Why pick Beatport over iTunes?

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Why pick Beatport over iTunes?
Posted on: 16.05.2013 by Dylan Kockler
So I'm sitting here trying to decide where would be the best place to buy my music from and a big question popped up.

Why would anyone pick beatport over iTunes?

Are there advantages to this when it comes to djing/producing?
Gaynell Rydberg
20.05.2013
Originally Posted by DISaS73R
We were talking about 320kbps and V0, not lossless.

And no, you do not actually hear the difference because lossy compression algorithms are based on the limitations of human perception and sound systems. In other words, unless your ears are trained really well and you're listening to a really good sound system, you'll hardly hear the difference. All those "but FLAC is clear" comments are based on placebo.
It's not placebo. Some people really can tell the difference.

You can ABX test yourself if you want to find out. There's a pretty big difference between V0 and 320 kbps though. I believe most people should be able to tell the difference if you have a decent sound system.
Olin Easley
19.05.2013
Originally Posted by minimal
Lossless 'breaths' more, it has a wider soundstage & the bass is more together. Also you won't get as much ear-fatigue from lossless.
We were talking about 320kbps and V0, not lossless.

And no, you do not actually hear the difference because lossy compression algorithms are based on the limitations of human perception and sound systems. In other words, unless your ears are trained really well and you're listening to a really good sound system, you'll hardly hear the difference. All those "but FLAC is clear" comments are based on placebo.
Bunny Sockel
17.05.2013
Originally Posted by Da171mastah
I can hear the difference. I swear everytime I download from them it sounds distorted and im not about to blast that over a good sound system. I mean if your playing at parties or a whole in the wall bar who cares, but anywhere respectable dont be using such bad quality. And they need to start offering better quality downloads imo
Wow, What your saying is crap. The only way that there is distortion on iTunes is if a track is badly mastered. You can't hear the difference between a well mastered 256kbps file and a well mastered 320kbps file.
Tesha Freudenstein
17.05.2013
Originally Posted by minimal
But coming back to beatport, I have started to buy my house on Bandcamp, same tunes as Beatport but only $1 for lossless, goes strait to the artist & if you buy the whole release its only a couple more $ for the vinyl + Flac.

Gotta love that.
also a very good way to support the artist
Suzanna Paddock
16.05.2013
Originally Posted by baller95
I've heard this too and honestly, I can't hear a difference between the two... If anything I believe the 256 AAC has a crisper sound.
Well, you can't hear the difference on crappy speakers or on headphones in the subway, no. But pop it on a good loud-ish soundsystem with a decent soundcard & I guarantee you you'll be able to spot the difference.

Lossless 'breaths' more, it has a wider soundstage & the bass is more together. Also you won't get as much ear-fatigue from lossless.

A tune with lots of complex harmonics, brass or high hats, usually sounds pretty bad in mp3. 320k or even 192k on simpler tunes is OK but lossless is better all the time.

But coming back to beatport, I have started to buy my house on Bandcamp, same tunes as Beatport but only $1 for lossless, goes strait to the artist & if you buy the whole release its only a couple more $ for the vinyl + Flac.

Gotta love that.
Ela Hoeger
16.05.2013
Originally Posted by MWagner
For what its worth, I have also seen it claimed that 256 AAC is equivalent to 320 mp3. I believe it was in an article on Digital DJ tips about file formats. I have no idea if that's true, as I have never purchased anything from itunes.
I've heard this too and honestly, I can't hear a difference between the two... If anything I believe the 256 AAC has a crisper sound.
Addie Mardesich
16.05.2013
Originally Posted by makar1
There's nothing wrong with the VBR AAC encoding (actually >256kbps peak) used for Itunes music. Noone can hear the difference between that and a CD.
I can hear the difference. I swear everytime I download from them it sounds distorted and im not about to blast that over a good sound system. I mean if your playing at parties or a whole in the wall bar who cares, but anywhere respectable dont be using such bad quality. And they need to start offering better quality downloads imo
Alphonso Deitchman
19.05.2013		The difference between V0 and 320 is negligible; they are both considered transparent and identical in terms of quality.
Manuel Schleuter
19.05.2013		Beatport sells music with rights for public performance, iTunes is for personal use only. I believe in U.S. that doesn't matter but in here (Finland), you have to pay for extra license if you want to play them at gig.
Olin Easley
20.05.2013		For the difference between V0 and 320kbps, you need not only a good and loud, but also very well balanced system because the whole point of VBR is that more information is lost when it can be afforded to. Unless you're an audiophile with a badass system at home, you'll probably never get the chance to hear that difference.
Gaynell Rydberg
20.05.2013
Originally Posted by DISaS73R
We were talking about 320kbps and V0, not lossless.

