kirkmc

I know, but they should have understood immediately what was happening. I've found that Apple support is no longer what it used to be. I've had some very bad experiences in recent times.

Home Sharing has been in the Computer icon for quite some time. It's possible, however, that they only made the change to the gen 3 model recently. I recall it being jarring the first time I saw it, but I don't recall it being at the bottom of the screen. I'm surprised that AppleCare couldn't help you figure this out.

But you miss bug fixes and security updates for your apps. That's not very wise. For example, if you have WhatsApp on your phone, there's a very important security issue and they're telling everyone to update ASAP. These security issues aren't always as sensitive, but not having your apps up to date is a risk.

Better sounding?

If you've noticed the way iTunes has worked recently, it no longer needs an update when a new device is released. The first time you connect that device, iTunes downloads what software it needs. I think (and this is just an informed guess) that this iTunes Device Support Update may simply be Apple pushing all the software for the various devices to all users. It's possible that, for some people, that software wasn't downloading correctly in iTunes, and it does make sense for it to be on all Macs. I think this is much better than pushing out a new version of iTunes for each device.

I'd never heard of BlueSound. It does have the key feature I want, which is AirPlay 2. However, the PowerNode 2i is £799; the Sonos Amp is £599. That's a huge difference. (I don't particularly care about the "audiophile" element, especially not high-res music.) And the Node 2i is not an amplifier; it's just a streaming device.

I was wondering if anyone's bought the Sonos Amp. I'm thinking of getting one to downsize the audio equipment in my home office. I'm wondering if it's worth the cost, which, at £599 in the UK, isn't cheap for a small amplifier.

My guess is that there will still be an iTunes app, to manage libraries, sync content, and back up devices. These newer Marzipan apps will be exactly like the iOS apps, offering options to people who want to use them. Doug and I called this a few months ago on The Next Track: https://www.thenexttrack.com/139

"On one end is the gear junky and on the other end is the music junky. Based on no objective data, I'm willing to bet most audiophiles fall more toward the center than the extreme poles." This is entirely possible, but in forums, you tend to get the extremes making the most noise. (And in audiophile forums, it's more often, at least in my limited experience, those on the gear end of the continuum, who are most vocal.)

How did you rip the files? It sounds like some of the header info is incorrect, and some apps are not interpreting the length correctly. If you know how to use Terminal, you can run the afinfo command to see what the Mac sees. Open Terminal, type afinfo, then a space, then drag the file to the Terminal window, then press Return. You'll see a lot of info, including the length of the track. For example: $ afinfo /Volumes/Music/iTunes\ Media/Music/Grateful\ Dead/1974-05-21\ -\ Hec\ Edmundson\,\ University\ of\ Washington\,\ Seattle\,\ WA\ -\ 73-74\ Pacific\ Northwest/2-15\ Playing\ In\ The\ Band.m4a File: /Volumes/Music/iTunes Media/Music/Grateful Dead/1974-05-21 - Hec Edmundson, University of Washington, Seattle, WA - 73-74 Pacific Northwest/2-15 Playing In The Band.m4a File type ID: m4af Num Tracks: 1 ---- Data format: 2 ch, 44100 Hz, 'alac' (0x00000001) from 16-bit source, 4096 frames/packet no channel layout. estimated duration: 2818.506667 sec audio bytes: 306328441 audio packets: 30346 bit rate: 869469 bits per second

I use classic list. But I've moved most of my podcast listening to Overcast, and don't download many any more in iTunes.

If you're downloading something, you'll see the downloads there.

It refreshes all for me; that's how I've been doing it for years. Maybe you have too many podcasts? 🙂

In general, the next option is to restore the device. What I think happens is that the database on the device gets corrupted. In some cases, just un-syncing then re-syncing fixes it, but if not, you need to restore to wipe the database entirely. I don't see how removing smart playlists would affect individual songs, but it might have removed issues in the database, as I mention above. My main library is on my iMac, and I don't use iCloud Music Library with it; I have a second library on my MacBook Pro which does use iCloud Music Library, so I can access music on my iPhone or iPad. I really don't want the hassle of syncing any more, especially since much of what I listen to is available from Apple Music. The MBP library contains a lot of music that isn't on APM that I do want available on my portably devices.

That happened to me occasionally back when I synced music to iPods. What usually fixes it is to turn off music syncing, sync the iPod, then turn music syncing back on and sync again.