New iTunes Plus Offerings Tested by Gizmodo

Charlie White of Gizmodo put the new iTunes Plus offerings through a series of tests to determine whether these "premium quality" music files were worth the 30 cent premium. Granted, the main appeal of these newly released tracks is the fact that they are DRM free -- but they still have user information embedded in them -- but what about the claimed improvement in sound quality that Apple promised? Is that there?


The short answer is yes... sort of. Charlie found that the 256kbps iTunes Plus tracks were a little crisper and the sound quality was a touch better, but he had a hard time justifying the 30 cent premium if based on how the tracks sound alone. More often than not, he couldn't even tell the difference between the $1.29 iTunes Plus and the $0.99 iTunes versions of the same song. If you want "listenability", both will suit you just fine, whereas true audiophiles might be able to discern the difference when using better equipment.

In the end, the big selling point is the DRM-free quality of these new tracks, allowing you to play them on something other than an iPod.




Written by Jeff Strickler
Published in Multimedia Devices