And no, you do not actually hear the difference because lossy compression algorithms are based on the limitations of human perception and sound systems. In other words, unless your ears are trained really well and you're listening to a really good sound system, you'll hardly hear the difference. All those "but FLAC is clear" comments are based on placebo.
It's not placebo. Some people really can tell the difference.

You can ABX test yourself if you want to find out. There's a pretty big difference between V0 and 320 kbps though. I believe most people should be able to tell the difference if you have a decent sound system.
Olin Easley
19.05.2013
Originally Posted by minimal
Lossless 'breaths' more, it has a wider soundstage & the bass is more together. Also you won't get as much ear-fatigue from lossless.
We were talking about 320kbps and V0, not lossless.

And no, you do not actually hear the difference because lossy compression algorithms are based on the limitations of human perception and sound systems. In other words, unless your ears are trained really well and you're listening to a really good sound system, you'll hardly hear the difference. All those "but FLAC is clear" comments are based on placebo.
Bunny Sockel
17.05.2013
Originally Posted by Da171mastah
I can hear the difference. I swear everytime I download from them it sounds distorted and im not about to blast that over a good sound system. I mean if your playing at parties or a whole in the wall bar who cares, but anywhere respectable dont be using such bad quality. And they need to start offering better quality downloads imo
Wow, What your saying is crap. The only way that there is distortion on iTunes is if a track is badly mastered. You can't hear the difference between a well mastered 256kbps file and a well mastered 320kbps file.
Rolanda Clodfelder
17.05.2013		Something to consider is that more commercial "big label" tracks get re-mastered specifically for itunes bitrates, so you are not just getting a wav rip re-encoded you are getting a re-mastered track that will sound great at 256AAC virtually eliminating the issues surrounding a lossy format.

I use itunes when the tracks are available and I know what I'm looking for, e.g. I picked up a defected Miami album on itunes (20 tracks + 2 continuous mixes) for $4.99 it had only been out a week.

Genres on Beatport suck donkey balls, its becoming harder and harder to find what the hell I'm after. Juno is better IMHO but their interface looks really dated at this stage.

Gah ...Going from blog to blog, playlist to playlist and seeing whats available where is so freaking much more time consuming than going to a record shop for a few hours and picking up absolute 10 gems to play out at the weekend.
Tesha Freudenstein
17.05.2013
Originally Posted by minimal
But coming back to beatport, I have started to buy my house on Bandcamp, same tunes as Beatport but only $1 for lossless, goes strait to the artist & if you buy the whole release its only a couple more $ for the vinyl + Flac.

Gotta love that.
also a very good way to support the artist
Alphonso Deitchman
16.05.2013		Noone will ever be playing on a sound system remotely good enough to be used as an accurate benchmarking tool for comparing lossy and lossless audio.

The real benefit of lossless is the ability to re-encode to a format of your choice without an unnecessary drop in quality.
Suzanna Paddock
16.05.2013
Originally Posted by baller95
I've heard this too and honestly, I can't hear a difference between the two... If anything I believe the 256 AAC has a crisper sound.
Well, you can't hear the difference on crappy speakers or on headphones in the subway, no. But pop it on a good loud-ish soundsystem with a decent soundcard & I guarantee you you'll be able to spot the difference.

Lossless 'breaths' more, it has a wider soundstage & the bass is more together. Also you won't get as much ear-fatigue from lossless.

A tune with lots of complex harmonics, brass or high hats, usually sounds pretty bad in mp3. 320k or even 192k on simpler tunes is OK but lossless is better all the time.

But coming back to beatport, I have started to buy my house on Bandcamp, same tunes as Beatport but only $1 for lossless, goes strait to the artist & if you buy the whole release its only a couple more $ for the vinyl + Flac.

