[brachiator]

I know that the iPod is supposed to play aiff files. So why is mine not?

When I select them to play, they appear in the iPod display momentarily, and then the display reverts to the top menu level. Nothing plays.

It is one of the new 15G iPods, and I've had it for a few months. It's been updated to 2.01.

These aiffs are pulled directly off of the CD. I drag and dropped them from the CD to the desktop, and then dragged into the iTunes library (not set to copy additions to the Library).

The one odd glitch I can mention is that after I uploaded them to the iPod, and I checked the Info on the tracks in iTunes, the file kind was listed as Quicktime. After I downloaded the file back from the iPod, I noticed that the file kind had changed to aiff, but on a re-upload to the iPod, it still wouldn't play.

Anyone know what gives / how to fix?

Thanks!

[icruise]

I've never really bothered with using AIFF files on the iPod, but I wonder if having copied them from the CD to the desktop isn't the problem. Why don't you try using the itunes AIFF encoder on a CD? Or is it possible to drag the tracks that appear in the CD in the iTunes source list directly to the iPod? You can do this with MP3 CDs and DVDs (at least those burned in iTunes).

[chabig]

I just tried an AIFF file that I created with Quicktime Player the other day and the iPod can't play it either. Very strange.

[brachiator]

Well, as lcruise had suggested, the problem seems to have been something to do with copying from the cd to the desktop -- I ripped them from the cd in iTunes using the AIFF encoder and they play just fine on the iPod now...

I wonder why this is. Are the files not really AIFFs when they arrive on the desktop? Supposedly the iTunes AIFF converter set to "auto" maintains all the specifications of the original data track, so what's the difference?

Anyway, problem (apparently) solved -- unless anyone is aware of any differences between the CD tracks and AIFFs created from those tracks by iTunes AIFF conversion at auto -- which should be a lossless conversion.

Thanks.

[Gene Jockey]

Originally posted by brachiator:
Anyway, problem (apparently) solved -- unless anyone is aware of any differences between the CD tracks and AIFFs created from those tracks by iTunes AIFF conversion at auto -- which should be a lossless conversion.

Thanks.

It's just a formatting issue. Music on a CD is stored in CDA format, which contains the same sonic information as a 16 bit/44.1 khz AIFF, just with a different packaging (primarily to maintain robustness of data). Think of it as the same text stored as a Word doc and as plain text. Both contain the same info, but they're not necessarily readable by the same programs.

That's the short answer, but basically the Finder just shows track on a CD as AIFFs, even though they're really not.

--J

[willab]

Why not just use MP3 or AAC?

[cdhostage]

I tried this with my second-gen 20 gig iPod. I imported my CD library to my Powerbook with iTunes Import settings on AIFF, all automatic settings (effectively, a direct copy to the iTunes Library). I started with a clean iTunes Library, absolutely nothing else, and three days later, had 54 gigabytes of AIFF files on my hard drive. Mmmm, fresh overkill.

Anyway, that was fine and wonderful. Then I tried croppin an AIFF file or two in Quicktime ("Trim") and they weren't AIFF files anymore, despite being named such and playing in Quicktime Player. They wouldn't play in iTunes. I hemmed and hawed for a while, and eventually just exported the new files to AIFF on the desktop with Quicktime's "Export" and those could be added to iTunes Library. I had to re-enter the info again, but tthat was fine. Annoying, the process was,but I got to hear the bass guitar better in my Doors and Beatles recordings.

Anyway, I put my faves onto my iPod and that was fine, except that battery time dropped to less than an hour. I think the iPod has only 32 MB of RAM, and the OS has to take up some of that. An AIFF file is enormous compared to MP3 or AAC; most songs top 50 MB. Already, at least two HD accesses per song, instead of two songs per access. So the iPod was wearing down and probbaly wearing out fast. Still going like a champ now, though. I transferred everything to AAC so's to put it all on the iPod.

So the answer to the question is, as said above, just formatting. The information is stilll there, but let another program have a swing at it and it will affix some "Only I can touch this kind of file" tag on it.

[brachiator]

Originally posted by Gene Jockey:
It's just a formatting issue. Music on a CD is stored in CDA format, which contains the same sonic information as a 16 bit/44.1 khz AIFF, just with a different packaging (primarily to maintain robustness of data). Think of it as the same text stored as a Word doc and as plain text. Both contain the same info, but they're not necessarily readable by the same programs.

That's the short answer, but basically the Finder just shows track on a CD as AIFFs, even though they're really not.

--J

Thanks, GJ. I didn't know that about the CDA format. What do you mean about "maintaining robustness of data," though?

Originally posted by willab:
Why not just use MP3 or AAC?

Well, its a bit embarrasing, but I'm giving a listen to some new-agey binaural beat tracks, that supposedly have off-phase frequencies embedded in a carrier wave, or something like that. I'm no audiophile, but I want to preserve all the data I can, and stick with a lossless format.