"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:hoeSb.51691$U%5.285585@attbi_s03...
Are you sure about the MP3 format? Back when I looked into this,
they were delivering files in some not-MP3 format. I prefer MP3
because my CD player plays MP3 format CDs.

As someone else said, the songs actually come across in something called
".AAC" format.

This ACC format is actually MPEG 4, aka "MP4". The iTunes software
can understand and store files in ACC, AIFF, MP3, and WAV formats.
You can select this in the Importing Preferences. According to the
MPEG organization, ACC provides the better representation of all the
formats.

Note also that you can make a CD containing MP3 files using iTunes
(MP3 format CD). Just change the Preferences for burning a CD in the
iTunes software.

These formats are known as lossy compression methods. (Except for
AIFF, which is raw data, and I don't know about WAV.) They save space
by throwing away information that either can be inferred, isn't
necessary, or can be represented more compactly. There is some
necessary, but small, loss in fidelity of the sound. However, this
loss is small enough that unless you have top of the line equipment,
very good hearing, and a trained ear, you won't miss it.

In the usual use where there is normal amplifiers, speakers or
headphones, background noise, etc. then even a trained ear can't
really hear the difference.

Whatever it is, it rips straight to a CD without a problem, and apparently
plays in the iPod player (which I don't own).

Yup, we've got our whole CD collection on my wife's 15 GByte iPod with
space left over. YMMV. Of course we filled up the remaining space
with songs we'd purchased... grin Figure a full CD is 750 MBytes of
data. Typically perhaps 500-600 MBytes is used on a music CD. The
ACC compressed results for a few albums is below:

Aqualung: 40 MBytes
Andrea Bocelli's Romanza: 65.1 MBytes
Be Good Tanya's Blue Horse: 50.1 MBytes
Zap Mama's Seven: 69 MBytes
Bach's Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Teil I: BWV 846 - BWV 857 : 48.5
MBytes
Bob Dylan's MTV Unplugged Live 1996: 73.6 MBytes

As you see it varies some, but not with the type of music, but more
with how much the CD is filled. I think I counted 60 MBytes/CD disk
for my estimate and it came out pretty well. As usual, there's some
space on the iPod drive taken up by overhead and housekeeping data
storage, but a surprising part of the space is available.

I suppose there must be a way to convert it to MP3 format? For me this is
a non-issue, but I can see why it would be critical from your end...

Yes, using iTunes, you can export files to MP3. Just drag the file
from the iTunes window to the desktop on the Mac. Might be the same
thing on Windows too, I dunno about that.

The iTunes/iPod combination is a great one in my view. It packages
something we all like in an easy to carry and easy to manage system.
As far as it's use in a plane, as a pilot I don't want the music for
me for the same reason I have some problems with drivers using cell
phones. But my passenger likes it. We've got a headset with an
external input that my wife uses. She sets the volume so she can hear
me and the music. Works for us.

We've also got the iTrip from Griffin, a little short-range FM
transmitter that plugs into the top of the iPod. There's a few quirks
in it's usage - the volume has to be set right for example - by it's
great for car use of the iPod.

-Malcolm Teas
"I play a software geek in real life"