Understanding M4A & M4P Differences

Many audio-visual users will want to find out the differences between M4A and M4P before making a decision to buy different types of equipment. For example, few devices can be used to play MP4 files. These two audio files are commonly linked to iTunes. All the music that was sold in the iTunes store was stored in M4P format.

Today, things have changed in that music is stored in M4A files on iTunes. It is important to note that there is a vast difference between these two files. M4A files do not have Digital Rights Management (DRM) and the audio quality is different on these files.

Bitrate is the measurement that is used to measure the quality of audio files. Devices with a high bitrate have better digital audio quality as it means that more audio data can be encoded. Apple M4P files were sold with a 128 bit rate, which is much lower than what is required by M4A files with a 256 kbps speed.

It is possible to use any CD ripping program to encode songs that have higher bitrates. When listening to music through top of the range headphones and speakers it is easy to hear the difference between 128 and 256 kpbs. This is not necessarily the case with bottom of the range headphones or speakers. Most people will say that with the top of the range listening equipment, the difference with 256 kpbs is far better.

Digital Rights Management is included in these files to restrict users' ability to share the files. DRM was always sold on M4P files. In the case of Apple, it reduces the number of devices that can be used.

M4A & M4P Differences (M4A vs M4P) do include the fact that there are limits as to how many times a song can be burned onto a CD. This is highlighted by the fact that M4A files have no restrictions and they are free of DRM. You will note that you cannot convert DRM files to formats that do not incorporate DRM.