[JLFanboy]

Basically, how many people here are going to be re-ripping all of their CDs into AAC, even if you've already done them into MP3?

I can't see myself NOT doing it, despite how much of a bitch it's going to be.

BTW, I may be alone, but how much does iTunes 4 RAWK!?!

[typoon]

I know what you mean I'm doing most of my Library right now in AAC. The ones i have CD's for the Other's well. Will just stay the way they are

[Logic]

I'm doing my best

But the problem is that I only put in a couple of songs of every CD I have so this will be a very time consuming effort. But since I can't focus on studying this will be ok.

[JLFanboy]

I know what you mean about the ones that you don't have CDs for. I'm thinking I'm gonna encode some of them anyway, however. I've never been one to stress over a teensy bit of quality loss, and I'd probably only convert the ones that were encoded at 160/192 or higher.

[dettociao]

I'm doing it... I have nothing else to do at work all day so why the hell not.

[JLFanboy]

Oh this is really cool. I'm re-ripping a CD of mine, and iTunes is set to automatically replace the MP3 file with the AAC file. But not only that, it actually keeping all the info related to the MP3.

Now I won't lose my playcounts!

[dettociao]

Originally posted by JLFanboy:
Oh this is really cool. I'm re-ripping a CD of mine, and iTunes is set to automatically replace the MP3 file with the AAC file. But not only that, it actually keeping all the info related to the MP3.

Now I won't lose my playcounts!

This is absolutely the nicest thing I've noticed so far in iTunes. Way to make sure you get the small things right Apple

[Sarc]

Originally posted by JLFanboy:
Oh this is really cool. I'm re-ripping a CD of mine, and iTunes is set to automatically replace the MP3 file with the AAC file. But not only that, it actually keeping all the info related to the MP3.

is that automatic or is it actually a setting ?

[JLFanboy]

When you try to import a CD you've already imported, iTunes will prompt you to either replace all matching files, or import alongside all matching files.

Apple...just rocks.

[Sarc]

thx !

[Todd Madson]

I'm doing it but I did some tests to see just what the difference would be between MP3 and AAC.

I encoded the track "Blackest Eyes" by Porcupine Tree from the "In Absentia" CD.

I encoded it AAC 160 kbps, MP3 160 kbps,
and mp3 192 kbps.

The file size from the AAC 160 and MP3 160
was both 5.1 megs.

However, the AAC 160 kbps produced a sound quality more like the over 6.1 megabyte mp3 192 kbps file.

I then tried encoding an entire CD at 128 kbps AAC and I was shocked at how fast the encoding process is.

I'm on a G4/400 and it whizzes - 10-20 seconds per song if the song is short (5 minutes or under).

The sound quality (using a Magellan track with just piano and vocals) at 128 kbps AAC was very similar to 160 VBR MP3 quality.

Very nice indeed. A long process since I've got THOUSANDS of CDs. This could take a while.

[icruise]

I'm not sure that I would want to be locked into a format like AAC -- MP3 at least is pretty universal. You can play it on computers, PDAs, MP3s players (obviously) and even burned to CDs in many CD players. Since I don't know what kind of devices I may be getting in the future, I don't want to sacrifice compatibility for a little extra disk space.

True, I suppose you can always convert things back to MP3 (probably losing a bit of quality), or re-rip from the original CDs, but this kind of thing takes a LOT of time if you have a large collection.

[rob7erto]

Originally posted by JLFanboy:
When you try to import a CD you've already imported, iTunes will prompt you to either replace all matching files, or import alongside all matching files.

Unfortunately, it chokes up on songs whose id3 tag it disagrees with (usually the old one says something like 'feat. Artist X' but the new one doesn't have that), so for every CD I re-rip there are a usually a song or two leftover that isn't deleted and its corresponding AAC doesn't gain its old attributes. Kinda sucks since I was obsessive about keeping track of play counts and now there are tracks that won't retain play counts. Oh well...

[Nonsuch]

Originally posted by JLFanboy:
Oh this is really cool. I'm re-ripping a CD of mine, and iTunes is set to automatically replace the MP3 file with the AAC file. But not only that, it actually keeping all the info related to the MP3.

