Get it here.

What's new in iTunes 4.7
iTunes 4.7 includes support for copying photos to an iPod photo, the ability to show duplicate songs in your library, a mini player in the task bar, and other performance improvements.

QuickTime is also updated to 6.5.2, don't know if there's a improved AAC codec yet.

As per the QT 6.5.2 release notes: this release includes enhancements in the Apple Lossless Encoder and AAC codecs

And the iTunes Music Store now is available in a lot more European countries.
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2004/oct/26itmseu.html
http://www.apple.com/pr/ for the whole list of announcements they made.

is it better to convert wav to aac with foobar+nero or itunes?

Some people say they release these updates to make the Harmony format of RealNetworks unplayable again. And after all, the files from the RealPlayer Music Store are AAC as well, just with different DRM. But of course Apple is clever and keeps their format for their iPods. Rio Audio has a different problem: Apple refuses to license the iTunes-format to them, so they can't use it on their Rio players.

This closed loop of iPod <-> iTunes is what keeps Apple on top of the game at the moment. Of course RealNetworks and Apple could offer AAC files without DRM and everything would be compatible, but they'll never do that...

I doubt Apple would release a new iPod (iPod Photo), so that they could release a new version of iTunes that makes Real's format unplayable. The new version of iTunes simply adds support for the new iPod Photo player, and also adds a few other requested features and updated QuickTime libraries (encoders, decoders).



That's off-topic.

Off topic or not; I don't agree. What keeps them on top is a superb product and a policy of "no-bullshit" towards design. The closed loop of iPod and iTunes has certainly contributed greatly especially when considering the popularity of iTMS.

Apple released this statement back in July: "We are stunned that RealNetworks has adopted the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod, and we are investigating the implications of their actions under the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and other laws. We strongly caution Real and their customers that when we update our iPod software from time to time it is highly likely that Real's Harmony technology will cease to work with current and future iPods."

A comment about the issue: http://www.macnet2.com/more.php?id=520_0_1_0



And..?

I've done a quick test with applaud.wav and the watery artifatcs are much more subtle in this version if compared with the past 4.5. Even with a spectral view, this new version does not manifest the tipical hf dropouts of the 4.5 (http://xoomer.virgilio.it/fofobella/iTunes45.png).

With the above sample i still prefer slightly the old 4.2 (the one with 16Khz lowpass) but i'm convinced that with other samples (i.e. velvet.wav) the new 4.7 can preveal because of raised lowpass (17-17.5 kHz).

It's very idealistic... But things are not so simple. Apple, Real and others need to convince labels in order to sell their production. And to that, the first condition is to protect files with DRM.

Besides minimise-to-tray, there's also a feature in iTunes 4.7 like there is in WMP9/10, where you can have a mini-player in the taskbar, like this:



Disable minimise-to-tray and Show iTunes in Tray, then right-click on the taskbar -> Toolbars -> iTunes. Then when you minimise iTunes, it pops up in the taskbar like that. Very nice feature.

For information: the typical lowpass behaviour of QT 6.5.1 (introducing a slight empty frequency band at 16...17 khz) has now disapeared. I've just checked it on Audition (I didn't listened to the results).
Nevertheless, at 128 kbps the encoder (behaviour) seems to be really different from the one tested during latest Roberto's test: there are now informations up to 18 khz (vs 16 Khz previously). Lowpass isn't constant, whereas QT 6.4 was more regular.

It should be interesting to test this new release

I think a public test would be justifiable once iTunes 5.0 (that will be part of iLife '05) is launched, featuring HE AAC (and maybe Parametric Stereo) as well as VBR encoding. According to rumour, it should be released early next year together with Tiger.

It's also worth waiting for the new Nero encoder version, that according to Ivan will have much improved quality.

By test, I didn't mean a big collective one, but simply individual tests. I agree, it's better to wait some months for a new VBR encoder and for Ahead AAC v.3.0 in order to perform a bigger test. Are you still retired from listening test?

This year: yes, for sure.
Nest year: probably. I predict my schedule will be hectic next year, but if it isn't, I might consider conducing a couple of tests

Interesting. I'm not having any luck abxing the best problem sample I was able to easily spot encoding in iTunes 4.6.

That's fantastic. So the best AAC encoder got even better?

Seems that way. I'm going to do some more testing but so far I haven't been able to abx it at 192kbit at all.

I'd like to know more specifics as to whether the Apple lossless encoder is at all improved either by the size of files or quality.

According to a few people filesizes has almost not changed. And regarding quality, Lossless is Lossless, so there is no way to improve the quality.

Have a look at this thread. Release notes from 6.5.2 supposedly state "This release also includes enhancements in the Apple Lossless Encoder and AAC codecs, as well as improved support for iTunes and other QuickTime-based applications."

I didn't find Apple Lossless to be completely lossless:

http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@...zKz.0@.689d8926

but the new one seems to be.

I guess that might be an enhancement....

FWIW, in order to break the Real Harmony compatibility with iPod's, they'd need to release new firmware for the iPod itself. Just a new iTunes won't cut it.

While they did create a new firmware updater, the older firmware in it is still the same (I pulled it out and did a binary comparison). So with 3G iPod's and lower, at least, Real's Harmony still works. The mini and 4G firmware does seem to have changed, but in what ways I cannot tell.

I cannot use a custom bitrate (i.e. 192Kbps) with version 4.7.

Apparently the Apple lossless encoder was chopping off the last 1/10 second on CD's where there were no gaps in between tracks. While that is certainly not a good thing, the format itself under normal circumstances is a lossless format, it's just that the encoder had that bug. Apparently, it's now fixed. Good to know, thanks for posting that.

Hmm, HE AAC w/ parametric stereo and vbr in iTunes . That would be very cool, especially on the iPod. Where and from who did you hear this rumor?

HE AAC: http://www.apple-x.net/modules.php?op=modl...order=0&thold=0

VBR AAC: The Tiger (OS X 10.4) WWDC demo featured a new QuickTime version with VBR encoding and multichannel.
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....wtopic=22846&hl

Apple shuts down iPodDownload

More proof that the updates serve more purposes than Apple wants to admit...

What about programs like iPodRip?

This is a great little program and it seems like it would allow you to do the same thing. Perhaps Apple has no influence over iPodRip because it's not actually a plug-in for iTunes, but a completely separate app?

Is 3GPP standardized aacPlus same thing as Nero HE-AAC ?

Soren

Yes. aacPlus is the ™ name created by CodingTechnologies for their codec. Since they are much more active than Ahead on licensing their technology to third parties, the name they use is catching faster.