Skip to main content

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: New iTunes Due in approx 60 days (Read 7583 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Quote
on Sunday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs demonstrated new podcast features in the next version of iTunes (presumably 4.9). Jobs said the new version of iTunes will be released within the next 60 days.


From here:
http://www.ipodlounge.com/index.php/news/c...ming-to-itunes/

Hopefully it includes VBR AAC...

Since they're getting behind official podcasts, I wonder/hope that means they are going to use new AAC features like SBR to improve the codec at low bit rates... Obviously one concern with podcasts is that a radio show of 30 mins  - 1 hour generates pretty big files even at 128K. Big in the terms of creating big bandwidth demands on the pages that host the shows.

So it seems it would be in Apple's interests to make nice sounding 48 - 64K bit rates the standard approach for Podcasting, because it means more content in AAC which is supported by fewer non-Apple audio players than a format like MP3 or even WMA.

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #1
Quote
Hopefully it includes VBR AAC...


Hmm.. I haven't heard that one before 

Isn't podcasts mainly spoken content, though? Regular AAC@32kbps should be sufficient then.

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #2
My understanding is that the AAC encoder is part of the Quicktime package.
So if I understand correctly, no Quicktime update, no ....

Edit: grammar

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #3
QT7 is already out for Mac, so it wouldn't suprise me if this new version of iTunes comes with QT7 for both Mac and Windows.

VBR AAC is included in QT7, but the big unknown is whether this will be intergrated into iTunes.  As for SBR, I suspect that its unlikely to be used by iTunes, as I doubt that all generations of iPod have the horsepower to deal with it.

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #4
Quote
My understanding is that the AAC encoder is part of the Quicktime package.
So if I understand correctly, no Quicktime update, no ....

[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=299768"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


QT 7 is already out for the Mac, with VBR encoding.

iTunes doesn't reveal these options, and generally only presents a limited selection of what's possible with QT.

So we're waiting on Quicktime 7 for Windows and probably a simultanous iTunes upgrade (v5 hopefully, rather than just 4.9) that enables lots of snazzy new features, like VBR and selling h.264 encoded videos maybe.

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #5
Quote
As for SBR, I suspect that its unlikely to be used by iTunes, as I doubt that all generations of iPod have the horsepower to deal with it.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=299776"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Did Apple make firmware upgrades so that all iPods can play Apple Lossless? I thought that the earliest iPods weren't offered such an upgrade.

I guess it would become very confusing if some players could play AAC+ but others couldn't, it would be difficult explaining to people that yes they have an iPod but it can't play that particular podcast...

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #6
Quote
Quote
As for SBR, I suspect that its unlikely to be used by iTunes, as I doubt that all generations of iPod have the horsepower to deal with it.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=299776"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Did Apple make firmware upgrades so that all iPods can play Apple Lossless? I thought that the earliest iPods weren't offered such an upgrade.

I guess it would become very confusing if some players could play AAC+ but others couldn't, it would be difficult explaining to people that yes they have an iPod but it can't play that particular podcast...
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=299781"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Even the shuffle can't play lossless files. Since many cellphones play AAC+, though, one would think that all iPods have enough power to do the same.

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #7
hmmm, still waiting for this gapless issue 

Tuning for higher bitrates (with vbr) would be fine ... maybe the first vbr-version will not show it's full potential and won't be as pleasing as most people hope ... we'll hear!

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #8
Quote
Tuning for higher bitrates (with vbr) would be fine ... maybe the first vbr-version will not show it's full potential and won't be as pleasing as most people hope ... we'll hear!
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=299927"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


It's really promising in QT 7.0.1 in terms of quality, but the target bitrate is adhered to very closely. It's understandable in an app like QT Pro, which is mainly for content creators who need control over filesizes etc, but they should really tweak it differently for iTunes (like LAME & MPC, for instance).

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #9
As I said on this other thread How can I use the AAC-VBR encoder of QT7?, I am not convinced vbr is really released yet.  If it is, it is a very stealthy release.

