Well I thought I had done this correctly...
but looking now as advised above, I can see music that I ripped using iTunes as well as everything I purchased is "protected AAC" and only 128.
One album which I always thought sounded better than the others was somehow ripped at 256.
But would love to know how to maximize fidelity, while remaining within iTunes if that is possible.
If iTunes forces you to buy compressed music, its time for all of us to stop using it.