Hi there Curefans.,
I was just wanting to know what the feedback is out there on technology as far as ipods( shuffle,classic etc..) and mp3's., etc.
I am a little bit overwhelmed by products out there , and I know there are quite a few, with advantages and disadvantages.
what I am looking for is an older-person-friendly thingy that I can listen to My music whilst mobile..not too many functions., maybe some videos, probably storage about 4-8 GB, with possibly a radio.
I'm not keen on the ipod shuffle, so what do you think?
thanks !! :smth023
Im no expert but i'll have a go..
The iPod nano is pretty good, the new ones play videos and they are very small and portable. They fit in your pocket and you can get quite alot of music on it i think 1000 songs on a 4gb nano. (i have the old old version which is a bit different)
The Shuffle is quite annoying because it doesnt have a screen so you cant select a song but its tiny and has a clip on it.
I have the new classic which i really love but its quite big and much heavier than the nano. It has a huge storage capacity 80/160 GB.
iPods are quite easy to use because they don't have loads of buttons but iTunes can be a bit tricky at first.
I would suggest the Nano - the screen is almost the same size as the classic but its much more portable, videos are amazing quality, Oh and it comes in lots of lovely colours. :smth023
Good Luck!
yeah thanks hero!! ;)
hhmm..
the classic sounds like what i really want, have to check out and compare the price range, also nano.
thanks again!! :smth023
I've used the nano for a couple years (the older one) and like it because it is small. However, since I have started travelling for work (and will be flying every Sunday and Friday for the next 6 months), I have kind of backshelved the nano and upgraded my phone to a blackberry pearl. This way I can have full email and internet access, my phone, and mp3 player all in one. Alot of phones now can use a micro SD card. The Pearl does this as well...I have 2 2gb micro cards full of videos and music that I can swap out.
thanks Jeff... whenever I hear of the blackberry, i think of that model Noami.. something really good to throw at people!! :shock:
Just a question about the format for the ipods... is it easy enough to convert flac for playing, and is it necessary to do this- transfer flac files to be able to play with ipods, or can you just transfer them straight from pc?
I really have no clue.. :smth011
Itunes still doesn't support FLAC, but there is a way to "frig" it (Caley knows).
I find the only way (albeit a bit of a slog) is to decode to WAV with flac frontend, drop them into Itunes & then convert them as you wish (apple losless, if you treasure the lossless audio & mp3 at various bit rates (don't touch aac, as it is shockingly bad).
TBH if you have the cheapo freebie ear buds that apple throw into the box, then there isn't much point in staying in apple lossless, as you won't really benefit.
I bought some lovely sennheiser ear buds & they make a massive difference.
Only thing is if you have limited capacity. In that case, apple lossless will fill up the memory pretty fast, as the files are pretty big. MP3s are a lot smaller & even at 320kbps you can get a fair amount of songs on a nano.
The blackberry/ cards method's also good, but you will need to buy cards & then you need to remember what's on what card.
oh man... :?
Quote from: Steve on December 25, 2007, 17:31:13
I find the only way (albeit a bit of a slog) is to decode to WAV with flac frontend, drop them into Itunes & then convert them as you wish (apple losless, if you treasure the lossless audio & mp3 at various bit rates (don't touch aac, as it is shockingly bad).
i got lost somewhere between " I find... " and "shockingly bad".. :smth100
I will have to read this quite a few times to let it sink in!!
thanks Steve! ;)
Right.
itunes (you'll need that for the ipod) can handle a few formats (wav, apple lossless, mp3 & aac being some of them, but I think there are more)
I'm guessing you can play flacs (winamp)?
Can you convert them to another format?
I find a program (free to download) called flac frontend is the easiest.
Then you can drag the converted files to itunes.
But when you set up all the preferences in itunes, you can set up different conversions via the "rip from cd" options.
Choose the one you prefer & then highlight the wavs you want to convert. Right click & choose "convert selection to "whatever you set up""
That isn't critical, as itunes can play wavs, as can the ipods. The only thing is the file size is enormous as a wav & so to convert is going to give you more capacity on the pod. The smaller the file, the more you'll get on it.
So, for example an mp3 at a high bit rate (you can change the settings as you like in itunes) is 10x smaller than the same file in FLAC & smaller still than the same file in wav format.
It might take a bit of playing around with until you are converting like it was second nature, but once you have done it a few times, it's easy. Just remember to remove the original, huge files from the itunes library when you're done.
That clearer? Actually, I just read it & i would be a little apprehensive too.
