[r8rs4lf]

It may say it somewhere, but I haven't found it.

What kind of format is music saved as, on iTunes?

Is there a way to better compress each song such as in mp3 format or such? If there is, how do you do it?

Also, when Apple says the Nano 4gb can hold up to 1000 songs, what format are they talking about?

Sorry for all the question, but I'm still a newb at this whole iPod and iTunes thing.

TIA

Late- Alex

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by r8rs4lf

It may say it somewhere, but I haven't found it.

What kind of format is music saved as, on iTunes?

Is there a way to better compress each song such as in mp3 format or such? If there is, how do you do it?

Also, when Apple says the Nano 4gb can hold up to 1000 songs, what format are they talking about?

Sorry for all the question, but I'm still a newb at this whole iPod and iTunes thing.

TIA

Late- Alex

iTunes can import and encode music (that is, transfer tracks from CDs to your hard drive) as one of five formats: WAV, AIFF, Apple Lossless, AAC, or MP3. If you want to find out what a particular song is encoded as, just click on it and choose "Get Info" from the File menu. Information on the file format is listed in the "Summary" tab.

WAV and AIFF are uncompressed. That is, they are exactly the same size as the data on the CD. Apple Lossless is the same audio quality as the music found on the CD, but is compressed to anywhere from 40% to 60% of its original size, depending on the complexity of the music. AAC and MP3 are compressed further, and are not bit for-bit the same audio quality as CD audio. However, both can sound transparent (meaning they are perceptually the same audio quality as CD audio) depending on what bitrate they are encoded at.

Apple's marketing for the capacity of the iPods is usually based on the iTunes encoder's default settings, which is to encode music at 128 kbps AAC. I think it also assumes an average song length of 4 minutes.

[r8rs4lf]

Thanks for all that info!

So I need to change the format of the songs to be able to store more of them right or is it not that serious?

How do I do that? Is there some type of software I need to buy?

Late- Alex

[ThinkInsane]

You can do it right through iTunes. But keep in mind, if you are converting from one lossy format to another (ie MP3 to AAC), there will be a noticeable deterioration of the sound quality. You are taking a sound file that already has parts of it tossed out to compress it, and tossing out different parts of the file to compress it again. What exactly do you want to convert?

[lenox]

FYI: A 128kbps AAC will have the same file size as a 128kbps MP3 unless you start talking new-fangled VBR encoding, etc. Unless you're incredibly intent on getting exactly 1000 songs into your ipod nano there's no reason to re-convert any files you may have ripped from your CDs.

[r8rs4lf]

Originally Posted by lenox

Unless you're incredibly intent on getting exactly 1000 songs into your ipod nano there's no reason to re-convert any files you may have ripped from your CDs.

Thank you, just what I wanted to know!

So why do people do it then?

Late- Alex

[r8rs4lf]

delete

[Goldfinger]

Originally Posted by r8rs4lf

Thank you, just what I wanted to know!

So why do people do it then?

Late- Alex

Almost nobody does it. Why would you ? The iPod supports all the formats that iTunes supports.