AAC, AIFF, Lossless, MP3

Sort of a related question regarding iTunes...

What is the highest quality download that you can obtain from the iTunes store. I don't believe that they offer downloads in Apple Lossless, is that correct? If so, how high up the chain can you go?

Thanks again!

Cwlondon, there is no such thing as a tagged wav file. There are various programs that can manage wav files and maintain a database of the same information that a tag usually contains, but the problem is if anything gets corrupted you can lose the tag info for all of your wav files at once, and this information won't get passed along if you choose another file manager.

Since the compresed formats all maintain the tag information as part of the music file, if one file gets corrupted it doesn't affect any of the others. I went with iTunes and Apple lossles because:

1. it does maintain the tags
2. IMHO the iTunes interface is the best
3. I can't hear a difference between it and wav
4. I can always convert them back to a bit perfect wav
5. I can't imagine trying to maintain and configure something as convoluted as EAC and foobar
6. It does save some space but if I thought I could get better sound I would use something else
7. I've got a lot of files and very seldom get a pop or a click using iTunes with error correction

best you can do in itunes is 128CBR. there may be a few choices at 320, but that's the rare exception.

Wow, 128, I was hoping for a little more resolution! I'm very happy with MP3 at 320 VBR on the Nano. Thanks to all that guided me in that direction. As an experiment, I went from the line out on the dock into my Plinius integrated and while the sound wasn't "audiophile" it's just fine for background music.

To pay $1/song for less resolution doesn't make sense to me. I'll continue to purchase CD's from half.com and convert them myself... I wish Apple would really provide iTunes downloads in Lossless. I would stop buying CD's for just 1 or 2 songs.

Portugall1:
You have hit what, IMO, is the MAJOR impediment to PC audio right now. If lossless is the only acceptable format and you must buy still buy a CD to get it (except for a very few opportunities to download mostly live concerts in FLAC), there is still a need for a good transport. As soon as we can start downloading an audiophile-friendly format, it will make much more sense to integrate PC audio into your main system.

For background music, that's a different story