Ipod newb

[toledobass]

So I moved over to Mac and I got a free ipod with it.  So now I'm onto the task of importing all my CD's to Itunes and into my Ipod.  Does anyone have any helpful hints for a guy who is a tech challenged?  With the little bit of reading I've done on the whole format thing,  I'm still scratching my head as what to use.  I'm not as worried about sound quality as amount of music that can fit into the Ipod.  Mainly it will be for when I'm on the road, I'll still continue to listen to the CD's at home.

The labeling of tracks seems straight forward enough.  But any tips there would be helpful anyway.

The other concern I had was that of the whole gapless issue.  What's the best way to deal with that?  I read somewhere to group tracks together as a whole but then you wouldn't be able to listen to them individually when in a playlist.  The Itunes/Ipod help stuff isn't helping me. 


Much thanks,
Allan

[Mark]

I'm not the best person to guide you through iTunes/iPod as I hate both, but I'd advise not going below 192kbps in terms of format bitrate. This will give you a relatively decent balance between sound quality and storage capacity. As for gapless, there's not a setting in iTunes that will take care of all that for you. I'm sure a Mac expert will be along soon to explain it all.

[hornteacher]

The labeling of tracks seems straight forward enough.  But any tips there would be helpful anyway.

I like to browse my classical music by composer, so when I put music into iTunes, I label things as follows:

Artist - put the name of the composer (i.e. Beethoven)
Album - put the title of the complete work (i.e. Symphony #5)
Name - put the movements of each track here (i.e. I. Allegro con brio, etc.)

Then on your iPod just browse by Artist.  It makes things a lot easier to find.

[mahlertitan]

I like to browse my classical music by composer, so when I put music into iTunes, I label things as follows:

Artist - put the name of the composer (i.e. Beethoven)
Album - put the title of the complete work (i.e. Symphony #5)
Name - put the movements of each track here (i.e. I. Allegro con brio, etc.)

Then on your iPod just browse by Artist.  It makes things a lot easier to find.

that's exactly what i did too.

[PSmith08]

First, the whole gapless thing. When you import a disc, you right click (or Ctrl+click, depending on how you've set up your mouse) the album in the Devices section of the sidebar. Select "Get Info" and tick the box "Gapless Album." Done. It is as simple as that.

As to naming your files, I do this:

Name: The name of the track (e.g., 1. Allegro maestoso)
Artist: Composer name (e.g., Gustav Mahler) [Note: If you don't want to browse by first name, go with "Mahler, Gustav" without quotation marks, though]
Album: Work title with conductor citation (e.g., Symphony no. 2 in C minor (Boulez '06) )
Genre: Whatever genre seems most appropriate

I've attached a screen shot to perhaps clarify. Also, I tend to save at 128 kbps AAC. Space considerations mostly, but the sound quality isn't all that bad. Granted, 256 kbps is better, noticeably so, but I've got all my CDs close at hand and prefer to use those for serious listening.

[toledobass]

Thanks for those replies.  That helps a ton.  PSmith,  how do you do the album covers like that? 


Allan

[mahlertitan]

Thanks for those replies.  That helps a ton.  PSmith,  how do you do the album covers like that? 


Allan

easy, there are three buttons on the top right hand corner, i believe when you push the middle one, it will change your view.

[Tancata]

Don't forget that using the "Composer" field is an option when tagging your files. For me, that makes everything a lot easier. So you can put the conductor in "Artist" or whatever.

[mahlertitan]

okay i'll show you guys how i tag my music:
Composer: Anton Bruckner
Album Title: Symphony No. 8
Artists: Barbirolli, Halle Orchestra (conductor, Orchestra, if there are multiple artists e.g. a Quartet, name all four people)
Genre: since all the music i listen to all classical, i would put this as "Late Romantic"

[PSmith08]

Thanks for those replies.  That helps a ton.  PSmith,  how do you do the album covers like that? 


