iTunes rant

[nrwatson]

I find Itunes a poor program and I am being discouraged from using it to get music which is a shame

The albums are often more expensive than the CDs and it is difficult to back up the downloads. You need to rip them to disc straight away.

I would like to have a external drive ripnas where all my music is stored and it can be accessed by my three computers when and I want to listen to my music and I can download tracks from which ever computer I want.

Finally when I use my ipad, or Ipod it can be linked to the Music drive rather than a computer this means I can play tracks downloaded from any source with out the ipods etc being linked to a particular computer and having to be wiped clean if you want a track from the wrong computer you downloaded the track from.

Any ideas sorry about the rave but seem to have lost tracks I have brought ( back up with time machine but thats no longer working only a year old the power supply blown so lost whole lot of music I had thought i had carefully backup)

Any thoughts about who to resolve this mess would be gratefully received

If I download Flac files I dont have any of these problems and easy to back up)

 

[wgscott]

Were you using the time capsule? Time machine is software and works great if you want to do incremental backups. I wouldn't have it run every hour, however.

 

iTunes has its problems but the ones you describe are mainly due to your unfamiliarity with the program. For example, you can put music on your iPod from multiple computers, just check off the box for "manage music manually". You shouldn't have to "wipe it clean if you want a track from a different computer."

 

The iTunes store sells stuff which many people don't want. If you don't want to buy their stuff, just turn it off in the preferences (or under parental control).

 

Finally, there are several free alternatives to iTunes that address its limitations, such as inability to play flac, and inability to switch the sampling frequency.

 

[DiminishingReturnsOfficer]

nrwatson,

I'm not sure from your post wether you want to stick it out with iTunes or jump ship to another program. I just found out something interesting in here about iTunes downloads; they are all 256 kbs. Sure, I knew that, but I thought when I created "Apple Lossless Version" that I had a CD quality file. Apparently this is not so, in fact, I think it was Chris (our Founder) that filled me in on this. Basically, you "can't get something from nothing", so while the file size does effectively increase, the sound quality does not. You're still stuck with a sub-CD quality file. That, in itself, was enough to make me decide not to make any further purchases with iTunes.

I still believe that iTunes is probably the best program for Mac users. If you want to improve upon it, you can get the software from Amarra. Again, I don't know how loyal or committed to iTunes you are, but I do think that the program will do everything you need it to. I have to agree with gentleman before me's comment; you may not fully understand how to use iTunes to do what you want. No offense intended, I'm in the same situation- just getting started. Since I use Windows 7 on PC, iTunes is not the best choice for me because it does not allow WASAPI Exclusive Mode output. I went with the J River Media Center 15, and I love it. I know that you would be able to use several different computers or Libraries with this program. Sorry, I can't help at all with the Time Machine backup issue except to say that you might want to back up your Library to disc instead.

 

[wgscott]

iTunes as a program isn't the same set of issues as iTunes as a storefront.

 

As for the program, the main disadvantages that I can see are:

 

1. Inability to change sampling frequency output on the fly (you have to set Audio MIDI Setup and the (re)start iTunes.

 

2. Inability to play FLAC files directly (this I think is a minor point, since you can convert them manually to Apple Lossless using XLD or similar free software).

 

3. Clunky archaic Carbon interface.

 

Only #1 is a major gripe.

 

What iTunes offers for sale via the storefront is based on supply and demand. If Apple perceives it is losing sales, my guess is they will start offering HD music in the same way that they now offer HD movies and TV shows. But the lack of uncompressed music in the store should really have nothing to do with the decision you make whether or not to use it to play your music.

 

The reality is that a well-recorded 256 kB/sec compressed AAC file probably sounds almost as good as the uncompressed CD for most popular music. I personally avoid buying compressed classical music, but the average Dick's Pick's live Dead album really doesn't sound any worse.