Ipod
So I got an Ipod for Christmas. I got the 160 GB version, which is perfect. I’ve been ripping my favorite albums, and have well over 300 albums on there now (160kbps AAC for rock music, 192kbps AAC for classical) and still have used only about 1/6 of the thing’s capacity. It’s amazing that I’ve avoided this device for so long, but I’m glad I waited until one came out with this capacity.
Fun stuff.
P.S. A post like this inevitably invites a slew of comments about how I did everything wrong — there are better players out there, I’m ripping CDs at the wrong rate, etc. etc. etc. I can’t stop you, so go ahead.
I bought the i-phone a couple weeks ago and I still haven’t figured out how to download tunes yet….
Capitalist Infidel (c1d390) — 1/27/2008 @ 1:55 pmThere’s also a newer version from Apple that gets implanted directly into your brain. It’s called the “I, Phone”.
ras (fc54bb) — 1/27/2008 @ 1:59 pmI’m just using my own album collection at this point.
Patterico (4bda0b) — 1/27/2008 @ 1:59 pmYou did everything wrong.
See-Dubya (7f702c) — 1/27/2008 @ 2:01 pmI use an XMRadio portable called “Inno” which allows you to record a song as you hear it and capture it from the beginning. You can decide 10 seconds from the end. Stores 500 songs and it’s roughly the size of an iPod.
steve (6a997d) — 1/27/2008 @ 2:02 pmI ripped most of my collection at 128 for pop and country, but I was having capacity problems and my iPod is one of the little flash doohickeys.
I didn’t rip much of my classical stuff at all simply because I like to listen to it off of CD’s in the big stereo.
BTW if you have some vinyl or cassettes you want to rip, here’s a cheapo setup I used.
See-Dubya (7f702c) — 1/27/2008 @ 2:06 pmMy experiences with iPods are limited to buying them and giving them as gifts, but you sound like you’re on your way to a good collection of tunes. My only advice would be to start now telling people to buy you iTune gift cards … because no matter how many songs you have already, you’ll want more.
DRJ (517d26) — 1/27/2008 @ 2:30 pmPatterico–I don’t plan on mocking you for deploying words like “albums” or “capacity” or for not specifically identifying which IPod you have. Althought the 160 GB version pretty much narrows it down. What I’d like to know is if your “albums” are vinyl or eight track…Hee-Hee.
Andy B (caa920) — 1/27/2008 @ 2:34 pmThere’s always podcasts to help will up the space…
Scott Jacobs (a1de9d) — 1/27/2008 @ 2:48 pmMy only contribution – get real earbuds. Those iconic white plastic things sell well, but they suck. If you’re already $300+ invested, get some good noise canceling noise delivery agents for another $100.
I spend a lot of time on the NYC MTA, so I might be a little biased here. But it is worth it.
I still have only a 30G pod, and am waiting for the iPhone upgrade. That said, I have yet to listen to music for more than 13.2 (or whatever it is) days between plugging it in, so I don’t feel shorted. Although I do need a better strategy for sorting music I want to keep and music I want on my iPod. Haven’t fixed that one yet.
Oh, and just so that I can tell you you’re wrong, I rip everything at 320/VBR mp3. You’d be surprised how much dynamic range one can find in some songs. I love Apple hardware now (I’ve spent close to 10K on it in the last year), but I don’t know that I always will, so lowest common denominator format makes sense. As for bitrate, Meh, seemed good to me – I couldn’t tell the difference, so that’s all I wanted. I have ripped some stuff to FLAC, because it is a bit rare, and I wanted everything I could get out of the recordings, in case the media goes bad. But I still listen to them at 320/VBR.
fishbane (fbe4d4) — 1/27/2008 @ 3:09 pmfishbane,
I have Shure earbuds, I think E4C. They are awesome.
Patterico (4bda0b) — 1/27/2008 @ 3:12 pmActually, I don’t think “earbud” is accurate — they’re really in-ear headphones.
Patterico (4bda0b) — 1/27/2008 @ 3:12 pmfishbane,
Any word on the iPhone upgrade? I’m waiting on it, too, but the last I heard it would be the end of 2008 before it comes out.
DRJ (517d26) — 1/27/2008 @ 3:14 pmBut if you do, Allahpundit will try to have sex with you. He’s an iPhone fiend!
tired (38dc11) — 1/27/2008 @ 3:55 pmDRJ,
I don’t know. Apple is notorious for screwing around with people who try to predict Apple produce announcements. I have heard that there will be an upgrade before q4, from an Apple employee whom I trust. But also keep in mind that they keep teams functionally divided, and spread disinformation internally as well. Lots of folks guessed at something like the iPhone and were right, but apparently there were only about 30 or so folks who knew for a fact of its existence. Apple is good at product ‘pop’.
