[geargrrl]

using winamp pro. I specifically upgraded to get the conversion feature, and I am using it to manage my ipod.

Can someone translate this into non-geek for me? I really like winamp, however thier help leaves a bit to be desired as does the tech support forum

When you transcode from one lossy file to another the resulting files will always be of poorer quality than the first. Whether you can hear a difference is another story. I would suggest that you encode mp3 with the New VBR encoder, select the minimun bitrate at 96kbs or lower and the maximum bitrate at 320kbs. You can then play around with the quality settings until you find the setting that works for your application. No sense transcoding to a higher quality if a lower quality will be acceptable.

I have no idea what VBR encoder is( plug in, stand alone?)
Mainly I am converting m4A TO mp3 so I can play on my ipod. Should I be coverting to something other than mp3? Mp3 is the default
"convert to"and it seems to work, but there are other options.

I hate the learning curve on new computer stuff. My son has given me a ton of music, but most of it is m4a. Anyone ever heard of the Futuristic Sex Robots? You gotta love Geek rap. Who else would make songs about live journal and W of W?

gg

gg.

 

[goofy]

Don't Ipods use m4a files not mp3 files so shouldn't you be going the other way

 

[dfinn]

VBR = variable bit rate. it's a good thing, you should use it. it will help save space and also help preserve quality. In general bitrate = quality. The higher the better.

Here's a more thorough explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_bit_rate

 

[narlus]

aye, i use VBR exclusively. and i rip using EAC/LAME.

if the ipod can play m4a (and i tihnk it can), just leave it there; transcoding from one lossy format to another is a mistake, imo.

 

[Kihaji]

Yes, ipods play m4a (m4p that you regularly see from files in itunes are the protected m4a's, otherwise known as AAC).

As for converting between m4a and mp3 or any other lossy format(lossy means exactly what it sounds like, it loses information), while technically they will sound worse, unless you have fairly decent headphones you wont be able to hear the difference much, especially if its just as a distraction while riding/workouts.

 

[geargrrl]

well, my nano refuses to play m4a. Sorry, it just wont. I've restored it looked at trouble shooting blah blah - spent hours on this now and afaik it's an issue with this generation of nano. No matter, I can convert the stuff that's already been ripped.

I think if you load the music via itunes it does something to the m4a but I've tried itunes and I hate it so I am not using it.

but pardon my denseness... where do I find the VBR settings or config or options? I just don't get it, sorry

thanks.

 

[Transcend]

How can you hate Itunes yet use Winamp? Ugh, winamp drives me up the wall. Itunes is great, especially with an Ipod. Drag and drop for the win. Itunes does a lot of funky stuff to convert/transfer things to the ipod as far as I know (especially with AAC and other DRMed stuff).

I am seriously honestly curious how people can actually hate Itunes. What reason do you hate it for, i am genuinely interested.

edit: is itunes for windows THIS bad? Last time i used winamp on my pc (about 2 years ago) it was bloated crapola full of useless nonsense I didn't need. I can understand if Itunes is even more bloated crapola.

 

[BigMike]

Transcend, I like Winamp, but don't really like iTunes. It thinks its smarter than you are, and that bothers me. No iTunes, I DON'T want you to screw up my stuff into 90000 folders. It is definantly in tune with an iPod, but..... thats about all its good for as far as I can see.

I use it on my Mac because I have to, on my PC, its still Winamp

 

[narlus]

transcend, i hate iTunes because it's a huge resource hog, and it's an inferior ripper.

 

[geargrrl]

let's see, when I did install itunes, the first things it did that pissed me off were a)did not ask for a default music directory and b) started transferring ALL my music files with out asking and with out an obvious way to stop it. I find it incredibly unntuitive to use. I also absolutely hate all the "buy the latest" stuff that pops up on the screen. Apple has you over the barrel enough as it is, I do not want to be a captive audience for advertising.

I had it on my system for about an hour and that was it.

