OT- more on iPod file format type???
 

ok, so i am about to get an iPod and have been gearing up dumping everything into iTunes ahead of time. looking to import a bunch of stuff from cd's as well. what is the preferred import method and file type? maybe i am so last year and stuck on MP3 format (more like that is what i have already). so whats with this AAC format and/or using apple lossless importing? thanks in advance.

repoe3

might have answered my own question...but, wandered into apple's forum on the device and similar conversations were going. sounds like MP3 is still a bit more universal. but any other input is welcome.

repoe3

Ipod/Itunes will import mp3s no problem. It doesn't have quite the fidelity of the intrinsic Ipod file format (which on computers is m4p--older versions were AAC) You won't have any problems regardless.

The folks who have to fiddle a bit are those of us who have itunes and try to port the songs to non-itunes mp3 players--trickier, but doable with freeware.

As far as MP3 being more universal (I still use MP3 BTW), what do you need the files to be compatible with? If all you are using is iTunes and the iPod then you can go any format you want, but if you need wider compatibility, with DJ software for example, go with MP3. I've recently begun encoding MP3s at 256kps, but before that my library has been encoded at 192kps which is good enough for DJing in clubs.

PS:

www.ipodlounge.com
www.ipodhacks.com

How about this husband/wife setup:

I have a 15g ipod. She has a 4g ipod mini. We have around 80g of .mp3s.

Now here is where it gets complex. We have two PCs, and a wireless network. She has an Apple Powerbook G4. We want to be able to access all of our music from any of the computers, as well as be able to stream music from her powerbook to our receiver in our home theater wirelessly.

Once in itunes, we have to set up seperate playlists for each of our ipods since they obviously hold only a fraction of the music we have.

I spent the better part of a month of my free time getting it set up exactly the way I wanted it in itunes.

I don't know much about other file formats, but I do know we love our ipods.

forward thinking, or something...

definitely getting into the groove prior to actually getting it. i am trying to avoid importing a bunch of music only to possibly want it in another format later. i actually like having the flexibility of various formats. more than likely just stick with 160kps for now. i dont DJ and i want to maximize the amount of music for my trip. 1000 songs down, only 9,000 more to go :D

picking up a buddy's mp3 archive this weekend...3 DVD's full.

repoe3

no matter how much i may learn to love the iPod, it still represents something in my brain that seems devious (no more than microsoft) but what else might they be sending to our brains through these things?

dont get me wrong and i certainly am NOT starting a PC vs. mac debate. having been in retail for both and technical side of things...i love the hardware aspect of macs. always, always have...jsut wish there were many players and that machines and devices were more like macs and everything was cross-platform capable. oddly enough, i find myself leaning towards getting a mac at home. especially since they added the new headless mac to the lineup. nice and small.

i like musics a lot, not an audiophile or whatever, as hi-tech headphones and all is overkill for my enjoyment. thats why i love the digital tv's music channels. pretty much satellite radio by format, jsut fewer options. but it has the ones i like. there are plenty of times i just turn on the receiver and listen to music without the tv on as the direct tv receiver is hooked up straight to the stereo.

repoe3

I use 160KPS MP3 Formats, so I can share with people who don't have iPods. I think the AAC format from Apple gives a slightly higher quality file, but the MP3 works just fine.

The benefit of AAC is that it provides slightly higher qualty and significantly better compression. In MP3 terms, its like having 192kps quality with 128kps file size.

Doogie, have you thought about picking up a cheap, older gen iMac and using that as your music server?

so sticking with 160kps MP3 sounds like a nice compromise. i honestly dont see this as too much of an issue for me as most of what i have and will be getting is already in MP3 format. i was just trying to figure out what i might convert music from my cd's. i rarely have the patience to import anything though. now with 40gig to work with, i might start making some time.

repoe3

Use mp3, b/c you'll likely want to play those songs somewhere else at some point. If you have enough time on your hands and want to A/B AAC vs. MP3 and make yourself feel better b/c you can actually hear a minute difference in an ideal listening environment, go for it.

Otherwise, be practical. Get something like CDex, rip your songs using the LAME encoder, set it to the default --alt preset standard setting, and let 'er rip. It's variable bit rate, so it's efficient, max flexibility, sounds great. My mp3s at alt/p/s and OGG files at Q7 are nearly identical in size and sound. Then, you'll have some time freed up to do other things in your life that you never have time for :)

I'd encode at atleast 190kps (just choose the iTunes "higher quality" settng) because its way easier to buy another drive than re-encode your entire library.

I must be the only sap that still encodes at 128kbps. Then again, I have no iPod and my CD player will only handle 128kbps.

Nope. I stil use 128 (sometimes 96 !) I have a flash mp3 player I wear while running (only when going more than 5-8 miles). The only way to get significant numbers of files on it is to go with a smaller file size.

For those looking to stream music to your home system.

Apple's Air-Tunes will do it using playlist from iTunes over wireless network to your stereo.

TIVO series 2 will allow you to control the playlist of iTunes and even view photo albums from iPhoto via a wirerless or wired home netwrok.

Make sure you get some kind of skin for your iPod. They are notorious for easily scratched front panels, as well as the known battery issues. You might try iSkin, that's what my daughter is getting for hers.

repoe3 - AAC all the way. This is the same codec that XM radio uses, largely due to the superior compression. I've read 128Kbps in AAC is about equivalent to 192Kbps in MP3, and I'd agree based on listening tests. an extra 1/3 capacity is nothing to sneeze at either. MP3's advantage lies in that it's much less complex to encode/decode, and more chip manufacturers are cranking out parts (mostly Chinese nowadays, and probably not paying licensing fees either) so it's much less expensive

AAC is intended as the *replacement* for MP3, and annything you encode now can never be improved beyond what you encode it to. AAC is *not* an Apple format; it is licensed by many of the same folks as MP3, and is the audio component of MPEG2, while MP3 is MPEG-1 Layer 3 audio. got that? ;-) My basic point is why use the old standard?

