iTunes for Windows...NOW AVAILABLE!!

[RC Hagy]

Not the only one... then I like popcorn...

I'm importing some CDs, using the default setting, and I'm experiencing "Rice Krispies" ("snap, crackle, and pop").

Is that common? Is it a consequence of going from audio files to the AAR setting?

When you convert from AAR to CD Audio (to burn a CD to play in a regular CD player), do you lose quality or any other problems?

Out of 200+ (I lost count) AAC imports I think less then 10% were popcorn-ish. I used max possible speed of the cd drive.

It is not common but common enough for apple in the latest mac update to add an 'error correction' option in 'Preferences'. It says it might slow importing while avoiding errors.

I know that many of my cds had some minor scratches and smudges I missed before importing (and to lazy to clean and redo).

Hells, could just be the drive (I have to different ones).

So it seems not to be common but common enough to warrent an option to try and resolve it.

Then again the popping reminds me of my parents vinyl from when I was a kid...


Hagy
Vermont

 

[Heretic Apostate]

Yeah, I tried the Error Correction option. They weren't kidding about the difference in speed. Something on the order of 5% of normal speed.

If need be, I'll just buy the albums online, and overwrite my imported ones, as funds become available (I also want to buy new RPGs, download PDFs from svgames, and upgrade my computer, all from limited funds ). Though some stuff I want isn't available on iTunes. (The musical from BtVS's sixth season, the VH-1 Storyteller for Meat Loaf, and any Judds tunes at all. So far, those haven't been found...)

 

[Heretic Apostate]

I think I figured out the Rice Krispies. Cheap speakers trying (unsuccessfully) to produce 3D surround sound.

So I have a choice: a fuller sound but with static, or a flat sound but I don't get annoying static...

I hope that's the problems...

 

[Viking Bastard]

I've been using iTunes for a week or so now and must
say I'm impressed. Very nice. I needed something after
all the trouble I've been having with Winamp since the
3.0 upgrade.

 

[RC Hagy]

Hate to break this to you...

I think I figured out the Rice Krispies. Cheap speakers trying (unsuccessfully) to produce 3D surround sound.

So I have a choice: a fuller sound but with static, or a flat sound but I don't get annoying static...

I hope that's the problems...

The wife finally decided that dvd player would be nice... so I finally got proper surround sound.

So I have her ole JBL studio stereos hooked up to the comp through a 'Y' stereo to 1/8" audio jack cable and I still get crispies (the speakers were just re-coned also).

So I put my hope with your hope that it is not my crappy cable, yet believe that when I get this:


Xitel: HiFi-Link


my crispy pops will fade.


I would like the pro but it is for windows only so far...


Hagy
Vermont

 

[Gizzard]

Some ramblings about my experiences with the whole iPod v. Windows thing; hopefully they'll be helpful to someone out there: ;-)

My situation was this: I bought an iPod and I had a collection of MP3s on a 933MHz Win2000 machine. Now, the iPod wants to dock to your computer via Firewire, which is not very common on the PC side of things, so I immediately formatted my iPod as a Mac device and then hooked it to my wife's G4. It was sorta painful, but I could transfer my MP3 collection on to her machine via our LAN and then DL it to the iPod.

But I craved independence. I looked into a couple of those utilities that recognize Mac-formatted drives; this would allow me to run the Mac-formatted iPod on both her machine and on my machine. (Except for the Firewire issue. I bought a iPod connector at the Apple store with both USB 2.0 and Firewire. Sadly the 933 MHz is so old it has only USB 1.0. Definitely something to be aware of if you have older windows machines.)

Just as I was about to DL some mac-drive software, my wife sent me a note saying Apple had released iTunes for Windows. Hmm, intruiguing. I had installed Music Match, but not really liked it, so I tried out iTunes. I liked it, but of course, now my iPod was mac-formatted and would have to be re-formatted to run on the Win2K machine. I decided to do the reformat and then migrate all of my stuff to another Win2K machine that had USB2.0 ports.

The re-format went fine, and I've been using Win2K, USB2.0, iPod and iTunes happily for about two weeks now. The point of all of this really is that the area of PC-compatibility is still a bit rougher for the iPod than is mac-compatibility. It works fine in the end, but make sure you understand the journey before you start. ;-)

 

[LightPhoenix]

Hehe, I'll copy Gizzard and share my admittedly brief experience with the Windows version. Only problem is my credit card is pretty much maxed out, because I don't have a job and need to pay bills somehow. So I didn't actually get to download anything or even sign up for an account.

My computer is OLD, but iTunes ran pretty well on it. Probably thanks to lots of RAM, but still I respect any program that runs on my computer. Interface was very easy to get around in - I had no problem finding anything.

My first stop was looking for some music by a post-Romantic composer named Rodrigo. He's a Spanish guy, and I love his combination of guitar and orchestra. I chose the "Classical" genre and was pleased to find they even had sub-sections for various musical ages. I tried the post-Romantic era first - most of Rodrigo's works are early to mid 1900s. No luck finding anything. I then whipped up to the search bar and typed it in... whammo, instant luck. His big work is entitled Concierto de Aranjuez, and has three movements. All three came up first.

Here's my first big gripe. I could download the first and third movements, but couldn't download the Adagio, the second movement, and probably the most famous. WHY would I download a symphony without all its parts? That's completely pointless in my eyes.

But alright, I realize Classical is not the biggest genre out there. My second stop was some Dream Theater, a pretty famous prog-rock band that I was sure I would have no problem finding. And I didn't. But hey, all of their albums were listed as "partial". Again, WHY would I buy 7/10ths of a CD of a band I know I like, of a CD I know I like? Just so I can pick it up at jacked-up prices at the store? No thank you.

I stopped there, since I was (and still am, as of typing) having an allergic reaction to something, and I don't know what. I think it was the lasagna.

Anyway, I think the concept is great, and the program works fine. But quite frankly the whole partial-album thing sucks, and I can, with near certainty, say that I will not be buying anything that isn't a whole CD. If I'm gonna test something to see if I'll like it (a friend of mine recommended Amorphis, for example), I'm not going to spend any money on it, and I doubt many other people will either. iTunes is a very good step towards a middle ground between music swapping and atrocious CD prices. But this whole partial CD thing needs to go, otherwise the concept is weakened.

 

[Dimwhit]

LightPhoenix, I know that in most cases, partial albums are there because of licensing issues with the major labels. Adagio probably wasn't available because they weren't allowed to post it yet. The fact that it's the most popular movement is most likely why.

I suspect that the partials will eventually be completed. It is a nuisance, and it will hopefully be cleared up. But they're adding to the store every week, so I'm hopeful.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I suspect that the partials will eventually be completed. It is a nuisance, and it will hopefully be cleared up. But they're adding to the store every week, so I'm hopeful.

Oh, me too. It's just a damned inconvenient way to start things off. There are a lot of classical CDs I don't have, and I wouldn't consider downloading unless I could get an entire work.

One interesting thing though - most classical songs are MUCH longer than pop songs... and yet they're still only $0.99. I wonder if this has anything to do with it.

[EDIT]Well, evidence to support my theory. I did a search on Mahler, whose symphonies are notoriously long. Guess what? Almost everyone song over ten minutes was unavailable for purchase, and the entire Sixth Symphony is not to be found.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

LP, do a search for some short files. They don't give you a break for them...

For example, they're selling a 12-second Monty Python track (the intro to Monty Python and the Holy Grail) for the standard $0.99. Of course, you can buy the whole album for $9.99, but still...