What I like about winamp - I find the visual interface and the drag and drop very simple to use. I didn't have to go hunting around for how to do things in the software. It's really easy to right click to do lots of stuff like edit titles, look at file properties and so on. Maybe you can do that in Itunes but they sure don't make it easy to find it.

gg

 

[Ciaran]

GearGrrl,

I can't help with the file conversion as I use the free version of Winamp but I can tell you that I recieved a Creative Zen for X-mas and it's working with WinAmp very well. Super easy to use, and like you said, drag and drop or right click and send to the player.

Since I never use and/or buy anything from itunes I don't have to worry about converting anything. B.V. may be able to give better NON-BIASED advice on that. I currently rip using Poikosofts's EZ CD Extractor. It's an awsome ripper and does file conversion as well. I have not updated recently so I don't know what the current version supports.

As for WinAmp itself, well it is and always has been a kick ass audio player for Windows. It is not a resource hog and the interface is easy to use. The newest version is even better. I looked at iTunes on my dads computer (PC) and I thought it was convoluted and bloated. Perhaps on a Mac it works better.

Maybe you can return that Nano and get a Zen from Creative. If you send me a hard drive I'll fill it with mp3's for ya and send it back. No muss, no fuss...

Just my opinion... your milage may vary.

 

[Transcend]

Well so far, all of the stuff you guys have listed can be turned off. (Besides being a resource hog on Windows...which I found Winamp 5 to be HORRIBLE about).

As for ripping, I wouldn't use ANY mp3 player to do this. I would use a purpose built application.

Geargirl - you can tell it how to manage your files, it is all drag and drop, and the annoying music store crap can be turned off (first thing I did). You are not subject to any advertising unles syou want the store interface open.

Right click and get info, or ctrl I will bring up the file info and allow you to edit ID3 tags in mass, or individually.

 

[Ciaran]

Well so far, all of the stuff you guys have listed can be turned off. (Besides being a resource hog on Windows...which I found Winamp 5 to be HORRIBLE about).

Same same.

You see.... they are all just computers and software. They do the same thing. One is not better than the other. One is better than the other for YOU. And why should she switch to iTunes? She already said that she is only having issues with file conversion, not file management.

And winamp is not a resource hog. Mem usage is less than other media players, and CPU usage is in line with others if not lower. Maybe your Windows computer doesn't have enough resources? I have found that applications are indeed getting fatter these days, but it seems to be in line with computer performance improving. Of course Windows itself IS a resource hog. No denying that. Of course if you know what you are doing, you can trim it down and make it mean and lean.

 

[geargrrl]

Well so far, all of the stuff you guys have listed can be turned off. (Besides being a resource hog on Windows...which I found Winamp 5 to be HORRIBLE about).

As for ripping, I wouldn't use ANY mp3 player to do this. I would use a purpose built application.

Geargirl - you can tell it how to manage your files, it is all drag and drop, and the annoying music store crap can be turned off (first thing I did). You are not subject to any advertising unles syou want the store interface open.

Right click and get info, or ctrl I will bring up the file info and allow you to edit ID3 tags in mass, or individually.

well. Maybe so. I'm not smart enough to configure/personalize the software before I plugged my ipod in, I just installed the software and hooked up the ipod and off it went and I couldn't make it stop. That should not happen, imo. At least winamp waits for you to tell it what you want it to do the first time around.

It was a gift, there's no taking it back but thanks.

gg

 

[blue]

I'm not a gigantic fan of iTunes, but it seems to be the best player out there right now. I can mostly appreciate its method of organization, and I really like the album art features. I just recently converted my entire 40GB library into its file organization system after I ported from PC to Mac. I really don't see the disadvantage to it. Keeps things clean. However, I really dislike the DRM stuff Apple is doing (especially with their store), as well as the lack of any real tagging features built in. I don't rip many CDs (I'm a dirty rotten thief), so that isn't a big issue with me either.

Winamp downright sucks ass. Bloated, disorganized, slow, impossible to use. Both iTunes and Winamp are mega resource hogs on PCs. I don't really notice when iTunes is running on my Mac, but then again, my Mac is so slow I don't notice much...