I personally don’t mind waiting much. My phone makes me angry, but I’ve dealt with it this long, so fine. And not giving money to Verizon to switch contracts would be even nicer. Even if it is to ATT, whom I dislike more (planning on going the prepaid route).
fishbane (fbe4d4) — 1/27/2008 @ 4:10 pmUm, dumb typo there. Not Apple ‘produce’ announcements, ‘product’ announcements. I’m sure you can see how that happened. Hm, now I want some fruit.
fishbane (fbe4d4) — 1/27/2008 @ 4:13 pmThere are much more cost effective music players out there, but ipods somehow are much more fun to use.
I miss my old ipod. Now all my music is on my Ericsson phone. It’s just not the same.
Jem (9e390b) — 1/27/2008 @ 4:46 pmWhich program are you folks using to rip your CDs?
JVW (b03dfa) — 1/27/2008 @ 5:09 pmThanks, Fishbane. I understand your point about AT&T. Our cell phones are with AT&T now since we were originally Cingular customers, but I wouldn’t have chosen it otherwise. However, the iPhone looks so good that I’m considering getting a current version and the newer one when it comes out if it’s going to be 6 months (or more). I’m normally not that wasteful but we all have our weaknesses. I guess this is mine.
DRJ (517d26) — 1/27/2008 @ 5:15 pmIf it does what you want it to do, you’ve done it right.
I personally avoid iPods because there are much cheaper players that do all I need and have things the iPod doesn’t have (such as a removable battery).
My only advice is to make sure you have non-DRMed music, preferably MP3. That way, you are not locked in to Apple, and can take your music anywhere. MP3 is not the technically best music specification, but it’s pretty good for all but absolute purists, and you’ll never suffer from DRM lock-in. It uses more space, but that’s evidently not a problem on your iPod.
Bradley J Fikes (1c6fc4) — 1/27/2008 @ 5:38 pmwhy are you wasting storage space on that classical junk? %-)
redc1c4 (48a20b) — 1/27/2008 @ 6:22 pmSee-Dubya,
no one you know (1ebbb1) — 1/27/2008 @ 7:06 pmHave been wanting to rip a cassette collection for some time in a cheapo way. Thanks for posting the advice!
Hope that works for you, N1YN. If you’re just doing cassettes, you don’t need the preamp. Just turn the volume up on the walkman or tape deck and the signal will come out already preamped.
E-mail me if you have any trouble with that.
see-dubya (7f702c) — 1/27/2008 @ 11:12 pmI am on my second iPod, a 30GB video model. If you do not already have one, get a good case. Dropping it is only a question of time.
The music is great when I’m out walking or traveling, but one of the best features is its photo capability. I carry a Nikon 5300 with 1 GB of flash that I can download and review directly on my iPod. You’ll need a $50 Apple camera adaptor to connect to the USB port. You needn’t lug around your laptop.
If your laptop is a Mac, the iPod can be used as an external hard drive. I think you can even load a minimum operating system and boot from it in an emergency.
Personally, I don’t like earbuds much, but there’s a company called Grado Labs that makes great headphones. Most DJs use the Reference System models which cost $1,000+. Fortunately, they have a set for $75 that are excellent.
arch (56e5bf) — 1/28/2008 @ 2:09 am“It’s amazing that I’ve avoided this device for so long, but I’m glad I waited until one came out with this capacity.”
My g/f got one for Christmas 2 yrs ago, gift from a techie son. OMG what a wonderful device they are.
Even today it’s but half full of music and the site she uses is affordable as well. Averages …. well very little per album.
Doing dvd’s now, 10@ very little as well.
And no I could give a crap about the nazi organization that poses as a protector of artists.
TC (1cf350) — 1/28/2008 @ 4:39 amZe RIAA has made note of zese comments und ve haf all uf your IP addresses und you vill be hearink from us zoon.
Und pay no attention to qtrax.com!! Zere are no free MP3s!
Little Eichman (d3fb6b) — 1/28/2008 @ 5:53 amLittle Eichman,
Great handle! But go right ahead, RIAA guy. Making copies of music you bought, for your own use w/o sharing, is called “fair use,” suckah 🙂 !
Seriously, would *love* to be audited by the RIAA.
Would make up for all the times my family makes fun of me for never illegally downloading music or movies, and never accepting copies from them of CDs or DVDs, as IMO artists are entitled to all the income from their work.
I don’t make a big deal of this, just politely decline w/o elaborating when offers are made, nor do I criticize them for what they feel is OK, but am following my own conscience, but they criticize me mercilessly and I wish they’d leave me alone about it. /whine off
Re: the RIAA audit? Would savor the sweet, sweet pwnage as I demand an apology from the RIAA, and family finally shuts their mouths. Jerks (I mean solely the RIAA of course 🙂 ) …
no one you know (1f5ddb) — 1/28/2008 @ 6:51 amI have about 60,000 mp3 files, a collection that started in 1996. Out of those, Ive bought 3 songs from iTunes. I have an ipod nano, but I don’t like it. iTunes is a horrible program, the interface with the ipod is atrocious. I don’t use my ipod as much as I use my old beatup Rio because I hate not being able to just drag and drop music onto the device in the order I wish to hear it.
