Apple to download 24 bit in iTunes?

Then there's the issue I was griping about in another thread where the music industry thinks they need to charge more for the higher resolution format when, in actuality, they have to do more work to DOWNSAMPLE the music from the native format it's stored in.

Djohnson, that's very interesting I never thought of it like that. I'm curious why digital music outlets haven't released tracks in 24bit from the git go...

Shadone has hit the nail on the head with compression being limiting factor in sound quality. Files were compressed because storage devices were limited in capacity, be it hard drive, ipod, mp3, etc. The smaller the file, the more songs could be purchased for any given device.
In the case of iTunes, they went from 128K songs to iTunes+ songs to Apple lossless. Each the upgrade extracted a price increase. Where do they go next, obviously 24 bit downloads. File size has increased as storage capacity has increased.
Sales of songs have flatlined so these companies need a new marketing strategy. If the new strategy is 24 bit, I say don't look a gift horse...This is what audiophiles have been waiting for. Just say thank you!

Yeah I don't care why they are pushing 24 bit (we all know why...). In reality 24 bit may not sound any different than well recoded red book but at least if it is 24 bit maybe they will not screw up the recording and the loudness wars of popular music will come to an end some day.

I bet it will be 24 bit lossless so the file may not be that large.

Does apple still have DMR? I have never downloaded anything from them.

I ment DRM digital rights management.

Sinner,

I'm curious why digital music outlets haven't released tracks in 24bit from the git go...

I think it's due to the fact that not much mainstream hardware (i.e., iPods) exists to play it. Those of us who crave it are a niche market at best. A 24/96 copy of the master (which may have only been 24/96 to begin with) would be pretty awesome assuming they didn't feel the need to mess with/compress it. Hopefully HDTracks has started something with their sale of the uncompressed 24/96 remastered version of Paul McCartney's Band on the Run.

Even though I think it's ploy for the music industry to make more money, we audiophiles certainly stand to benefit from its success.