 

[corey_freerider]

use dBpowerAMP to convert... there is a free version of it out there. and i dont think this was stated, but ipods play mp3 too. thats basicly all i have. and i know you said you like winamp, i used to use that all the time too but switched over to itunes and its just better. make sure you have the latest firmware and everything for your ipod too.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Here's a related question - how in God's name do I get rid of the "Ministore" crap at the bottom of Itunes? The only option I can see is "Turn on Ministore" which I do *NOT* want to do.

 

[BigMike]

Here's a related question - how in God's name do I get rid of the "Ministore" crap at the bottom of Itunes? The only option I can see is "Turn on Ministore" which I do *NOT* want to do.

Welcome to iTunes....... you don't

 

[Transcend]

On the mac version, there is a little button at the bottom of the window, took me a bit to find as well.

Mike - Sorry, that's wrong. On windows - CTRL SHIFT M

 

[geargrrl]

Here's a related question - how in God's name do I get rid of the "Ministore" crap at the bottom of Itunes? The only option I can see is "Turn on Ministore" which I do *NOT* want to do.

LOL. See what I mean.
To summarize this thread - Itunes sucks, winamp sucks, it all sucks.

 

[BigMike]

LOL. See what I mean.
To summarize this thread - Itunes sucks, winamp sucks, it all sucks.

We should all go back to beta players

 

[SkaredShtles]

On the mac version, there is a little button at the bottom of the window, took me a bit to find as well.

Mike - Sorry, that's wrong. On windows - CTRL SHIFT M

Sweet! That worked a treat. Not very intuitive, though.

 

[Transcend]

Sweet! That worked a treat. Not very intuitive, though.

Well, all you had to do was look in the VIEW menu...seems pretty intuitive to me.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Well, all you had to do was look in the VIEW menu...seems pretty intuitive to me.

That's funny. I *swear* I looked through every menu before bitching.

 

[Ciaran]

LOL. See what I mean.
To summarize this thread - Itunes sucks, winamp sucks, it all sucks.

I tunes sucks, winamp ROCKS when you use it CORRECTLY. (Without any apple crap), and yes... it all sucks.

On a related note I was given an IPOD NANO for x-mas. So now I get to d a head to head comparison of the 4 gig nano vs. the Creative Zen V (Also 4 gigs)

To date: Creative zen is stupid simple to use. I never even looked at the manual. Nano's controls are slightly better as I like the glide pad over the small joystick that creative uses. Both the displays look the same. Menus have the same options and such. The Creatives screen is slightly larger, however. The nano is thinner, but longer then the Zen. Both seem to weigh about the same.

Winamp found the Creative Zen right away and I began loading it with music. Wham bam! It's working... The Nano on the other hand... Winamp found it but saw it as a USB drive. Nano + Winamp on Win Vista requires further testing.

So...
Nano+winamp+XP = teh suck
Zen + Winamp + XP = teh awsomeness
Nano + itunes + Vista = Pretty good.
Zen + WinAmp + Vista = teh Super awsomeness.

I advise everyone to sell their ipods on ebay and get a Creative Zen. More info later after I can give em both a real good workout.

Winamp downright sucks ass. Bloated, disorganized, slow, impossible to use. Both iTunes and Winamp are mega resource hogs on PCs. I don't really notice when iTunes is running on my Mac, but then again, my Mac is so slow I don't notice much...

You're probably not configuring it correctly... or something. I find Winamp to be SUPER SIMPLE. I just don't see what's confusing you people. Resource hog? Are you nuts? Disorganized? I guess having everything organized by artist, album,song and however else you want it organized is just too complicated. Oh, and that nifty search feature is a bear to use too... type in what your looking for and hit enter.

 

[Reactor]

I hated I-tunes the first week I used it. Then I figured out what it was doing was extremely intuitive and I was trying to impose the windows paradigm on it.

 

[Ciaran]

I hated I-tunes the first week I used it. Then I figured out what it was doing was extremely intuitive and I was trying to impose the windows paradigm on it.

Was there anything in particular that you turned on or off to make it better? Or was the paradim shift made within you? (change of attitude?)

