ipods: is there something a non-hifi person can use

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Is there a thing a non-hifi ignoramus (to be precise, me) can look at to show him what he needs to know about using one of these things?

I don't wanna know about flacs and MP2s 3s and 4s and lame stuff like that () I just wanna have fun listening to strange music.

1st question - suppose I want to put about 200 albums (say 200 hours) onto an ipod:

a) how long will it take to write the stuff into an ipod?

b) how long will it take to organise the ipod so I can find things?

c) how big an ipod will I need?

2nd question - I can't think of one.

MG

[Noj]

A CD takes about five to ten minutes to upload into iTunes.

Once the files are in iTunes, it's just a matter of dragging and dropping them onto the iPod which won't take more than a few minutes.

When you import the audio into iTunes, as long as your computer is hooked up to the internet, iTunes will fill in most of the data about the CDs assuming the albums are registered in the database. I often have to tweak things a little bit to fit my categories, which can be done quite easily by selecting the track/album in question and going to File>Get Info.

I suggest getting the largest iPod you can possibly get. I have the 160gb and it's very convenient to have built a representation of my entire collection on one device. Still, you could easily fit 200 albums on an iPod a quarter of that size.

[kh1958]

My advice is to get the biggest ipod there is (currently 160 gigabites), since the thing is seriously addictive.

I have the 120 gb model and have about 20 gbs remaining. I have just under 15,000 tracks on my ipod currently.

The speed of transfer from a CD to itunes varies for reasons I have never understood. A typical ratio would be that the CD transfers in about 1/6 of its length--i.e., a 60 minute CD transfers in about 10 minutes or so. This process may be faster or slower--I've even seen transfers at less than 1 to 1 for some reason.

Transferring songs to the ipod is simple--just plug the ipod into your computer and it transfers everything and updates the ipod automatically.

Itunes also offers the ability to select the bit rate of the transfer among three rates. The default rate is the middle rate, if you do nothing (which seems fine for my purposes). The higher the bit rate, the more space in the harddrive each song takes up.

The ipod has various organizational features on its own--by artist name, album title, song title and genre.

Edited November 12, 2009 by kh1958

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

A CD takes about five to ten minutes to upload into iTunes.

Once the files are in iTunes, it's just a matter of dragging and dropping them onto the iPod which won't take more than a few minutes.

When you import the audio into iTunes, as long as your computer is hooked up to the internet, iTunes will fill in most of the data about the CDs assuming the albums are registered in the database. I often have to tweak things a little bit to fit my categories, which can be done quite easily by selecting the track/album in question and going to File>Get Info.

I suggest getting the largest iPod you can possibly get. I have the 160gb and it's very convenient to have built a representation of my entire collection on one device. Still, you could easily fit 200 albums on an iPod a quarter of that size.

Thanks Noj.

If you record an LP or tape onto a CD, then rip the CD into your computer, then shove it into itunes, how does itunes know how to find the details?

MG

[Chuck Nessa]

It won't. You will have to enter the data yourself.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Another silly question - I've got a lot of stuff on my PC that I've ripped from CDs (either original ones or ones recorded from tape or LP) using WMP. Also stuff downloaded but not through itunes. Can I load them into itunes or will I have to do them all again?

MG

[A Lark Ascending]

Go for a big one, MG.

I've just bought one of the new 160 gb after having an 80 gb for a year. The latter was 3/4 full so I decided to have two. The new one is for classical, the old for jazz and everything else.

You'll work out how to use it very quickly.

You generally have to enter your own track names for things you have recorded yourself. But I've had situations where the recognition software online was worked out an album by track length and number of tracks (unlikely with your African music).

Once you upload (or download) an album it is easy to rename albums, genres etc to what suits you so it comes out tidy on the ipod itself.

Go for it...I was resistant to the ipod for a long time, purely because it seemed such a fashion icon. I'd now say its my favourite incention since the CD.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Go for a big one, MG.

I've just bought one of the new 160 gb after having an 80 gb for a year. The latter was 3/4 full so I decided to have two. The new one is for classical, the old for jazz and everything else.

You'll work out how to use it very quickly.

You generally have to enter your own track names for things you have recorded yourself. But I've had situations where the recognition software online was worked out an album by track length and number of tracks (unlikely with your African music).

Once you upload (or download) an album it is easy to rename albums, genres etc to what suits you so it comes out tidy on the ipod itself.

Go for it...I was resistant to the ipod for a long time, purely because it seemed such a fashion icon. I'd now say its my favourite incention since the CD.

Thanks Bev. What's the best store to buy one in over here?

MG

[A Lark Ascending]

Go for a big one, MG.

I've just bought one of the new 160 gb after having an 80 gb for a year. The latter was 3/4 full so I decided to have two. The new one is for classical, the old for jazz and everything else.

You'll work out how to use it very quickly.

You generally have to enter your own track names for things you have recorded yourself. But I've had situations where the recognition software online was worked out an album by track length and number of tracks (unlikely with your African music).

Once you upload (or download) an album it is easy to rename albums, genres etc to what suits you so it comes out tidy on the ipod itself.

