I purchased a pastel green iPod Shuffle today. I named it fugue. Here are my first impressions of the hardware, software, and accessories:
PROS:
- charged up to Max relatively quickly (~1 hour)
- easy to clip on to my shirt sleeve and pretty unnoticeable -- the crimp in the fabric itself gently tugging against my arm when I move my upper arm is much more noticeable than the weight of the device ... and not all that noticeable
- outputs sounds pretty clearly
- I put tons of my top-favorite songs on it and it's only half full, so that's good.
- looks cute
CONS:
- the headphones included with the iPod suck. And I'm not saying it "because Blaise says so," but for a pretty legitimate complaint I think you won't begrudge me: they won't stay in my ears! The slightest movement and the one on the right half-falls out or fully falls out of my ear and dangles by my side, while the one on the left holds its ground a little better but turns in towards my tragus and in that manner outputs a dampened sound. I'm currently using my headphones Blaise got me after an hour of frustrated use of the iPod headphones; after a certain point, I just about lost it and was pretty close to frantically ripping them off of me (the iPod ones). Awful. Absolute nightmare "headphones from Hell" headphones. -_-; The good news is, I kept subconsciously trying (and desiring) to shove them into my ear canal, so I guess that means comfort-wise I would be okay with those $200 headphones Blaise recommended. Still, before I make the plunge, ... well, more on that in the next update.
- iTunes is one of the most poorly-designed programs I've ever seen for the mass market. If *I* can't figure out what I need to figure out from it in under 30 minutes, I don't see how Joe Average is going to. For example, I wanted to find a way to import files as MP3s (not AACs) without changing the bitrate, and all I could find was an option to import files as 160 kbps MP3s or as lossless FLAC files. What if I don't want a 40 MB FLAC file? What if I want a 5 MB MP3 that happens to be encoded at 192 kbps? -_-;
- Speaking of how shitty iTunes is, it lied to me! It told me that if I dragged files to the Library, it was only going to create a shortcut of sorts for its own purposes and that it would absolutely in no way, shape, or form touch my original files. BULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLSHIT! When I edited the Artist and Album information for all of the 40 files I had thus far uploaded, I was horrified to discover (by chance! Thank God I saw it when I did!) that it was modifying the permanent equivalents in the MP3 files stored on my hard drive. Here, I'll give you an example:
- original file name: 02 - Dive in the Sky.mp3
- original artist name: Mikio Sakai
- original album name: Planetes Original Soundtrack
- iTunes Library file name: Dive in the Sky
- iTunes Library artist name: Mikio Sakai
- iTunes Library album name: Planetes OST
- new file name (on the PC): 02 - Dive in the Sky.mp3 (same as before))
- new artist name (on the PC): Mikio Sakai (no changes were made in the first place)
- new album name (on the PC): Planetes OST (Whoa! Hold it right there!)
So basically, when the software claimed "I won't fuck with your original files -- what happens in iTunes stays in iTunes" was a big fat lie. *angry* Cost me a lot of time, too, to go back and fix those songs by comparing their botched data against the data of their brothers and sisters in the same folders. And in the end I couldn't fix every file. *angrier still* - original file name: 02 - Dive in the Sky.mp3
- And another iTunes complaint ... why does the damn thing try to "sync" with my iPod every 10 minutes, only it does nothing along the lines of updating what tracks are on the iPod, etc. etc.? What's the point in Syncing if it's doing nothing?
12 comments:
What the "synch" is supposed to do is to make sure that all the files on your iTunes library have been loaded onto your iPod. If it keeps "trying to synch" every 10 minutes, that's a problem -- when you plug your iPod into your computer, it should synch once, and then just charge. You may have a software and/or hardware problem.
Also, regarding the importation of MP3s, it should just allow you to add your 5 MB MP3 to your library without modifying it. I have many MP3s from before I started using iTunes unmodified from when I ripped them from CDs with WinAMP or whatever I used back in 1997.
The problem is, I cannot create folders in iTunes, so the only way to get the songs "in order" (so to speak) is to tell the iPod what order they're supposed to be in. The easiest way I know to do that is to order things by category (e.g. "Chobits," "Star Wars," "Dvorak"), and the best place to do that is the Album category. But I don't want the original album information to be touched (on the PC hard drive copies of the files, i.e. the originals!), and yet every time I make changes in the iTunes Library to a song's Album field, those changes are reflected in the PC copy. Very annoying.
The sync happened within 10-30 seconds of me adding a new song to the library; because I was often dragging and dropping multiple files at once, I'd notice it happening effectively "per every 2 songs". I'd drag song #1, go back to drag song #2, and as soon it dropped into the library, the program would soft-freeze (i.e. I could not click anywhere and get an effect) and 5 seconds later the top olive-green zone would display a message of "iPod Syncing - Do Not Disconnect Your iPod" and would show a progress bar.
