The Whole iPod Thing

[SiBradbury]

Quote: Originally Posted by PMB

Hat, that is why my suggestion is to use MP3 data CDs. All recent Mini Boost CD players play them and you can still store hundreds of songs on one CD. On your PC you store songs in directories (perhaps one album per directory) and each directory gets written to the cd. It starts to play just like any other CD and you can skip tracks just like any other CD. However, if you press the "M" button the HU displays "MAN" for about 10 seconds. Skipping forward and back during "M" skips from one directory to another. Pressing "M" again or waiting 10 seconds takes you back to normal track skip. You can also select random play etc..

So basically you are getting the the functionallity of hundreds worth of iPod for next to nothing. Judging by the eather today I would rather opt for aircon!

Don't forget that people choose an ipod for use other than in the car and an CD walkman, albeit one that plays MP3, is always going to be at least the size of a CD so an ipod, or any MP3 player, is an ideal portable music device for the gym, on the train etc

The addded convenience of effectively backing up ALL your music to something AND having it with you whenever you need it is always going to win hands down! MP3 CD's are great and can store around 10 full albums each but that doesn't mean an ipod is a waste of money or 'crap'.

Its also great when you know the name of a track you want to hear to be able to search thru all your music alphabetically rather than think "Now, who was that by?" "What album was it on?" "Which CD did I burn that album onto?" etc

I've had various MP3 CD head units in the past and they're great, its just that an ipod (or similar) is taking that convenience to the next level. Some people won't ever feel the need to move away from their MP3 CD player or find the added expense justified, but many will. Its all very well to cry "DEATH TO COPORATIONS!!!" etc etc blah blah but it just so happens that Apple have a great product and 40.9 million people can't all be wrong. (If it was a bad product i'm sure word would have got around) Besides, if you hate Apple that much you can always buy a Zen but there simply isn't the wealth of accessories for them that there is for ipod.

[Audiophile]

Ok, I have to contribute now. There is a lot of misinformation floating around on this thread. HAT, if you want accurate descriptions of iPod functionality, I recommend checking out the iPod/iTunes support and discussion pages on Apples site here:

http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/

I know taste is a personal thing, but some of the things that have been posted on this thread are just wrong. I don't want to start going back and forth here, so I won't go into details, but I would do some of your own research on this HAT, before believing a lot of the info here. PMB, I'm not sure you fully grasp the concept of what iTunes and the iPod are designed to do, but by all means, enjoy recording 1GB of music onto your mini disc in real time.

Audiophile

ps I have a 60GB iPod filled to capacity, and if I'm in the mood for 1 particular song, I never have trouble finding it, because I know how to organize my playlists. Of course, when driving, I always use shuffle. Truth is, there is no real practical solution to browse through a ton of music while driving, and that applies to the iPod, a book full of CD's, or an MP3 disc. Although, HK's Drive + Play looks promising. Just google "Drive + Play" to see what I mean.

Safe driving everyone!

[PMB]

Audiophile, Being a software designer, I know exactly what iTunes is trying to do and it does it very well, but what it is NOT trying to do is allow it's users flexibility. Just yesterday, after posting on this thread I (again) tried to create a certain type of structured MP3 disk using itunes. After 45 minutes and one wasted disk I gave up. I went to IBM's Record Now and did exactly what I wanted in just a few minutes. Now I don't know Record Now any better than iTunes, but this is the sort of thing I am trying to get across.

Now, I guesss you are having a poke at me about Minidisk? Well, at least it does not rely on a PC to do everything for it. You seem to ridicule 1GB, well, fair enough. One day in the middle of Africa or the Antarctic, or possibly even just a flight from London to LA after your 60gb ipod battery runs out the old Minidisk will still be going for hours, and if course it isjust a singile throw awat AA cell.

Add the flexibility to record in the field, record on the fly (from none digital sources) the amazing editing facilities (shortening songs, chopping them into sections, pretty much anything), pluss the new ATRAC Codec's ability to record at pretty much SACD quality, I thought that might appeal to someone like you?

I mean, why use a lossy codec to store an already lossy format like CD?

