The new iPod shuffle and nano - Holy **** (1 Viewer)

[Jason Kirkpatri]

^ thanks for the picture. I'm looking for a different pair of earphones and this gives me something to go look at. Thanks again!

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Ted,

Everything you say is true. However, Itunes is not the issue -- the Ipod already supports playback of several formats that are not available for download on Itunes.

As far as I know, it would be trivial for the Ipod to support FLAC playback, and this would in no way affect what formats are available for download off their website.

******

On the issue of batch re-encoding already compressed files, I've found some vague references (through Google searches) to a plug-in for Foobar2000. Foobar2000 is the media player I use on my PC, in favor of WinAmp (mainly due to its gapless playback) but I haven't experiemented with any plug-ins. There is supposed to be a feature called "Foobar Converter" which can convert files from one format into another (FLAC and Apple Lossless included) without too much hassle. I'll post more when I know more.

Thanks everybody,
-Rob

 

[EricW]

yeah those are nice phones - especially if you like base. if you ever find a place that sells (just) the extension, please let me know as i've lost mine (i use the short version by putting the ipod in the shirt breast pocket

 

[Ken Chan]

If you're on a Mac, have you tried using Automator? Looks like there are several Actions (which you can mix with Finder Actions) that would be useful.

 

[Ted Todorov]

I am on a Mac, but I have no idea what you are talking about -- please explain.

I have to sit there and feed my Mac CDs -- I don't see a way around it. iTunes 7 will automatically start the import, but the robot that will insert the next CD was not included

Ted

 

[Ken Chan]

I thought you already had existing audio files in a different format.

Mac OS programs are often scriptable. They expose actions that you can control through AppleScript. Automator is like a graphical UI for AppleScript. You can chain actions from different apps together to create a workflow. So if you're converting a bunch of audio files, you could have it prompt for them, convert them to a particular format, set their info, and put them in a playlist, "all at the touch of a button".

But in your case, that won't really help But you should check out the program; it's in the Applications folder.

 

[Craig S]

My new 80GB iPod arrived Friday morning (2 days & 20 hours from ordering to my door - and it came from China! Kudos to Apple's fulfillment folks!). This is my first real experience with a 5G iPod and I am impressed. The gapless playback works flawlessly (c'mon Apple, make this available on older models). Videos look pretty darn good, despite the small screen (this is the brightest iPod screen yet). And the new games are a nice addition - I bought "Bejeweled" and it looks great and is very playable once you get the hang of it.

iPods have always had the reputation of being overpriced, but I think that's now changed. Next to Creative's $300 30 GB Zens, an 80 GB iPod for only $50 more is a screaming bargain.

Also, had a chance to check out the new Nanos today (Fry's was fully stocked with all models). I can't believe they figured out how to make the thing even thinner! The aluminum finish looks good and is not the fingerprint magnet the previous models were. I didn't think I would be tempted to upgrade my 4GB Nano, but I am...

 

[Brian Perry]

I bought my 80GB iPod on Saturday and am extremely happy. The sound quality is fantastic. (I am using the "Rock" equalizer setting.) As for gapless playback, it is 99% satisfactory -- there is a very slight click between tracks, but maybe that's because I'm converting from CD/wav to flac to mp3. And speaking of converting, I found a fairly painless way to convert all my tracks (10,000+) from flac to iTunes. I used dBpoweramp to convert the entire drive to MP3 at 192 Kbps and then simply dropped the newly converted folder (with subfolders) into iTunes. It took over 35 hours to convert everything, but the key is that the most time-consuming part can be done unattended. The other neat thing is that iTunes automatically put the tracks in their proper album sequence and also downloaded the album cover art.

I downloaded a movie from the iTunes store (National Treasure), but I think the small screen size will make it unlikely for me to do this in the future, at least for widescreen movies. It's just too small. If I can figure out a way to transfer my Tivo shows to the iPod, that is probably what I would use the video screen for most often.