Go for it...I was resistant to the ipod for a long time, purely because it seemed such a fashion icon. I'd now say its my favourite incention since the CD.

Thanks Bev. What's the best store to buy one in over here?

MG

I got mine through Amazon. Paid for the next day delivery and it came bang on time.

The 160 gb is not cheap - £175 - but you'll wonder how you lived without it. A godsend when you're sat in places twiddling your thumbs waiting. Look for the iPod Classic - I wouldn't go below 80 gb - anything less and someone with a collection like yours will fill up very quickly (I had a 20 gb mp3 about three years back and soom found it was full).

[Hot Ptah]

To add a word of encouragement: I have found the IPod easy to use. I am about the most clueless person with technology around.

Once you have the music loaded into your ITunes library, it is very easy to select songs for your playlists of your own creation. Instant mix tapes! It's fun.

[neveronfriday]

Since I've been invited, I'll pee on the rug a bit.

The biggest problem I've had with iPods was the sound. I borrowed one for a few weeks and I think an iPod can't be beat in terms of usability. Compared to lots of alternatives, it's a breeze to work. I'm sure you'll find it very easy to move around intuitively and keep everything running smoothly.

As far as I recall, the European edition has reduced volume capabilities (I can't recall if there's a way around that).

You definitely need to shell out extra cash for good earbuds/phones. The ones that are shipped with the Ipod suck (still, most people use them because they want to look cool). "Ooooh, look, they're white and gray. Cool!"

I had the 160GB classic on my list for a very long time and almost bought one once or twice, but in the end, I decided against it because I wanted to go with a different format (flac). I have made the mistake of ripping and re-ripping lots of stuff in other formats too many times these past 10 years or more and decided to go with a format (once and for all) that seems to be one with a solid future. Before I switched over, I was a 320kbps MP3 guy all the way, but the flac format is just that much better, especially if you perhaps want to not only limit yourself to portable players. In short, I wanted to keep as many doors open as possible.

Still, most of my friends and colleagues are totally happy campers with their out-of-the-box iPods and give me that strange look when I state any of the above.

[A Lark Ascending]

I think a lot can depend on just how sensitive you are to sound quality. I'm pretty tolerant (as long as things aren't going going out of tune or distorting) and can't claim to be aware of any great difference in sound quality. I appreciate that others care about that issue far more than I do.

Re: the shuffle. I never use the total shuffle facility - Shostakovich next to Art Blakey followed by the Moody Blues doesn't really work. But I have set up some albums of favourite tracks - 60s/70s pop/rock, jazz, vocal jazz, country folk - which I just add to every time I'm playing an album on the CD player and a track jumps out at me. Putting that on individual album shuffle whilst travelling can be great fun.

I don't know if you drive, MG, but you can get a gizmo to connect to your car radio. You synch it in with an empty radio frequency and it plays on the radio. Sound quality there is noticeably poorer and it can be a problem on long distance drives if you move into an area the frequency is being used in. But I spent a couple of weeks whizzing round Cornwall in the summer using it happily. Certainly beats carting a batch of CDs with you.

[Noj]

Hehehe, I love the weird mixes of stuff that doesn't go together and use the total shuffle mode all the time.

My Honda Element has an auxiliary port built right into the dash so I just run a cable to the headphone jack on my iPod. No battling for a frequency!

[Noj]

Another silly question - I've got a lot of stuff on my PC that I've ripped from CDs (either original ones or ones recorded from tape or LP) using WMP. Also stuff downloaded but not through itunes. Can I load them into itunes or will I have to do them all again?

MG

The iPod will play any MP3, but won't play Windows Media Files as far as I know. You may have to reformat them to MP3 or AAC (Apple's "lossless" format) before putting them on the iPod. With any MP3s you have downloaded, you can bypass iTunes altogether and drop them directly into the iPod.

One important thing, it's best to have your iPod set to "manual" as opposed to "automatically sync with iTunes." The automatic mode means it will automatically update your iPod to only include the files currently in your iTunes library. Personally, I keep nothing in my iTunes library because I don't want the files taking up space on my computer.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Another silly question - I've got a lot of stuff on my PC that I've ripped from CDs (either original ones or ones recorded from tape or LP) using WMP. Also stuff downloaded but not through itunes. Can I load them into itunes or will I have to do them all again?

MG

The iPod will play any MP3, but won't play Windows Media Files as far as I know. You may have to reformat them to MP3 or AAC (Apple's "lossless" format) before putting them on the iPod. With any MP3s you have downloaded, you can bypass iTunes altogether and drop them directly into the iPod.

One important thing, it's best to have your iPod set to "manual" as opposed to "automatically sync with iTunes." The automatic mode means it will automatically update your iPod to only include the files currently in your iTunes library. Personally, I keep nothing in my iTunes library because I don't want the files taking up space on my computer.

Thanks Noj. So, if I'm ripping stuff off a CD, I shouldn't use WMP to do it? I should use itunes? (But I hate using itunes on the computer - I have two albums that only play on itunes and it's dire trying to fire it up and find the playlists.)