And am I the only one who finds encoding is much faster with this version?

[sworthy]

...on the compatiability note, how universal is/will be AAC? I re-ripped some cds, but then stopped as I realized I want to take advantage of the new DVD archiving first so then I'll be able to "share" with my PC friends. Are there any players for PC that play aac and mp3?

[Eug]

Basically, how many people here are going to be re-ripping all of their CDs into AAC, even if you've already done them into MP3?

Of course I will not.

It would be an incredible waste of time, for no real benefit besides saving a bit of disk space (unless you encoded your MP3z at too low a bit rate to begin with).

IMO, the drawbacks of AAC far outweigh the benefits at this time anyway. AAC simply doesn't have enough support yet. YMMV.

[Sarc]

Originally posted by JLFanboy:
When you try to import a CD you've already imported, iTunes will prompt you to either replace all matching files, or import alongside all matching files.

Apple...just rocks.

hmm been reripping all afternoon and this is not happening ... any ideas ?
thx

[Avon]

Originally posted by JLFanboy:

BTW, I may be alone, but how much does iTunes 4 RAWK!?!

DAMMMMMMMMM Its the best. Its so good, I can't contain myslef. Imagine how dumb I feel. I set up a linux machine to play mp3 off my mac. a month later 1 tunes 4 comes out. The interface is at least 1000 times better than XMMS.

DAM. Now with my powerbook I can have my entire music collection anywhere I go. Oh and get this, my school has a campuswide wireless network.

Makes me feel bad for people that use PCs.

[JLFanboy]

As said before, you may not be getting prompted because the ID3 tags may not match. When you put in your CD, make sure that the Title, Artist, and Album all match for every track.

Oh, and Eug: I COMPLETELY understand why one wouldn't re-rip their Library. There's no reason to be so condescending about it. What did I ever do to you?

[Swiss Bob]

Not me. Too much work...

CD rip -> AIFF -> Peak for top/tail/normalise -> MP3 @ 320 K.

Took me about a month to do that to my collection and no way I'm doing it again.

Besides which, I'm going back to 3 as soon as I can find an install dmg.

[Swiss Bob]

Originally posted by Sarc:
hmm been reripping all afternoon and this is not happening ... any ideas ?
thx

Make sure the "organise music collection" (or whatever) option is on?

[bmedina]

Originally posted by Sarc:
hmm been reripping all afternoon and this is not happening ... any ideas ?
thx

It hasn't worked for me either. However, both of the CDs I tried were not ripped in iTunes the first time. Maybe this has something to do with it?

[Krusty]

Originally posted by Swiss Bob:
Not me. Too much work...

CD rip -> AIFF -> Peak for top/tail/normalise -> MP3 @ 320 K.

Took me about a month to do that to my collection and no way I'm doing it again.

Besides which, I'm going back to 3 as soon as I can find an install dmg.

I have the old 3 install .dmg (but I don't know where you would be able to get the 3.01 updater - my .dmg is from last summer) .. but why are you going back ? The "music store" stuff can be completely removed from the interface via the "Store" panel in Preferences. Once you do that ... its just like iTunes 3 except that it handles AAC. What gives ??

[Swiss Bob]

Originally posted by Krusty:
I have the old 3 install .dmg (but I don't know where you would be able to get the 3.01 updater - my .dmg is from last summer) .. but why are you going back ? The "music store" stuff can be completely removed from the interface via the "Store" panel in Preferences. Once you do that ... its just like iTunes 3 except that it handles AAC. What gives ??

I'd greatly appreciate it if you could email me that dmg Krusty!

My reason is that 4 doesn't seem to play MP3s with anything like the quality of 3. It's like night and day to me. Hence going back to 3.
{shrug}

I'll PM you with an email address in case you're feeling nice!

[bmedina]

I have it up on my webspace: http://students.washington.edu/bmedina

[Swiss Bob]

Originally posted by bmedina:
I have it up on my webspace: http://students.washington.edu/bmedina

Thanks - think I'm gonna put that up on my web space for anyone who wants it too.