You can get true VBR only by exporting to a QT movie (.mov format).  Then repackage into mp4 with export to mpeg-4 (using passthrough on the audio).  Mpeg-4 export shows the VBR options, but they are greyed out (i.e. not enabled).

My attempts to script the encode result in narrow bitrate ranges (less than 1 kbps variation).  This means that the application is not set up for scripts yet.  My theory is that they plan on really releasing VBR later.

The same thing has been observed over on the Apple forums Apple QuickTime Forum.  No comments from Apple over there, yet.

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #10
Quote
My attempts to script the encode result in narrow bitrate ranges (less than 1 kbps variation).  This means that the application is not set up for scripts yet.  My theory is that they plan on really releasing VBR later.
I hope you are wrong, but I fear you might be right. 

Why the heck is Apple dragging their feet SO much on this?  After all, supporting VBR in iTunes would only serve to strengthen it!

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #11
Quote
Quote
My attempts to script the encode result in narrow bitrate ranges (less than 1 kbps variation).  This means that the application is not set up for scripts yet.  My theory is that they plan on really releasing VBR later.
I hope you are wrong, but I fear you might be right. 

Why the heck is Apple dragging their feet SO much on this?  After all, supporting VBR in iTunes would only serve to strengthen it!
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=304027"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Since they only released a preview version of Windows QT7 today, you can be sure this is what holds it up. It seems likely that the next iTunes & QT7 final, which will both arrive later this summer, will bring VBR encoding though.

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #12
All I want is support for "compilations" on my 4G iPod.

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #13
Quote
All I want is support for "compilations" on my 4G iPod.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=304509"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
In addition to VBR AAC, it would also be really nice if I could encode everything in one format (like Apple Lossless) for iTunes then have an iPod specific setting that denotes what format (like 160 or 192 AAC) it will download to my iPod.  I know iTunes already has something like this for the iPod Shuffle, but I'd like to have it for all iPods.  And I think the setting should be iPod specific so I could pick different bit rates for my 40gig iPod and 4gig iPod Mini.

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #14
iTunes 4.9 must exist somewhere now, because it's already grabbing podcasts.
"Facts do not cease to exist just because they are ignored."
—Aldous Huxley

 

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #15
I think you posted the wrong link; all it talk about is a Firefox pipelining hack.


New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #17
Quote
Quote
All I want is support for "compilations" on my 4G iPod.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=304509"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
In addition to VBR AAC, it would also be really nice if I could encode everything in one format (like Apple Lossless) for iTunes then have an iPod specific setting that denotes what format (like 160 or 192 AAC) it will download to my iPod.  I know iTunes already has something like this for the iPod Shuffle, but I'd like to have it for all iPods.  And I think the setting should be iPod specific so I could pick different bit rates for my 40gig iPod and 4gig iPod Mini.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=304614"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


The foobar plugin foo_pod can already do that.  Its really handy since a lot of my collection is in formats that don't get along well with the ipod.

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #18
Quote
The foobar plugin foo_pod can already do that.  Its really handy since a lot of my collection is in formats that don't get along well with the ipod.
I thought there is a problem with the actual foo_pod-version...
I've tried to transcode a few files but foo_pod failed (last version of foo_pod).
Which version of foo_pod do you use? It would be very interesting to transcode from musepack (level braindead or so) to mp3 or aac.
FLAC --> MP3 (Lame 3.96.1: V5 --athaa-sensitivity 1)

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #19
Quote
The foobar plugin foo_pod can already do that.  Its really handy since a lot of my collection is in formats that don't get along well with the ipod.
So what the heck is foo_pod and does it really work (see post above)?

BTW, I see 4.9 was released today.  Anyone found out what it really adds besides poadcasting?

New iTunes Due in approx 60 days

Reply #20
Quote
4.9 was released today.  Anyone found out what it really adds besides poadcasting?[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
[a href="http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=35155]artisanal gap-less'ish playback of aac[/url]