Napster upgrades its download clients, enhances audio fidelity to 192k

Iria · Nov 11, 2005, 07:12 AM

Los Angeles (California) - Starting the next-round of its ongoing battle against music download giant iTunes, Napster today unveiled version 3.5 of its downloadable music service software, increasing the bitrate of its MP3 files to equal that of a standard audio CD.

The statement from Napster this morning focused primarily on greater ease of use and improved navigation - phrases which could easily be photocopied from all the AOL releases of the past 15 years. But audiophiles are likely to focus on the key figure of 192k, nearly buried in the first paragraph. Up to now, many music collectors have complained that 99¢-per-song downloads, of the kind offered by both Apple's iTunes and "Napster Light," are limited to 128k bitrates and lower, and are thus susceptible to audible distortion when transferred to MP3 players such as Apple's iPod. On music forums, some have even argued that the cheap 99¢ price is justified, given that the audio quality of the song is cheap as well - at least cheaper than the 192k or higher bitrate of the same song ripped from audio CD.
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Read More / Source: TG Daily

Nov 11, 2005, 07:12 AM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	Napster upgrades its download clients, enhances audio fidelity to 192k Los Angeles (California) - Starting the next-round of its ongoing battle against music download giant iTunes, Napster today unveiled version 3.5 of its downloadable music service software, increasing the bitrate of its MP3 files to equal that of a standard audio CD. The statement from Napster this morning focused primarily on greater ease of use and improved navigation - phrases which could easily be photocopied from all the AOL releases of the past 15 years. But audiophiles are likely to focus on the key figure of 192k, nearly buried in the first paragraph. Up to now, many music collectors have complained that 99¢-per-song downloads, of the kind offered by both Apple's iTunes and "Napster Light," are limited to 128k bitrates and lower, and are thus susceptible to audible distortion when transferred to MP3 players such as Apple's iPod. On music forums, some have even argued that the cheap 99¢ price is justified, given that the audio quality of the song is cheap as well - at least cheaper than the 192k or higher bitrate of the same song ripped from audio CD. ____________ Read More / Source: TG Daily