The Official "Apple Digital Masters / Mastered for iTunes" Thread*

Thanks. I may get The Doors just to get an idea of what, if any, improvements there are over the original CD's, which is what I have. I do have the late '90's remaster of Waiting For The Sun, of which I do like the sound of.

I'm definitely going to get the 2009 version of Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out, but I was interested in getting the entire '60's collection. If it sounds as good as Hot Rocks does, then that's what I want to hear. Especially if it's better again than the 2002 remasters. Glad to hear it's the correct "Ruby Tuesday".

Thanks again.

 

Kid Rock is up.

Hey, somebody might want 'em...

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

Oh, hey, and one of my favorite artists, The Band, although lacking my favorite, the brown self-titled album...

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

Has anybody heard what the Cream MFiT's sound like?

 

Judging by the posts on this very helpful thread, the Led Zeppelin MFiT albums are definitely worth having. My only question is...if I already have some of the recent remasters, are the MFiT's worth getting? If they sound better than the CD's, then I will have no hesitation in buying as many as I can get away with!

 

They're from exactly the same HiRes masters as the current CD reissues; barring the lossy nature of the AAC files vs the lossless Redbook CDs and that they both produce 16bit/44.1KHz sound, it's a case of if you have the CDs then you've no real need for the MFiT files.

The aim of the MFiT program (in part) is to have the MFiT AAC files sound as close to the CDs as possible. If you're comparing the MFiT to the CDs there'll no appreciable difference and if you're CD/HiFi playback is good enough, the CDs will likely sound better.

If you have the CDs the only way the MFiT might sound better is if you're ripping the CDs to lossy AAC or Mp3.

As you have the new Zeppelin CDs already my advice would be to put the money towards something else music wise.

 

Thanks very much. That certainly helps narrow the field. At least with the Who's catalogue now on MFiT, they haven't had a corresponding CD release, which makes them an easy choice.

Many thanks again.

 

Don Henley's albums are now included.

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

Slightly off topic question, but this seems the best place. How long ago did the iTunes store stop selling Protected AAC files?

I seems ages to me, but someone recently complained to me about having a player that wouldn't play them. I didn't think it really mattered anymore.

 

I wanna say 2007?

 

The only full album I've ever gotten on itunes is the U2 album, the free one.

 

I think I missed something. How does that connect with Mastered for iTunes tracks?

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

I believe it was 2007 also. For the protected files, you can use iTunes Match to redownload unprotected versions, but I think it costs $25/year.

 

According to Wikipedia (yeah, I know), iTunes store kept DRM until April 2009.

Numerous websites claim you don't need Match to get rid of the DRM; you just need to delete the old files and download them again free using iTunes in the Cloud (look under Purchased in the store).

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

Yep, 2007 when iTunes Plus (DRM free 256KB/s) came in.

It's a messy one. One or two of my pre 2007 purchases weren't valid for the iTunes Plus paid upgrade as they'd been removed from the UK store by that point (I'm thinking the Kiss box set and the Final Fantasy XI soundtrack). Downloading them anew since then still gave me the DRM'd 128Kb/s files.

Will have to go back and see if they can be redownloaded sans DRM; I only notice these tracks if I try and play them back via Sonos from my NAS, which doesn't hnour the iTunes DRM (Fairplay IIRC). Flushing the last remnants of DRM from my library appeals hugely.

 

They need to make a Linux/Ubuntu port for iTunes. It would be nice not to have to keep a VM around to use iTunes.

 

I knew there was something else that I had to ask you...are the MFiT Doors albums the original mixes, or the 40th Anniversary mixes? This will decide on whether I give them a shot, or not.

 

They are the original mixes.

 

Good! I was hoping you were going to say that, because I am interested in having a listen to at least one album.
Thanks again.

 

Several Carole King albums (including Tapestry) are up, and I noticed that many Dwight Yoakam albums are, although I've no idea how long they've been there...

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

Tommy is Mastered for iTunes again.

The album catalogs for several Motown artists (Supremes, most of the rest of Stevie Wonder's albums, Diana Ross, etc.) are now up.

I believe Donna Summer previously had a compilation posted; now most of her albums have joined it.

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

Bought the MFiT Tommy back when it was (re)released - great sound, highly recommended.

Would love to see some mono MFiT singles compilations of Motown stuff, especially if they're now mastering individual artists and acts catalogues.

The new Melody Gardot album Currency of Man, due in June, will be MFiT as per the track available now for pre-ordering on iTunes. And sounds lovely (as per her previous MFiT album, The Absence).

 

I bet I end up with this version of Tommy, which means I'll have three disc versions (including the MoFi and the SACD) and the MFiT...

I agree; a mono Motown set would be great! Till then, I'll live with my hodgepodge collection of Bill Inglot mastered singles (highly recommended)...

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

It appears all the Lou Reed-era Velvet Underground albums are now Mastered for iTunes excepting Loaded; this includes VU and Another View.

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

Unfortunately "The Velvet Underground & Nico" Super Deluxe is not MFIT but the other 2 superdeluxes are