Allan

As it was noted, just toggle the view to the one on the far right. Album covers, though, are a different story: iTunes will get many of them, but you'll have to go looking for the rest. If it's a UMG record, I recommend iClassics.com.

[toledobass]

Thanks again everyone...it's much appreciated.


Allan

[toledobass]

Another thing:

Is there a way to delete selections from your ipod and itunes in one step or do you have to do it separately?


Thanks,
Allan

[PSmith08]

Another thing:

Is there a way to delete selections from your ipod and itunes in one step or do you have to do it separately?


Thanks,
Allan

If you have your entire library as the iPod playlist, then just select the tracks in iTunes, press delete - you'll have a couple of dialog boxes wondering if you want to remove them from the library and move them to the trash. It's your call on the latter. Then, once they're gone, sync your iPod. That should do it.

If you have an iPod-specific playlist, then just delete them from the playlist and then sync. They'll still be in your library, though, and you'll have to delete them from there.

[toledobass]

Hmmmm.

Thats what I tried originally.  The stuff being deleted still shows up on the ipod after synching.  Any clues as to what I might be doing wrong?

Allan

[PSmith08]

Hmmmm.

Thats what I tried originally.  The stuff being deleted still shows up on the ipod after synching.  Any clues as to what I might be doing wrong?

Allan

Hm. Perhaps you should go at it from the front end, as opposed to trying to take the back route. Build a playlist of the stuff you want on your iPod, and then sync the iPod exclusively to that playlist. When I managed to fill my iPod up, that's what I did, and it took off everything not on the playlist. You can always add more to that playlist later, if the mood takes you.

[toledobass]

Thanks man,  that helps a lot.  This is more of a headache than I anticipated !!!!
Allan

[Que]

Thanks man,  that helps a lot.  This is more of a headache than I anticipated !!!!
Allan

Another - simpler - solution: check in the menu that appears when you connect your iPod: "sync only checked items". That way all items that are no longer checked (or removed) will be removed from your iPod.

Another tip: I'm myself not particularly interested in uploading works in separate movements - I rather have "violin sonata nr 1" as opposed to three separate tracks. You can join the various movements of a work before you import them: select the tracks you want to join and then click "advanced" in the top bar menu, then select "Join CD tracks". After you joined tracks, you can import them. The joined tracks will appear as one track in your library.

Q

[PSmith08]

Another - simpler - solution: check in the menu that appears when you connect your iPod: "sync only checked items". That way all items that are no longer checked (or removed) will be removed from your iPod.

Another tip: I'm myself not particularly interested in uploading works in separate movements - I rather have "violin sonata nr 1" as opposed to three separate tracks. You can join the various movements of a work before you import them: select the tracks you want to join and then click "advanced" in the top bar menu, then select "Join CD tracks". After you joined tracks, you can import them. The joined tracks will appear as one track in your library.

Q

That would work, too. I, though, like to cherry-pick my iPod recordings or limit it to cycles (e.g., Boulez' Mahler, Keilberth's Ring), so a playlist helps me do that quickly.

[toledobass]

Another - simpler - solution: check in the menu that appears when you connect your iPod: "sync only checked items". That way all items that are no longer checked (or removed) will be removed from your iPod.

Another tip: I'm myself not particularly interested in uploading works in separate movements - I rather have "violin sonata nr 1" as opposed to three separate tracks. You can join the various movements of a work before you import them: select the tracks you want to join and then click "advanced" in the top bar menu, then select "Join CD tracks". After you joined tracks, you can import them. The joined tracks will appear as one track in your library.

Q

Thanks.  That's very usefull.  I was wondering how I was going to deal with the Bernstein/NYP Mahler set that is all chopped up.

Allan

[PSmith08]

Thanks.  That's very usefull.  I was wondering how I was going to deal with the Bernstein/NYP Mahler set that is all chopped up.

Allan

Well, if you split the CD into different albums, and keep the albums straight, then iTunes will do the rest for you.