I import CDs with lossless encoding, and can always downconvert later to a smaller format for the iPod. That way I have an "as good as itgets" reference copy, and an "as small as is needed" copy for the iPod. Disks are dirt cheap.

BTW, loading the iPod is (binary) orders of magnitude faster using FireWire over USB2.

Disclosure: I'm a Mac bigot, and damn proud of it!

Mike

yep, that is exactly what i intend on getting...i hate case that add to much to size. want something that can slide around in the tankbag and be alright. the iskin should actually help keep it from sliding too much. they also make a wheel film to protect as well.

repoe3

128 seems to be the default AAC but lets me pick a custom one after that...what about sample rate or channels...leave them at auto?

as for firewire vs. USB...i am aware of the speed differential. i dont own a desktop of any sort, so until that changes, USB will be the way i go.

repoe3

repoe3

go on eBay in the PowerBook section of Apple computers. Look of a Pismo. That is the first model of laptop that had Firewire built in. All the titaniums and such have it too. As do the iMacs and all the desktop units. Maybe you can score one of those for a good price.

The difference in speed is blinding...

Any laptop with a PC card slot can be fit with Firewire.

tbsstunta is 100% correct. It certainly costs less than getting a completely new machine.

Like a lot of the others I use 128 AAC when I rip from a CD. I still have some MP3s mixed in with the AACs. Typically I don't bother with less than 192 for the MP3s.

all you need for an endless jukebox is an old PC runing a decent os that will playback audio and a sound card with line out.
fill the PC's hdd with audio files of your choice and a playlist.
connect line out from pc to line in on reciever
start playlist on pc ( I prefer a wintel box cause theyre cheap but my sun pizza box will work just as well)
go to the input you plugged line out into, ( I use tape2 casue it's a 'monitor' input/output) make it active
crank up the volume and enjoy a month of clear music with no stinkin satellite and no stinkin djs or commercials
I sitll like the MP3 format cause all my expensive software supports it (like adobe audition 1.0, premere 6.0, etc)

Firewire is a tad slower than USB2; it's only 400mbps compared to USB2's 480mbps.

having seen this...why or even how is firewire faster? USB 2.0 seems to eek out a tad more transfer speed.

repoe3

I'm gonna echo/reiterate this. If you want to keep flexibility, stay with mp3.

VBR -- Forget about hand wringing over 128/196/etc., use a variable bit rate encoder to rip it, will still be compatible with most stuff you'll want to play it on.

You will absolutely strain to hear differences b/t AAC, MP3, OGG, whatever, at comparable quality settings, and file sizes will not be much different, either. Stay flexible. When you have to change that ipod battery, you're going to smash it against a wall somewhere in disgust. You'll be glad you had your tunes in a widely-compatible file format :)

Firewire and USB are in an arms-escalation thingy. Now there is Firewire 400 and Firewire 800, USB 2.0 and who knows what else.

At those speeds you really won't notice much difference unless you are completely filling a 40GB iPod on the first load. In that case it will take some time, no matter what.

I finally bought an MP3 player. I KISSED it..I bought a tiny sled that takes 1GB memory sticks...1/5 the size of an ipod mini...and if it breaks, i'm out a whole $149.00 for both parts (and you can add an unlimited amount of sticks).
So take that stevie jobs baby...stuff that overpriced, overhyped i-thingie next to the overpriced, overhyped bmw motorsikkle thingie..oops, strike that last...I OWN one of those overprived, overhyped bmw thingies...but not an ipod..

and i wont be coming close to doing that. in fact, i will be lucky to dump 5gigs on it at first.

repoe3

If your player can support it, 96k WMAs sound just as good as 128k MP3s and take up around 1/2-3/4 of the space. :)

That said, I use MusicMatch to rip my CDs at 160k and then let iTunes be the actual player so my iPod can get it's updates. Sort of hoping my 5GB drive (REAL SCROLL WHEEL!) will die so I can upgrade to a 10GB and a real battery. :D

Although Firewire at 400 *looks* like it's slower than USB2 at 480Mb/s, in real life it ain't that way. Really.

Take 2 iPods, FW and USB2. Load 1000 new songs each way. See the difference. Pretty much any published benchmark also shows FW as faster, especially for external hard drives.

Oh yeah, and MP3 is obsolete. ;-)

Mike

i ended up getting a PCMCIA card with two firewire ports for my laptop, $30, anticipating getting an external HDD for serious backups and data transport...well, with the influx of USB2.0, there arent nearly as many options out there for a firewire external drive...in fact, i might just build my own with an Ultra enclosure. it would still be cheaper than buying one in a box.

repoe3
12 gigs and rolling so far on the iPod

repoe:
always cheaper to roll your own
go buy a standard laptop form factor enclosure that takes 2.5" harddrives (try tigerdirect.com)
buy the biggest 2.5" ff drive out there (I think 100Gb currently)
live happily ever after
I boot redhat 9 off my 2.5" external hdd with my work IBM laptop; works like a charm
i really like my 1GB memory stick-that-plugs-into-a-mp3 headunit player I got from tigerdirect...$140.00, small enough to fit into the palm of my hand, iuses as many 1GB sticks as I want to buy if it falls into the ocean I'm out 140.00, not 399.00at last count I'm up to 22GB of 256KBS 44100KHZ mp3 files...and after dsp'en 'em thru adobe audition, they sound better than when they came off my spendy denon turntable...ain't digital great?