The real problem came when I was trying to play back songs on the iPod ('fugue') and not from within the Library. Every time I clicked on a song, it'd start playing, and the audio never effed up, but 10 seconds into the song the progress bar for the song would freeze and 10 seconds after that (with the song still seamlessly playing) it'd be replaced by the Sync message. After it synced, the original song's progress bar (with an adjusted position in the track) would return.
I hate this because it means that if I double-click on the wrong song to play, or if I just want to check a file for 2 seconds to make sure it copied correctly, I have to sit with my hands tied for a good minute while the iPod syncs to its heart content.
You can't create folders, but you can create playlists, which are like folders for music. You can even create "smart playlists", which are pretty neat -- iTunes will automagically create a playlist based on any criteria available.
Why are you leaving your iPod plugged into your computer while you're fiddling with iTunes? If you are doing so to charge your iPod, you should use a wall plug, as "trickle charging" from a computer is a very inefficient way to charge (and I've heard that it takes a toll on long-term battery life, but I have never had this verified by anyone with better credentials than an Apple store employee).
Also, stop being so neurotic about making sure songs copy! In my 4 years of owning the same iPod, I've never had a copying problem.
Something is odd in the beginning since iTunes - by default and without much work - cannot deal with FLAC files.
Aside from that, in any music player when you edit the fields (or let it edit them for you) it's going to edit the MP3's ID3 tag (or the equivalent for other file types). The ID3 is a program-independent section of metadata for the MP3 that stays with the file.
I'm charging it up via USB because it came with a USB charger and I don't want to spend $20 for a one-size-fits-all charger. But if you say the USB'll kill the battery life, *shrug*, maybe I'll go get the one-size-fits-all charger when I also remember to purchase the iPod-to-audio-cassette converter for listening in the car. I'm assuming there is such a device, right?
About FLAC, whoops. Turns out it says "Apple Lossless Format." I must have seen "lossless" and gotten FLAC into my head. (iTunes -> Advanced -> Importing) Is the Apple lossless encoder any good? I mean, "lossless is lossless," right? Irrelevant in the long run, though, since I'm not an audiophile who has to have 40-MB FLAC files or none at all. 128 kbps has always been fine by me, I don't even require 192. I just prefer to exercise the option to have my 192 kbps files remain 192 kbps as a matter of principle!
Rather than import music, why don't you just File -> Add to Library? That way you don't have to convert it. The caveat being that iTunes may not support it and wont play it and can't convert it to put it on the iPod, but if you want 192 kbps MP3s then chances are all you've got is mostly MP3's. That's how i've always worked with iTunes.
I am adding files to the library. But that doesn't auto-add them to the iPod, which is why I wanted to add to the iPod directly.
Current method: HD --> Library --> iPod
Desired method: HD --> iPod
Specifically,
1. Drag n new songs into the iTunes Library screen
2a. Select new files, right-click, select Add to Playlist, and select 'fugue'
2b. Click on 'fugue', click Autofill
Hah... I can create folders on my iPod. It can also play FLAC files. And MPC and OGG files, too.
You and your Rockbox and your disdain for an Apple warranty. :p
I'd disdain an Apple warranty, too, if I could play .mkv files on an iPod Touch magically equipped with a 40+ GB hard drive for the magical price of $300 or less. Until then? I'll keep holding tight to the 2-year warranty I got with Best Buy. Since it's sounding more and more like I'm going to need it.
With the iPod plugged back in, I think I've identified what's going on with the Sync'ing, but I don't know how to stop it ...
1. I decide to play n songs in the iTunes library. No problem, no Sync issues.
2. I click on 'fugue'. No issues.
3. I click back to the Library. No issues.
Now, here's where it starts ..
4. I decide to play a different song in the Library, after having played n songs previously with no fuss. After 2-3 seconds, the playbar freezes and does not unfreeze until 10 seconds later, at which point it displays a "Syncing" message. This goes away after another 20 seconds or so.
5. I allow the song to play through to the end.
6. When it auto-fetches the next song in the Library, it goes through the Syncing thing all over again.
Standard for iPods? (Possibly standard for Shuffles?) Or is this a definite reason to take the Shuffle back to Best Buy and explain things to them and get an exchange?
Your best bet is to not use iTunes for playing songs, only for making transfers to the iPod itself.
Well here's the fastest solution. Turn off autosync. I hate iTunes to sync a specific playlist when i tell it to sync and only then.
When I first set up iTunes i just did what i said before, File->Add to Library and it scanned my MP3 directory and made the nifty library. When I stole Stephanie's old nano (1G) all I did was make a new playlist called Nano Sync and select songs from the library I wanted and added them to the Nano Sync playlist. Then I just tell iTunes to only sync the Nano Sync playlist, and when I click go it does it's thing. I'm really not sure why you've had so much trouble - i have much disdain for iTunes and have never owned an iPod and it really took no time to figure out. It's a decent system, better than my old Xen (which after 4 years and numerous falls finally died from a dead battery).
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