Yeah it's not always a guarantee of sound quality. But I have found instances where the MFiT version was better than the available CD version. Most times you will want to check these boards to see what is the preferred version then decide if it's worth it to spend the money or not. As far as Alice Cooper - Poison, try to track down an original CD, you can probably find it cheap, and see how you like the sound on it compared to your MFiT version.
The MFiT tools only give the option to correct clipping before submitting, there is no quality check by Apple to approve or not. You can read more about it below. That said I think quality in general is very good (for the price!) even hires files can have issues with DR/clipping. It all comes down to the mastering. MFIT Tracks in iTunes Clipped? - Gearslutz
I believe I still have an original CD from 89 in my collection. I’ll have to pull it out and do some comparing.
Thanks for the link, I’m going through some of the convo now between calls at work. I’ve checked out that DR website last night that I see members mention. I have a lot of the CDs that certain titles are listed as having a very good DR score. How much should I take that in to consideration vs any clipping? I also have some cds and MFiTs not listed that I was going to run through their app.
I like the concept of it. Sadly I just wish some of the artists were held to higher mastering standards. I'm surprised more artists are not doing where you have a standard release and an 'uncompressed' release. I think Paul McCartney did that with some of his remasters. So far that's the only artist I've seen do that. It's not like it would cost a lot more money to do. At least then buyers like us who care how it sounds won't have our ears ruined.
Yeah, most music is mastered for playlists and earpods, and that is the majority of listeners. Also, still think putting deluxe editions/box sets on streaming services is a missed opportunity. I mean which casual listener streams new Beatles White album's 100+ tracks? Make it download/physical only.
I am sure this has been asked and answered many times, but how do you determine whether a record has been "Mastered for iTunes"? I don't see a way to distinguish when streaming on Apple Music (the records don't seem to be labeled as MFiT).
There isn't any means of determining if a track/album is MFiT via Apple Music. The badge only appears on the iTunes Store content, so there's an awful lot of cross checking between the iOS Music & iTunes Store apps in iOS or between the Store and Library/Browse/For You tabs in the desktop iTunes app. Easier when there is only a single instance of a given album in Apple Music & iTunes, but it's far from ideal.
They’re still being added and some are occasionally on sale, but curation is non-existant. Aside from the occasional spotlight on the iTunes Store homepage, mainly featuring the biggest, lastest pop releases, there is no way to search or find them beyond looking for individual titles. I’ve been enjoying the heck out of the Lord Of The Rings Complete Recordings for each of the three films. All three MFiT, all three sound utterly magnificent. It was only the earlier two albums showing up in my Apple Music ‘For You’ tab that tipped me off that they’d been released. It wasn’t until I searched for them in the iTunes Store that I found out all three were MFiT (presumably tie-ing in with the Blu Ray/3CD box set reissues).
They used to have a spot in the iTunes Store where you could see the latest releases that were MFiT. But it seems they're no longer advertising these. What I really miss were the iTunes Essentials compilations iTunes Essentials - Music downloads on iTunes. I think these have been gone for quite a few years now.
Which revives my conspiracy theory that the iTunes store will be closed for music purchases by the summer.
I'm not sure how this is evidence of an iTunes Store "shutdown." Earlier this week, I read that UltraViolet was shutting down. A few weeks ago, we also heard Sony's cloud/streaming video service was shutting down. If anything, I would think this indicates purchases will stay here whether digital or physical.
I must admit I haven't been posting updates as much lately, but there are still quite a few weekly MFiT releases. As coffeetime says, aside from the usual Top 40/pop artist releases, they are often quite tricky to find, but here are a few I've not mentioned before that you may (or may not) enjoy from across the musical spectrum.... A 2018 Catch Up (I missed these previously) Son's of Kemet "My Queen is a Reptile" (new British Jazz with Shabaka Hutchings) Various Artists "We Out Here" (a new British Jazz showcase) John Coltrane "Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album" Thelonious Monk "Monk (Live)" Yo La Tengo "There's A Riot Going On" (really enjoyed this) Pusha-T "Daytona" Teyana Taylor "K.T.S.E." H.E.R. "H.E.R" Rosalia "El Mal Querer" St. Vincent "MassEducation" (Piano/vocal version of MassEduction) New releases include: The Specials "Encore" James Blake "Assume Form" Coming Soon: Stephen Malkmus "Groove Denied"
I would add that the upcoming Megadeth - Warheads on Foreheads greatest hits compilation also bears "Mastered for iTunes" icon but (as was the case with Dystopia) I would take that sign for Megadeth with a grain of salt.
I did not like the remaster of Rust In Peace which I think was from 2004? Went back to my original CD for that one. I'll definitely take a listen to this one.
there were actually two remasters: the one that was also remixed (2004) and the one with original mix (2016). The latter also bears Mastered for iTunes badge and it was first found at UK iTunes store. Later on was issued on HDtracks in 192-24 format along with Peace Sells. They're not disasters as anniversary remasters of PSBWB 2011 and CtE 2012 but still are compressed. DR6 and 7 if I recall right. If you look at Warheads page on iTunes, it looks like a melting pot of different remasters, so it has some tracks as 2004 remixes, some original mixes remastered (2012 for CtE tracks as an example) and 2018 Final Kill remaster for KIMB songs.
I wish they would bring back iTunes LP. When I bought The Beatles Box Set and The US Albums, both of these were MFiT and had iTunes LP. It was nice being able to look at the artwork.
You’re not alone. It was always disappointing that iTLP support never made it to iOS as the iPad would be a natural home for that sort of content whilst listening to the music. I’ve already started extracting the digital booklet .jpgs in anticipation of the day when iTunes no longer supports iTunes LP. Not as nice a a PDF digital booklet but ensures the content will always be accessible in the future.
Hmm so The Beatles individual albums and box set all show they have iTunes LP. But if I try to go to my past purchases and re-download, it doesn't give me the iTunes LP.
Check that they’re not hidden. I’ve come across iTLP files being hidden from being redownlaoded whilst the music remains visible.