Quality of music on iTunes

Whats the quality like of the tracks you download from iTunes?

Are they .mp3? if so what bit rate?

Thanks

Ricky55

No, they are in .mp4 format. They are generally in 128kbps but I do believe itunes has a "plus" option where you pay a little extra to remove the DRM and I THINK it ups to 256kbps. I'm not sure, though.

128k and 256k as was said but there is no cost difference so I would suggest always going for the 256 version it sounds better.

It's AAC actually. 128kbps AAC is better than 128kbps Mp3, just so you know.

Also, I don't think there's two different versions. If there's an iTunes plus version, then the DRM'ed one isn't available. 256kbps is obviously better...

^Correct.
If the label has been converted to no DRM, then their music will be in 256kbps AAC non-DRM'd. Otherwise, it's 128kbps AAC DRM'd. Both are $.99/track.

The .m4p is the file extension that AAC files have (at least with iTunes), whereas MP3 files have a .mp3 extension.

I think .m4p is for protected DRM'd tracks, while .m4a is for non-protected tracks.