Hi Andrew, If you upload to iTunes Match from a lossless file in your library, the copy in your library stays lossless but the copy that ends up in iTunes Match is 256 Kb AAC. The transcoding happens temporarily on your computer prior to the upload but does not remain in your library, much as it would if you asked iTunes to convert higher bitrate songs to 256 Kb AAC any song that it sends to your iDevice. From that point on, playing the file from iTunes Match, by downloading it on a device with iTunes Match enabled, gives you the 256 Kb AAC version on that device, while playing it on your computer continues to give you the lossless version; if you would like a lossless version on your device as well, you will have to disable iTunes Match on that device and sync the music to your device with iTunes in the traditional way (which includes Wi-Fi syncing). This also translates to a responsibility for you to back up your iTunes library—the one with the lossless files in it—by copying it somewhere safe, rather than simply relying on iTunes Match to allow you to recover all your music (which is a bad idea anyway, because even Apple has accidents sometimes).
Yes, iTunes Match will eventually become consistent with your library, although in my experience it sometimes needs a kick (look for the “Update iTunes Match” menu item in the Store menu, I think it is). Now that I no longer have a need for Match, I am frankly relieved to be rid of it, because it always takes such an extraordinarily long time to operate, and really annoys the hell out of me while I am waiting for it to finish uploading before I can make any changes to my library information. I hope this clears things up for you. Cheers, Sabahattin -- The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor and your owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
