Tír Na HiFi

I need info on iPods, no experience of the machines, this purchase is for Mrs Rocker who has a need for one on train journeys.

Which model would you suggest, guides on storage size appreciated and I need to know how to rip music from CD to the unit. Can I select the bit rate or is it fixed? Will a USB cable be OK to connect the computer to the iPod for the file transfer?

As you can see I know nothing about the devices.

Thanks.

Just a side issue: an awful lot of mobile phones now can work as an ipod, also will have radio. If Mrs. Rocker was entitled to an upgrade from her current mobile phone, you might come out of this cost neutral?

If you call over some night I can show how to rip stuff easily....


Fran

Fran wrote:Just a side issue: an awful lot of mobile phones now can work as an ipod, also will have radio. If Mrs. Rocker was entitled to an upgrade from her current mobile phone, you might come out of this cost neutral?

My thoughts exactly. I'm just about to grab a HTC legend (if they're in stock) and they seem to be the bees knees (or the favourite part of your own favourite insect)

Hi Rocker,

Well Ipods tend to be more expensive, but still easy to use. I have had one for 3 years now, and it has been great. But if I was to start again, I might chose another make / model. But for simplicity and ease of use its all childs play.

You do require a pc or laptop, the Itunes software can be downloaded from Apple, or if you buy a Ipod the sofware will come on a installation disc. Once your software is installed you then connect the Ipod with the USB cable provided. I think you have to enter the serial number of the Ipod (written on the back) and enter it into the software program (Itunes) on the pc / laptop.

Once the installation is completed, you then start importing your music. With the Itunes software running, when you insert a CD the software should automatically detect that a audio cd has been inserted into the pc, it then asks you do you want to import the music from the cd, or sometimes it will carry this out automatically.

It will then copy all the music from the cd and convert it to its own readable standard which I think is mp4a (open to correction here). You can select the bit rate max I think is 320kb /s.

In addition once the music has been copied the software will go online and look up the names / details / artist of each song, so you don't have to manually type the title of the CD or enter the names of all the tracks.

I don't have any experience of other players or similar Ipod devices, but I would imagine they all work along similar lines etc. The quality is good enough for use when travelling, in the gym or car use etc. If you really wanted to get the best out of it then you are looking at a very good set of head phones, as the in ear head phones are uncomfortable and I think are too close to the ear drum. I prefer over / around the ear phones.

Experience comes with use, I remember I was travelling off for a few weeks, at the last minute I copied some music into Itunes, then connected my Ipod to transfer the music across. Unfortunately I had also chosen to update the Itunes software on the Ipod. This resulted in deleting all music on my Ipod, and then starting again with a fresh installation. By the time I realised what was happening my Ipod was "re initialised", and music deleted. I then had to reinstall the music from the pc back onto the Ipod. In short 50GB was deleted, I managed to install back 15GB before I had to stop and dash to the airport at the last minute. As a result everytime the Itunes software asks to update itself I click "NO". There are settings in Itunes where you can disable autoupdating etc. Software can be too smart for its own good at times.

Other issues are the battery, when your Ipod battery can no longer be recharged, you have to send your Ipod back to Apple, the battery can then be replaced. I think other players use more conventional batterys which can be recharged with a normal charger. Another issue is that Apple like to keep control of their software, so you may find that your entire music collection can only be played by Itunes software. So for example Windows media player will not recognise the file extension which is use by Apple. Effectively once you go down the Apple route, you are locking yourself into their way of doing things. Some people don't like that, others don't really care.

Another issue is that when switching on your Ipod, it does not automatically readjust the volume level to minimum. This can result in getting a severe ear blasting if the volume level was previoulsy set high. I think Apple are aware of this complaint and hopefully will do something about it.

If you are going to use it for travelling then thats fair enough. As for serious Hi Fi use where you want to copy your entire CD collection onto a pc with the highest quality possible you would have to ask some of the other members on the forum for which standard to use and best software. As Fran mentions other options are available, and if it does the job and saves you money then it could be worthwhile. I hope this helps..

Hey Ivor, I'm kinda partial to the "spiders ankles" meself!!

Adrian.

Hi Tom

As Adrian has explained, using an Ipod for importing and playing music is simplicity itself.

You can also import DVDs onto the Device or rent or buy movies from the Itunes store
which I find very good for when going on plane journeys.

Regarding importing music, I use the Apple lossless encloder which is an exact copy of the CD so
there is no compromise in sound quality, but this does use up more space on the unit than importing
at a lower quality. (Edit, Preferences, eneral, Import Settings - Apple Lossless Encoder)

When you purchase your Ipod it is more or less let the PC or Laptop communicate with the Ipod
with the USB cable provided, this will then set up your Itunes Library once you have downloaded
Itunes.

Importing a CD takes approx. 1 minute (depending upon the encoder chosen) and when you have imported
a few into your library you can sync the Ipod with your Itunes library to transfer the Albums/Photos/Movies
onto the Ipod.

I use my Ipod in conjunction with a small little headphone amp as I find the maximum output through the
headphone Jack to be too low especially if operating on a noisy Dart/Bus e.t.c.

Regards.

Andy

Do you really mean an iPod [as in Apple] or can you consider other brands [most hoovers are not made by Hoover ...].

My son recommends Creative [but also suggests Gowan].

The best idea for content is to buy CD's and convert them to MP3's and listen that way. You can also load WAV [uncompressed CD's] but that talkes up a lot of space. FLAC [Free Lossless Audio Codec] compresses WAV files but is not available on all machines ...

Battery life is an issue.

James