There is an apple forum if the worst come to the worst, but it does tend to be populated with w@nkers unfortunately. :roll:
Quote from: Steve on December 25, 2007, 18:45:31
Right.
sounds serious..
itunes..: yep
flac files..: yep!
winamp..: check!
convert..: ???mmm
flac frontend..: I'll check it out!
drag files to itune..: okaay!
set and choose preferences..: mmhhmm
play around a bit..: check!
remove huge original files..: got it!!
apple forum is for w@nkers..: yep!!!
thanks soo much..!! :smth020
++ for the effort!! :smth023
:smth038 I finally got my ipod, I decided for the 80 Gb.
@Steve... the frontend flac worked miracles to covert the flac files... to pop into itunes.. I don't know how I did it, but it worked ( again.. a little help from a teenager!!)
Thanks for your help!!
:smth023
i still need help from said teenager... to play around with the itunes stuff... but all is well. I can now block out the world when I am out!
;)
upon checking memory of ipod, the flac (converted) files have taken up HUGE amount of memory in comparison to normal recordings.
If I have the already converted files on itunes, how do I "shrink" them so as to not take up so much space ( as in mp3) ?
what is your suggestion Steve to play around with the settings? I still don't know this bit?
:smth100
Okay. Now are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.
Open itunes.
From the menu bar follow this route.
edit>preferences>advanced tab>importing tab>import using
From the import using list choose mp3 & the list underneath selects the bit rate you prefer (320 is the best)
Click OK>selct the tracks you want to shrink>right click.convert selection to "whatever you chose"
My advice to you is to set import using to apple lossless. Sounds like you have converted the flacs to wav & they are very big. Apple lossless are about the same size as flac, but the quality is lossless.
With 80Gb to play with, it will be a while before you run out of space.
With MP3, the lower the bit rate you choose, the smaller the file (but the worse the quality).
But if you have a car player that plays mp3 discs, then you can set the settings to mp3 & burn loads of songs to a disc to save you changing discs mid journey etc.
If you burn discs for trading, then try to burn with the lossless files if poss.
One more note. If you have converted to mp3, you can convert to apple lossless again, but you will just have a huge mp3 file effectively.
That any help?
:-D
One more thing before I forget.
Buy yourself some decent earphones.
I use thes http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/productdetail.asp?transid=500830
That's the real shame with apple. They make such a nice toy & put sh!tty ear buds in the box. :?
After doing resersh for a week. I plan on getting the Zune 80GB. It has a nice wide screen, which i like for viewing the menu. You can also save pics and play videos.
Quote from: Steve on February 01, 2008, 14:18:33
One more thing before I forget.
Buy yourself some decent earphones.
I use thes http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/productdetail.asp?transid=500830
That's the real shame with apple. They make such a nice toy & put sh!tty ear buds in the box. :?
Yep, had to get new earphones.. i have little ears, and those big roundy shaped things that they call "earphones" do not fit in my ear without causing pain!!.. the ones I got are ergonomic, and have 3 different size attatchments. :smth023
@thanks for your easy to understand instructions for the technically challenged people like me!! I will have to try it out over the weekend.. me had enuff of itunes for now.. :evil:
:shock: :shock: :shock:
good luck scatcat..i have just been reading all of the above...it IS in english, isn't it??!!
oh man, glad it's you and not me!! makes me tired just reading it!! :smth073
I think I'll just walk along singing out loud...keeps people away and I don't have to try and understand THAT lot above... * take a bex and have a good lay down*
@Steve, i took your advice, and converted the wav files to apple lossless.
worked like magic, then I deleted the original wav files, and this saved quite a bit of memory. So, thanks!!
A note here: I have realised that the sound quality is totally lost by converting flac>wav>lossless. :(
The original flac files play soooo much better in winamp on computer, so it is a bit of disappointment of course, but at least I can take them wherever I go.. :smth023
I have still the original flac files, and hope to learn to burn them soon.. into audio c.d... :P (THIS i will leave for another day!! )
thanks again!! ;)
The quality shouldn't deteriorate.
Lossless is lossless (There is a really good thread in the tech section on that).
It might be that the ipod sounds different to the PC though.
I find with concerts (especially audience recordings), I need to fiddle with the equaliser in Itunes. You can do that & make your own setting too.
The pod itself has some preset EQs too. That might help.
Glad it worked though. :-D
Quote from: Steve on February 02, 2008, 14:11:26
The quality shouldn't deteriorate.
Lossless is lossless (There is a really good thread in the tech section on that).
It might be that the ipod sounds different to the PC though.
I find with concerts (especially audience recordings), I need to fiddle with the equaliser in Itunes. You can do that & make your own setting too.