Gotta love that.
Ela Hoeger
16.05.2013
Originally Posted by MWagner
For what its worth, I have also seen it claimed that 256 AAC is equivalent to 320 mp3. I believe it was in an article on Digital DJ tips about file formats. I have no idea if that's true, as I have never purchased anything from itunes.
I've heard this too and honestly, I can't hear a difference between the two... If anything I believe the 256 AAC has a crisper sound.
Alphonso Deitchman
16.05.2013		It's not hardcapped at 256kbps btw. I have an Itunes track here that's at 274.

MP3 and AAC tend to level out at high bitrates though.
Werner Bile
16.05.2013		For what its worth, I have also seen it claimed that 256 AAC is equivalent to 320 mp3. I believe it was in an article on Digital DJ tips about file formats. I have no idea if that's true, as I have never purchased anything from itunes.
Ela Hoeger
16.05.2013		I'd go beat port if I wanted loseless but if I'm looking for MP3's and they're cheaper on iTunes I'll definitely buy off of there.
Latoria Kavulich
16.05.2013		beatport isn't your only alternative to itunes. check out juno and djtunes also.
Alphonso Deitchman
16.05.2013		"Good" sound systems do not exist in DJing and other live music performances. Loud != good.
Addie Mardesich
16.05.2013
Originally Posted by makar1
There's nothing wrong with the VBR AAC encoding (actually >256kbps peak) used for Itunes music. Noone can hear the difference between that and a CD.
I can hear the difference. I swear everytime I download from them it sounds distorted and im not about to blast that over a good sound system. I mean if your playing at parties or a whole in the wall bar who cares, but anywhere respectable dont be using such bad quality. And they need to start offering better quality downloads imo
Dorie Scelzo
16.05.2013		1. Beatport has a much larger selection.

2. Beatport offers lossless files.
Alphonso Deitchman
16.05.2013		There's nothing wrong with the VBR AAC encoding (actually >256kbps peak) used for Itunes music. Noone can hear the difference between that and a CD.
Addie Mardesich
16.05.2013		dont dj with itunes music 256kbps is a freaking joke and its whats wrong with the music industry
Nedra Fresneda
16.05.2013
Originally Posted by Drade
Gotcha, so there would be no issue trying to produce or dj with tracks from itunes?
You don't produce with someone else's music
Werner Bile
16.05.2013		The biggest thing that keeps me coming back to beatport is the interface. It's just so much easier to find what I'm looking for, both because of their search filters and because of the mybeatport section. While you certainly shouldn't limit yourself to just beatport if you want a good selection of tunes, there are plenty of advantages that make it my first stop every monday.
Tesha Freudenstein
16.05.2013		i buy lossless.
Joetta Zhuk
16.05.2013
Originally Posted by squidot
Itunes encodes with aac which, from my understanding, is at least as good as a standard 320. People generally pick beatport because of selection of underground tunes and the interface layout with searching by sub genres. Not sure If you can search that way in itunes, but If you can find a track for cheaper, go for it.
The search function in iTunes sucks. You really need to know what you're looking for. Beatport also allows you to search things you weren't specifically looking for. You can spend literally days on beatport digging for tunes.
Augustine Mitzen
16.05.2013		What kind of stuff you're after? if you're after underground/electronic stuff definitely check Bleep/Boomkat/Digital-Tunes/Surus/Juno, much better alternatives to BP and iTunes
Anissa Perusek
16.05.2013		Nope. Same tracks, different quality.
Dylan Kockler
16.05.2013
Originally Posted by squidot
Itunes encodes with aac which, from my understanding, is at least as good as 320 mp3s. People generally pick beatport because of selection of underground tunes and the interface layout with searching by sub genres. Not sure If you can search that way in itunes, but If you can find a track for cheaper, go for it.
Gotcha, so there would be no issue trying to produce or dj with tracks from itunes?
Cole Maroto
16.05.2013
Originally Posted by bieberatemytaco
Better quality. iTunes sells tracks at 256 kbps, I believe. Beatport has tracks at 320 kbps. Beatport is worth it if you're serious about DJing.
Itunes encodes with aac which, from my understanding, is at least as good as a standard 320. People generally pick beatport because of selection of underground tunes and the interface layout with searching by sub genres. Not sure If you can search that way in itunes, but If you can find a track for cheaper, go for it.
Anissa Perusek
16.05.2013		Better quality. iTunes sells tracks at 256 kbps, I believe. Beatport has tracks at 320 kbps. Beatport is worth it if you're serious about DJing.

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