I have a question that hopefully some of the more experienced users can answer: When importing the albums into iTunes, some artists are showing up with different spellings. For example, I have three albums by 10,000 Maniacs, but one of them shows up as 10000 Maniacs, so it gets listed as a different artist. Likewise "The Beatles" vs. "Beatles, The." Is there an easy way to consolidate these?

At $349, I think the 80Gb iPod is a great deal.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I owned these phones when I first bought my iPod. They were very comfortable earbuds. Unfortunately, they were too bass-heavy for my tastes. I gave them to my wife for use with her iPod mini, and she loves them. I upgraded to Shure E3C earbuds.

That 8GB Nano may end up being my wife's Christmas present. The battery on her 6GB mini is not holding a charge for very long anymore.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

You can select all the songs that have the incorrect artist by selecting the first song, holding the shift key, and then selecting the last song (make sure you have sorted your library by artist first). Then simply edit the artist field to match the correct spelling of your other songs/albums.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

i went to the apple online store to buy the new shuffle, only to realize it isn't being released until october?

CJ

 

[Ted Todorov]

Edit: Scott beat me to it -- but my method is slightly different.

Simply select all tracks that appear as for instance "Beatles, The.", do a File:Get Info (that is i on the Mac, probably i on Windows), and change the Artist name.

And yeah, that $349 price on the 80GB iPod is great -- I'd love one of those...

Ted

 

[Ted Todorov]

That's what Steve Jobs said -- iPods & Nanos now, Shuffles next month.

 

[Michael Harris]

I bought my first iPod this weekend. A new 4gb Nano for $199.00. I can't wait to put it through its paces but I really like it. I had songs in it within an hour after loading iTunes.

My only complaint are the headphones but I knew that would be the case before I even bought it. I have a terrible time with ear buds. They always fall out of my left ear. What is out there that one can insert into the ear? My primary use for the iPod will be running and generic working out.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

ah, didn't read that. guess i figured if it was on the website along with the others, it would be for sale now. but i want it nowwwww

CJ

 

[Ray Chuang]

I had a the same problem but by tweaking the controls on the iPod Nano for more treble sound (and tweaking the equalizer controls on my older Creative Zen Nano Plus 512 MB to emphasize more treble) I overcame that problem.

(Listening to ESPN Radio's The Herd with Colin Cowherd podcast on my Nano as I type this. )

 

[EricW]

the new nanos are great. i am so glad i waited a few months for these. not only do i ~not~ have to get a silicon case (new metal shall), but the battery life is AMAZING!. and at 8GBs the space is great.

they also sent me the ipod on the friday when i ordered it on tuesday nght. and i didn't even order the express delivery

also for those that have new 5Gs fort he first time, check out videora - it's a great encoding program to put all your favourite sitcoms and movies on the ipod.

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

Tell me about it. Between my travels to and from work and my visits to the gym, I listen to my Nano about three hours a day. And yet I didn't have to recharge it for over a week. Simply outstanding.

 

[Carlo_M]

Man I really was hoping for a 16GB Nano, what with all the rumors surrounding the 16GB Samsung flash chips...

I'm keen on retiring my 60GB G5 iPod to my home system as a "jukebox" that contains nearly all 500+ of my CDs in 320kbps AAC and upgrading to a true portable solution. I thought the 5G was portable until I bought my sister a 4GB Nano for her BDay a few months ago. She needed some help testing it (she thought it might be faulty) and so I had it for a week (it works, it's her PC that's the problem--USB1.1 sucks!).

For that week, I couldn't believe the size difference between the Nano and the 5G in every day use. I could foresee trading storage for size, but since my entire iTunes library is 32GB, I was hoping for a 16GB model so I could put half my library on it.

I'm so tempted by the 8GB model, especially at academic pricing ($249)...

 

[EricW]

next year (or sooner) when they get the 16gb+ nanos, the "regular" ipods will be a thing of the past - i can see it'll be either a nano or the (eventual) video ipod with touchscreen scroll wheel.