Apple zealots love to talk about bloated Microsoft programs, but iTunes puts roughly 5 services on your PC, and it works like crap and appears to be updated weekly with a new version.
gabriel (6d7447) — 1/28/2008 @ 7:23 amI have the 2GB iPod Nano. They say it holds about 1000 songs. Mine holds 500, but I’m into progressive rock, so most of the songs on mine are 7 or 8 minutes long.
It’s a nice thing to have, though, when you’re running a tractor in the fields (see, we rural folk have technology, too). I have very little other uses for it. I converted all my music to mp3 about 2 years ago, with the help of a program called Goldwave and a long RCA cable from my amplifier to my sound card. I couldn’t burn it, because it’s all on vinyl LP’s.
…and until I die, that is how I will listen to music in the home. It sounds better. Anyone who thinks CDs sound better than LPs has never heard a pristine, unscratched LP on a good direct-drive turntable.
I justify this opinion based on being a musician and possessing perfect pitch. The only CDs I own are things that were recorded post 1990 or so. Opeth and Dream Theater, mostly.
If you were not old enough to have a clean copy of “Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd on vinyl, and a good system on which to listen to it, then you are deprived.
otcconan (b0a3f1) — 1/28/2008 @ 10:00 amhere’s a cheapo setup I used.
Note: I forgot that I posted a nearly identical comment to this thread as I did to See-Dubya’s.
hehe.
otcconan (b0a3f1) — 1/28/2008 @ 10:03 amMy only contribution – get real earbuds. Those iconic white plastic things sell well, but they suck. If you’re already $300+ invested, get some good noise canceling noise delivery agents for another $100.
I ditched the cheapo Apple earbuds for the $300 over-ear Sennheisers I bought for my recording studio. 🙂
otcconan (b0a3f1) — 1/28/2008 @ 10:06 amHoly crap — 160 Gigs? That’s my boot drive!
I have vowed not to purchase tech gadgets that would throw a wrench into my budget if I needed to replace them if I should, say, leave one a bus. If that means being two years behind the industry standard, so be it.
L.N. Smithee (e1f2bf) — 1/28/2008 @ 10:11 amAnd as I said in my comment on JYB, a digital representation can only take 1’s and 0’s and make a representation of the sound wave. Imagine what a sine wave would look like represented on a 16 bit video screen…
An LP is not a representation of that sound wave. It is an exact copy of that sound wave. Where a digital source has a sample rate (I think the highest used is 320), the sample rate of an LP is infinity.
LPs win. That is not subjective. Not only can I hear the difference, but it is documented science.
See this discussion. Read the second post..he put it better than I could.
otcconan (b0a3f1) — 1/28/2008 @ 10:15 amPat,
Shure is a good place to go. They make the best microphones, and I actually have a Shure stylus in my turntable.
otcconan (b0a3f1) — 1/28/2008 @ 10:20 amUm, dumb typo there. Not Apple ‘produce’ announcements, ‘product’ announcements. I’m sure you can see how that happened. Hm, now I want some fruit.
See now, I work in a grocery store, and that typo didn’t even register. 🙂
otcconan (b0a3f1) — 1/28/2008 @ 10:22 am#32…
Forgot the all-important link.
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=375592
otcconan (b0a3f1) — 1/28/2008 @ 10:27 amWelcome to the Cult of the iPod! Join us! Do not be afraid!
I have an iPod Touch and love it to death. What finally convinced me to joint the cult after my Rio died was the mind-boggling number and variety of accessories for the iPods. Control it through your car stereo? No problem. Alarm clock? No sweat. Desk lamp? Comes with a dock that will recharge it, too! Waterproof case? Available.
It’s like a whole new area of Xmas gifts has been opened for me. 🙂
Darkmage (be2d37) — 1/28/2008 @ 11:51 amSheesh, you can’t even have a thread about an iPod without some Vinyl True Believer™ chiming in!
–Dave (8GB Creative Zen V Plus, 30GB Creative Nomad Zen Xtra — no Apple crap for me.)
Dave (037445) — 1/28/2008 @ 1:27 pmHey Patterico, congrats on a nice purchase. Those are some good headphones you got. If you’re into audiobooks, it’s worth checking outLibravox which is free recordings of books out of copyright, or Audible if you like newer stuff. I just finished Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian,” and I highly recommend it.
Russell (5ecf4a) — 1/28/2008 @ 8:14 pmNothing is more frustrating than when people insist on 320. 224-256 is plenty. If you’re going to rip at 320, you might as well be being doing FLAC, not MP3. 320 is a waste of hard drive space. But that’s just one man’s opinion…
Jeff (d01973) — 1/29/2008 @ 10:02 amTo convert cassettes to MP3’s, all you need is a $5 male to male cable from Radio Shack. Connect your headphone out on your tape player to the input on your sound card on your PC. After downloading some free analog to MP3 software (it exists, google it).
Thomas (a3c869) — 1/29/2008 @ 2:58 pm