[pansixt]

I have been laboring for hours trying to figure out why some of my iTunes songs were showing up on my new SB Touch as "empty" on the remote and the Touch.

I finally figured out that I have some iTunes songs with DRM encryption (AAC Protected), though others that are newer are not protected and they show up and play, so I guess Apple does not use that any longer.

I have also figured out that I can burn an audio cd and then rip those selections back into My Music without the protection. And probably suffering loss in sound quality.

I am sure this is an issue that many have encountered, and I have gone over older topics in this circle.

Can any of you recall older posts on this and point me to them?

Or,

Offer another way around this (besides the obvious of having not used iTunes to begin with)?

And, how can I avoid loss of sound quality?

James

[neekomax]

James,

I feel your pain on that one. I, too, have DRM protected files (some of my favorite music actually) from iTunes. Using the Pure Music player for Mac, it wouldn't play the DRM files. Couple of thoughts:

1)These files are all 128kbps bitrate. Now that I have a decent system going, this is just not adequate. They sound kinda sh*tty.

2) iTunes now sells downloads without DRM at 256 kbps, which sounds way better.

So for me, since I like to have CD copies, I'm just going to start replacing key albums with CDs from Amazon, often used. Or you could buy them from iTunes again and get the better bitrate.

Finally, if you want to keep listening these files, the old burn to CD and then re-rip to iTunes works fine. I don't believe you will suffer a further loss in sq.

[pansixt]

Neeko,

I do have some protected selections that I have been putting off buying the CD. There are some that I also have on vinyl, so that I can live with.

The one particular protected selection that gripes me is the whole album "Upstairs" by Willi Lohmann Kapelle, which hasn't been released on vinyl and is some great German Blues. I guess I have delayed long enough, the CD purchase.

James

Edit:
Replacing with 256kb (or better when available) is a viable option, and will work for the really important individual tunes.
Which is similar to buying a better quality piece of vinyl or replacing a bunged up record, except maybe cheaper.
I will have to tally the INFECTED songs to determine the extent of a solution.

[toddbagwell]

Haven't tried it, but could you convert the aac to wav, then back to acc to rid yourself of the drm?

Todd

[srb]

I haven't come across any audio file converters that can convert iTunes DRM-protected files.
 
Steve

[pansixt]

Todd- I may eventually try that. Thanks.
It's early yet, so I will research more.

Steve-
They are out there I suppose. Again, more research is called for. Thanks.

James

[pansixt]

Update on the iTunes DRM Debacle:

As much as it gripes me to spend more money on the same tracks that I had already purchased thru iTunes, I have discovered some options to make them available to my Squeeze Server Library (or any non-apple device).

Apparently you can upgrade your iTunes Library thru the iTunes Store at a price per song.
You go to the iTunes Store Quick Links and click on iTunes Plus. This gives you a list of the available files in your iTunes Library that can be upgraded with the total cost for all files or you can choose to upgrade specific files only.

The upside is that I now have a DRM Free song which is also now 256kbps.
The downside is of course the aforementioned additional cost, and that I still have other DRM Protected files that at this time were not available to be upgraded.

In my case, 27 upgraded songs were available @.30 per song with a total of $8.10.
(Luckily, my sister had given me an iTunes gift card for my birthday, which reduced my pain somewhat).

So at least if you're biting the bullet, you do get better sound quality.

Another option is a pay DRM removal software such as http://www.removedrmsoftware.com/. Which may have other added benefits.

I won't be jumping to this costly option. At least not yet.

Any other advice or comments are always welcome.

James
 

[neekomax]

Interesting. Kind of sucks that Apple is looking for more cash for music we've already bought.

Personally, if I'm going to the trouble and expense of upgrading these files, I'm going CD. I've just ordered four of my favorite albums that I previously owned in 128kbps (some with DRM, some not) from Amazon. I buy used as much as possible, so the average cost per album is only about $7. I love this music, so it's worth it, considering I just dropped a grand on speakers  .

At this point, CDs just seem like a cooler deal than AAC or MP3. I get the hard copy which I can enjoy as an album at home or in the car, and then I can rip to either AIFF or 320kbps and keep it on my laptop and iPhone for easier access as well. I think I'm getting more for the money, and I don't have to worry that one day the sound quality of my CDs won't be adequate anymore, as is now the case for a lot of my older AAC/MP3s.

The only thing I'm giving up is the instant gratification of downloading files. But I'm wiling to wait the 2 days-2 weeks for a better format.

[pansixt]

I hear you and I agree that to have the CD or vinyl is of course a good thing and a more sane option. Though I have never claimed to be good or sane

And as I mentioned before, I will order Upstairs by Willi Lohmann Kapelle on CD
(which was my main gripe DRM protected album), and other selections, I already have on CD or vinyl.

And thanks for the other suggestions as well Neeko.
Perhaps I should add that this is the Discless Circle which implies that we are
discussing Discless and not necessarily CD's or Vinyl. Despite the fact that one can have a direct bearing on the other.

James

[Pez]

So to strip drm all you need to do is burn the music to a disc as a cd (ie rebook) then once it's a cd rip the music back to iTunes and when it asks 'duplicate or replace' select replace (unless you want to keep the old drm stuff then click duplicate) and you should be good to go.

[pansixt]

What software are you folks using to burn CD's and rip?
Nick- you mentioned achieving 320kbps with yours.

Note that I am still learning.

Thanks
James

Edit:

OK I just figured out that I can burn from iTunes and Import back into iTunes and choose the Format, all within that program.

I should ask, which is your preferred Format?

[Pez]

Native for iTunes I would use apple lossless unless youre dealing with hi Rez material, then I would use WAV.

[pansixt]

Pez- Thanks for the input.

I was reading about others preferring WAV for hi-rez in another topic.

Thanks

[neekomax]

For red book rip, I use AIFF, which I can put onto iPhone/iPod if I want to.

Or I do ALAC (Apple Lossless) 320kbps VBR if I want to save HD space.

[pansixt]

Got it Thanks

[Pez]

Regardless of what you do in itunes any of your iDevices should be able to decode it. Now, if you are like me and you don't really care too much about sound quality on your iDevices make sure to select 'automatically convert music files to AAC 128' when syncing. It takes FOREVER to do the first time, because it's converting potentially a lot of files, but once you get past the first go round it'll be much less painful.