I am planning on trying out iTunes with the Nano. I'd hate to come back here and bash it only to find out that I didn't have it configured correctly.

 

[geargrrl]

I hated I-tunes the first week I used it. Then I figured out what it was doing was extremely intuitive and I was trying to impose the windows paradigm on it.

yeah, what's the secret? My hubby's been using itunes for a year and he still hasn't gotten to the point where he doesn't bitch every time he uses it.

gg

 

[geargrrl]

I tunes sucks, winamp ROCKS when you use it CORRECTLY. (Without any apple crap), and yes... it all sucks.

On a related note I was given an IPOD NANO for x-mas. So now I get to d a head to head comparison of the 4 gig nano vs. the Creative Zen V (Also 4 gigs)


Winamp found the Creative Zen right away and I began loading it with music. Wham bam! It's working... The Nano on the other hand... Winamp found it but saw it as a USB drive. Winamp on Win Vista saw it and it worked... till winamp crashed. Though this is a Vista isue, not a Winamp or Apple issue.

So...
Nano+winamp+XP = teh suck
Zen + Winamp + XP = teh awsomeness

I advise everyone to sell their ipods on ebay and get a Creative Zen. More info later after I can give em both a real good workout.

I personally didn't have this problem with my Nano, but it IS a problem. Just surf through the winamp tech forums for confirmation. Maybe I just got lucky in that it recognized my ipod right away?

gg

 

[Ciaran]

I personally didn't have this problem with my Nano, but it IS a problem. Just surf through the winamp tech forums for confirmation. Maybe I just got lucky in that it recognized my ipod right away?

gg

What version of Winamp are you running, and what version of Windows? Did you do any config or add any plugins? Or did it just find it as is?

I'm sure it's something I am doing wrong. Thanks for the forums tip. I am on the way to go check it out.

And on the Nano Vs. Creative note... They both seem like pretty good players. After a few days I would recommend either one.

 

[geargrrl]

Lessee. I downloaded the latest version, ( upgrade) and made sure to do a CUSTOM install which gives you the option to check portables. I will see if can find the link to that discussion. If you have installed the non-winamp ipod plug in, it can conflict with the portable support in the lastest version on winamp which has it's own plugins

here ya go.

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?postid=2079385#post2079385

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?postid=2079385#post2079385

What really helped me were the screen shots of what I should be looking for in the custom install

 

[Reactor]

Was there anything in particular that you turned on or off to make it better? Or was the paradim shift made within you? (change of attitude?)

I am planning on trying out iTunes with the Nano. I'd hate to come back here and bash it only to find out that I didn't have it configured correctly.

I don't remember exactly, but most of the shift was on my part. Mostly I think I finally read the help file and figured out I couldn't make it work like a windows app.

 

[Ciaran]

OK, I loaded itunes on the Vista PC... so far so good. I absolutely hated the way it comes out of the box (so to speak), but after turning things off and getting the display to look the way I like it, it's not bad. Not as elegant or configurable as WinAmp but it's clean and easy to navigate. It found the ipod right away and loading music on it was easy. (Drag and drop) I would like a <Right click-send to> option though. It did not copy ANY files from my server to my local computer when adding to the library (I remember someone saying that it did), and did it fairly quick. Adding media to the library works the same in Winamp and itunes (file-add...).

So far so good. (Fingers crossed)

On the ipod Vs. creative front I would like to see an actual power button/switch on the ipod like the Creative. Ipods glide pad is better then the joystick, but the creative has a bigger screen, and seems to be a touch louder on the volume. I like the metal body of the ipod over the creative, but I like the creative's shape better than the ipod. Not as long but a bit thicker.

GearGrrl, I was able to get itunes to look like winamp. If it works half as good as winamp I'll let you know. (I seriously doubt it's player is as good as WinAmp, though) I am going to reload winamp tomorrow and try the ipod on it again.

 

[Ciaran]

Update. I did a clean install of Win XP Pro, installed WinAmp, plugged in the ipod and it found it without any issues.

Found out that I could drag and drop from the music folder to Winamps Media Library which makes things way easy.