The pod itself has some preset EQs too. That might help.
Glad it worked though. :-D
well, I didn't know that itunes has it's own equaliser! :smth017
( I have to constrain myself to 'fiddling' with stuff, cos my son says I just ruin everything!!), therefore, I try not to change settings, and have little faith in searching and experimentation.. I'll give this a go :-D
It's on the
'view' menu.
Choose "view equaliser", check the "on" box & mess about with the sliders until you're happy.
You can save the setting you made as any name you like.
Then highlight all the songs from that gig & in the info menu (right click) you can apply that EQ to the whole lot.
:-D
And apparetly, if you play them on the ipod (after synching) with the ipod eq set to "flat" the eq you have made in itunes should be the one you hear.
i have a classic 30GB ipod. I have thousands of songs on there and it's not even half full. I definately recommend the 30gb. I used to own a 6GB one, but filled it up quickly. My new one is fantastic, i love it!!
Why not upgrade the playback solution with something more "high end". I bought one of these:
http://www.ipodobserver.com/story/25563
in northern europe they are sold as d'feldt 5
and in usa and elsewhere known as audioengine 5
Powered speakers for pc, mac, ipod or any portable device,
has received praise in reviews. Comes with ipod dock etc. They cost only 240$ in discount here in (Eu only):
http://www.cdon.com/
But Amazon.com also sells them. One can't go wrong with one of those.
Not as nice as this http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/display.aspx?infid=2444
I used to work for B&W & I still love their stuff.
But. Has to be said that if you are going for a high end playback solution, then don't bother unless you are using lossless files.
Big waste of money if you have crammed your pod with 10000 mp3s.
another question from me... sorry!!
I have a few data cd's that are in apple lossless.. file extension says m4a ...these easily pop into itunes, and can be data copied, but do not play in winamp, or even WMPlayer for that matter.
I was wondering if there was a way ( even though it says next to files that they are winamp media files) that i can :
a) play in winamp by converting somehow ( I have Frontend), but this only recognises wav or flac!!,
b) burn a disc that will play in a cd player?
thanks!! :smth100
Quote from: scatcat on February 09, 2008, 13:48:44
another question from me... sorry!!
I have a few data cd's that are in apple lossless.. file extension says m4a ...these easily pop into itunes, and can be data copied, but do not play in winamp, or even WMPlayer for that matter.
I was wondering if there was a way ( even though it says next to files that they are winamp media files) that i can :
a) play in winamp by converting somehow ( I have Frontend), but this only recognises wav or flac!!,
b) burn a disc that will play in a cd player?
thanks!! :smth100
You can convert Apple Lossless to FLAC or WAV with dBPowerAmp:
http://www.dbpoweramp.com
Plugins available here:
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/codec-central-m4a.htm
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/codec-central-flac.htm
The only catch is that you have to have iTunes installed on your computer. I've tried this before and it works, but it's kind of awkward how both dBPowerAmp and iTunes run at the same time during the conversion.
sweet. thanks... i will try it out, i have itunes on pc. so it should be a breeze huh?? ;)
Caley... you are a legend... !!! :smth023
i followed exact instructions, installed the dbpoweramp, and the 2 plug ins... within a few minutes!!
I suppose it worked out pretty quick, cos the files in question were originally on disc, not just in itunes library.?
AND I can hear my concerts in winamp.. !!! so now I guess cos they are flac now, i can rip and burn my little heart away!! ( I still have original data disc, as well a spare and backup on pc..u can never be too sure.. :P )
++ for the help. ;)
You can burn discs directly from itunes too.
Just remember that if it's a concert, then you should set the burning options to burn gapless CDs.
All you need to do is make a playlist in itunes. Then you drop the tracks you want into it.
Go into that play list & shuffle the tracks about if you want & select "file"> burn playlist to disc & you're away.
Dead easy.
But winamp can do apple lossless playback.
:-D
Anyone know any mass storage portable device that has digital output? By digital
out i don't mean USB - interface but spd/if or toslink. AFAIK iriver h120/140 had
this possibility but i can't find those devices anywhere anymore...
Quote from: bluewater on February 14, 2008, 10:11:15
Anyone know any mass storage portable device that has digital output? By digital
out i don't mean USB - interface but spd/if or toslink. AFAIK iriver h120/140 had
this possibility but i can't find those devices anywhere anymore...
My Edirol R-09 has an optical/headphone out, but does that really mean it's a digital output (like the optical out on a DAT/MD deck?) I've never understood that...
Yeah, it's not really meant to be a music player, but it can function as one (WAV and mp3 only).