[cct1]

PMB, what you are doing is far beyond what the overwhelming majority of Itunes users do (or even think about doing). There is a certain amount of flexibility in Itunes, but it's strength is in it 's smartlists/mp3 organization; it's relatively poor for anything but basic mp3 editing or mp3 CD compilations. It's a great player, and it's ability to synchronize/integrate with the ipod is so far unmatched for any player/software combination. It has also gotten significantly better over the years; it may be able to handle the tasks you're after better down the road. But for the power user, Itunes is fairly basic--it's at best a rudimentary song editor, and it's not the best for burning CDs. That being said, the vast majority of people don't need all the extra bells and whistles; the more stuff you add, the buggier the program will potentially be, and the more difficult it will be for people to use. The beauty of Itunes, despite it's relative lack of features, is it's simplicity--remember, it has to work for 12 year olds, 23 year old computer engineers, and the older, computer illiterate folks like myself--given the fairly broad spectrum of people using it, I'd say it's a pretty darned good program.

Another alternative to Itunes for the power user are the Media Center offerings from J River--I used to use this exclusively until Itunes crossed over to windows (until Itunes became more functional). I don't use Media Center anymore, but it blows Itunes away in features, but it is somewhat more difficult to use--Itunes does the majority of what I need, and does it well. All I do anymore is chop the ends off some songs--easily done in Itunes. Hard to do much more than that with your songs though. Media Center allows you to pretty much do anything you want to a song. You might want to give Media Center a look though...

[PMB]

I have never tried Media Center. I will give it a whirl. Thanks for the tip.

[Audiophile]

Quote: Originally Posted by PMB

Audiophile, Being a software designer, I know exactly what iTunes is trying to do and it does it very well, but what it is NOT trying to do is allow it's users flexibility. Just yesterday, after posting on this thread I (again) tried to create a certain type of structured MP3 disk using itunes. After 45 minutes and one wasted disk I gave up. I went to IBM's Record Now and did exactly what I wanted in just a few minutes. Now I don't know Record Now any better than iTunes, but this is the sort of thing I am trying to get across.

Now, I guesss you are having a poke at me about Minidisk? Well, at least it does not rely on a PC to do everything for it. You seem to ridicule 1GB, well, fair enough. One day in the middle of Africa or the Antarctic, or possibly even just a flight from London to LA after your 60gb ipod battery runs out the old Minidisk will still be going for hours, and if course it isjust a singile throw awat AA cell.

Add the flexibility to record in the field, record on the fly (from none digital sources) the amazing editing facilities (shortening songs, chopping them into sections, pretty much anything), pluss the new ATRAC Codec's ability to record at pretty much SACD quality, I thought that might appeal to someone like you?

I mean, why use a lossy codec to store an already lossy format like CD?

I'm befuddled. I admit it. What kind of 'structured' disc are you trying to create? I use iTunes all the time to burn audio discs and MP3 discs, and I've never had a problem with this. However, if you are looking to get very particular with burning, I'd suggest a primary burning app like Toast. Also, iTunes will import, play, and burn 24 bit, 196kbps audio, which is pretty much as good as it gets (and, btw what SACD is recorded at).

I didn't mean to poke fun, but I just think the Minidisc format and the iPod are fundamentally different. The iPod is not a recording device, it's a hard drive, hence, you do need a computer, and can't record audio on it. But I don't see this as a set back at all - how else are you going to manage the massive amounts of music that the iPod can store? Record it all in real time? That's just not practical.

Plus, if you are hearing distortion and experiencing really low battery life, you might want to see if you can get some support from Apple because that just doesn't sound right. I have a video iPod which I have with me all the time and under normal use I get a good 10 - 12 hours out of it - 15 if I don't browse a lot. I guess the alternative is buying AA batteries year round, but I think recharging is a more economical solution in the long run. As far as audio quality goes, fidelity is determined by the file type, not the player. A low quality mp3, or a high quality AAC file is going to sound the same coming from an iPod or a PC or a Mac or a cd player (ruling out speaker/hp quality, of course).

This is all very strange - iTunes is a song editor? CD is a lossy format?

Anyway, we've gotten pretty off topic.

[Terry Carbary]

Ipods and mini is nice, you can assign 5 different playlists, MINI1, MINI2, etc. and they can have any content you wish, these are presets on your radio buttons. I have a multitude of music on my presets and then on my ipod I also carry audio books. The books are great on long trips and there is no changing disks or tapes. I go to the local library and load 5 to 10 books at a go, then return the CD'S to the library and don't have to worry about late returns. I would not leave home without my Ipod.

[Tommy_Gun]

I love having the ipod in the car, I couldnt live without it now!

I will quite often put it on random play and let it choose for me, you hear songs you havent heard for years and its more interesting than listening to a whole album all the way through.