC format which can be only played by Apple's iPod. Know the online music format and bitrate will help understand the music information.
All online music stores and services are not created equal. They work with different MP3 players, and they sell and stream music with different file types and bit rates. It's this last quandary that we're covering here. First, note that file types and DRM (in other words, copy-protected files) are infinitely important when it comes to devices such as MP3 players. For example, only the iPod currently supports protected AAC files, whereas a wide selection of MP3 players supports protected WMA files. All MP3 players play MP3s, of course. If you listen to music on only the computer, you should have no problems finding a software jukebox that will play any of the file types below; in fact, most online music services require that you download their jukeboxes to purchase and play music. When it comes to sound quality, WMA, AAC, RAX, and ATRAC3 files are roughly equal when encoded at the same bit rate. MP3 sound quality is roughly half as good as the aforementioned file types, so an MP3 file encoded at 320Kbps would be about equal with a WMA file encoded at 160Kbps. Keep in mind that the higher the bit rate, the better the sound quality and the larger the size of the file (within the same file type). The chart below should help you navigate the jungle that is legal online music.
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| Music store/service |
File type(s) |
DRM |
Download
bit rate |
Streaming
bit rate |
 Apple iTunes music store |
AAC |
Yes |
128Kbps |
n/a |
 Napster |
WMA |
Yes |
192Kbps |
192Kbps |
 Rhapsody |
RAX (Harmony) |
Yes |
192Kbps |
160Kbps (hi-fi)/64Kbps (lo-fi) |
 Yahoo Music |
WMA |
Yes |
192Kbps |
128Kbps |
 MSN Music |
WMA |
Yes |
192Kbps |
n/a |
 Musicmatch |
WMA |
Yes |
192Kbps |
128Kbps |
 Wal-Mart Music Downloads |
WMA |
Yes |
128Kbps |
n/a |
 BuyMusic |
WMA |
Yes |
128Kbps for most; select songs at 256Kbps |
n/a |
 Virgin Digital |
WMA |
Yes |
128Kbps |
128Kbps |
 Sony Connect |
ATRAC3 |
Yes |
132Kbps |
n/a |
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Related articles:
 How to convert protected music files?
DRM free access services
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What experts say:
"If you are like most music lovers, you probably have a number of devices that you typically use to play your music. It would be safe to assume then that your music would probably exist in a number of different formats, such as audio cds or mp3s on your computer hard drive or portable digital music player.
What if you then wanted to transfer some of the music files on your computer into a portable digital music player? Or if you wanted to "rip" the music from your audio cd collection into your computer hard drive for archiving, backup or eventual transfer to your portable digital music player? SoundTaxi Professional handles all of these tasks and more, and remove drm with perfect ease and efficiency."
What users say:
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