MG

MG

[kh1958]

The automatic syncing is one of the best features of itunes--I see no reason not to maintain a complete itunes library--if there is not room on your computer, you can easily add an external harddrive and switch your itunes library to that external harddrive.

And I think the Shuffle feature is wonderful--I use it most of the time.

[jlhoots]

My kids bought me one.

I gave it to my wife.

She loads (is that the right word?) everything.

When I want to hear something she "finds" it for me.

Pretty good deal.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

My kids bought me one.

I gave it to my wife.

She loads (is that the right word?) everything.

When I want to hear something she "finds" it for me.

Pretty good deal.

Hm, well, my wife wants one for Christmas and I think I'm going to be doing the loading and the finding for her.

Not a good deal. That's why I think I want my own (self defence )

MG

[Big Wheel]

The automatic syncing is one of the best features of itunes--I see no reason not to maintain a complete itunes library--if there is not room on your computer, you can easily add an external harddrive and switch your itunes library to that external harddrive.

This is what I do - I have a 500GB external hard drive where all the music lives, so I can use it as a backup if anything ever happens to my iPod. The only real complications were when I needed to switch computers this summer (the drive letters assigned to the HD by each machine were different and this screwed up the iTunes library).

Things do get trickier if you have a lot of files in non-Apple recognized formats. I recently acquired a bunch of live stuff in FLAC format and need to convert it using another program before it can go into the iPod.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Things do get trickier if you have a lot of files in non-Apple recognized formats. I recently acquired a bunch of live stuff in FLAC format and need to convert it using another program before it can go into the iPod.

Hm, so what about getting an ipod that isn't made by Apple? Are there such things?

MG

[Aggie87]

Things do get trickier if you have a lot of files in non-Apple recognized formats. I recently acquired a bunch of live stuff in FLAC format and need to convert it using another program before it can go into the iPod.

Hm, so what about getting an ipod that isn't made by Apple? Are there such things?

MG

I don't believe so, but there are plenty of other digital music players in general. I have a Sony model that plays the files in ATRAC (Sony proprietary) format.

Mine's a few years old, and I really only use it while exercising (ha! he exercises, you say??), so I don't really need the largest capacity.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Things do get trickier if you have a lot of files in non-Apple recognized formats. I recently acquired a bunch of live stuff in FLAC format and need to convert it using another program before it can go into the iPod.

Hm, so what about getting an ipod that isn't made by Apple? Are there such things?

MG

I don't believe so, but there are plenty of other digital music players in general. I have a Sony model that plays the files in ATRAC (Sony proprietary) format.

Sounds just as bad as the ipods then, from the point of view of flexibility.

Is this business still at the stage of VHS/Betamax?

MG

[Big Wheel]

Things do get trickier if you have a lot of files in non-Apple recognized formats. I recently acquired a bunch of live stuff in FLAC format and need to convert it using another program before it can go into the iPod.

Hm, so what about getting an ipod that isn't made by Apple? Are there such things?

MG

You probably aren't going to find one that's much more versatile in terms of file formats. Basically all of these players are designed for the casual listener - people who have maybe 300 tracks with all of them acquired in similar circumstances. If all you have is CDs that you purchased and other files that are already in .mp3 format, things will be easy as pie. If you have a lot of tapes, acetates, vinyl, lossless files, etc. you are going to need to learn a bit beyond the basics to be able to put them on any portable music player.

Edited November 12, 2009 by Big Wheel

[.:.impossible]

Since I've been invited, I'll pee on the rug a bit.

The biggest problem I've had with iPods was the sound. I borrowed one for a few weeks and I think an iPod can't be beat in terms of usability. Compared to lots of alternatives, it's a breeze to work. I'm sure you'll find it very easy to move around intuitively and keep everything running smoothly.

As far as I recall, the European edition has reduced volume capabilities (I can't recall if there's a way around that).

You definitely need to shell out extra cash for good earbuds/phones. The ones that are shipped with the Ipod suck (still, most people use them because they want to look cool). "Ooooh, look, they're white and gray. Cool!"

I had the 160GB classic on my list for a very long time and almost bought one once or twice, but in the end, I decided against it because I wanted to go with a different format (flac). I have made the mistake of ripping and re-ripping lots of stuff in other formats too many times these past 10 years or more and decided to go with a format (once and for all) that seems to be one with a solid future. Before I switched over, I was a 320kbps MP3 guy all the way, but the flac format is just that much better, especially if you perhaps want to not only limit yourself to portable players. In short, I wanted to keep as many doors open as possible.

Still, most of my friends and colleagues are totally happy campers with their out-of-the-box iPods and give me that strange look when I state any of the above.

so what are you using? what earphones? what portable media player?

[.:.impossible]

Its funny how differently people use these things. I would never know what to do with a 160GB ipod. I guess I'd fill it up and never listen to 90% of it.

MG, if you ask me, although iTunes has become more and more convoluted with each new release, it is still very user friendly and fairly intuitive software. You should have no problem working your way in.