Ok... State of play. I'm back at 3. Can't get the installer to work for 3.0.1 'coz it's moaning I already have a more recent version on my system. All plists deleted so I don't know what's up.

[icruise]

Originally posted by Swiss Bob:
I'd greatly appreciate it if you could email me that dmg Krusty!

My reason is that 4 doesn't seem to play MP3s with anything like the quality of 3. It's like night and day to me. Hence going back to 3.
{shrug}

What exactly is the difference? Could it just be a different equalizer setting or something?

[Swiss Bob]

Originally posted by Icruise:
What exactly is the difference? Could it just be a different equalizer setting or something?

No.. Do my listening with no "enhancements", so... In 4 the top end detailing isn't there for MP3s. Switched back to 3 and the detail's back in.

It really wouldn't surprise me if Apple have done this to entice everyone to go over to AAC. Just had a long talk with AppleCare (Ireland) and they can't find any copies of 3 (specifically, the 3.0.1 updater) knocking around either - strange.

[tritonus]

I will, but first I'd like a comparison of quality:

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=158070

[memento]

Originally posted by JLFanboy:
Basically, how many people here are going to be re-ripping all of their CDs into AAC, even if you've already done them into MP3?

I can't see myself NOT doing it, despite how much of a bitch it's going to be.

BTW, I may be alone, but how much does iTunes 4 RAWK!?!

I'll be doing it for sure. I've been waiting for this! My 5GB iPod is packed and now I can either get better sound quality or put more songs on it. I'm one happy camper. But one correction, I have 900 CDs so I won't be ripping ALL of my CD's, just the ones I've already done.

[JB72]

Originally posted by Icruise:
I'm not sure that I would want to be locked into a format like AAC -- MP3 at least is pretty universal. You can play it on computers, PDAs, MP3s players (obviously) and even burned to CDs in many CD players. Since I don't know what kind of devices I may be getting in the future, I don't want to sacrifice compatibility for a little extra disk space.

True, I suppose you can always convert things back to MP3 (probably losing a bit of quality), or re-rip from the original CDs, but this kind of thing takes a LOT of time if you have a large collection.

True. I'm excited about AAC but I'm going to hold off for a while before re-ripping my entire CD collection.

The problem I have now is with MP3 Sushi and any songs I get from the Apple Music Store. Those purchased song will choke things up for other people because of the DRM. Oh well.

[Mastrap]

I like the "on CD insert, rip and eject" facility in iTunes. Makes it nice and easy. Somebody did some thinking there.

[BZ]

I stopped ripping months ago when Quicktime 6 came out with support for AAC. I knew it was only a matter of time before it was part of the iTunes/iPod experience.

Last night... deleted all MP3s (yes, even a few STOLEN ones) and started re-ripping my CDs (500 or so).

I also bought a few songs and an album. Great experience, great price... I think this is going to be an another Apple winner!

Lets hope they get the Windows version out the door before X-mas so they can sell another million ipods.

BZ

[kovacs]

Originally posted by Icruise:
What exactly is the difference? Could it just be a different equalizer setting or something?

Could it be that iTunes 4 uses the quicktime engine and iTunes 3 used its own engine ? I can hear a clear difference when I play the same MP3 in the finder or in iTunes 3, a world of difference....I haven't tested iTunes 4 yet..

[Todd Madson]

Now that I've had the chance to encode about twenty CDs at AAC
128 kbps and 160 kbps I've found a few things about AAC that I
really like over MP3.

Even at high bitrates, MP3 files always had a dodgy sense of
phase relationships. At lower bitrates (128 kbps and below)
MP3 files would have this annoying glitchy oscillating envelope
curve on the high end - it would be like subtly changing the
attack or decay knob on a synthesizer - the high end would
subtly change thoroughout the entire track. I lived with it
because getting thousands of songs in a small space was worth
it. The higher bitrates were better but the disk space was
smaller. It all depends on the encoder you used - I still think
one of the best encoders was the SoundEdit 16 plug-in that allowed
MP3 creation - but it took eons even on a fast mac.

The other problem with MP3 files is the sense of separation of
the original track would be tampered with. Even on my own music
I write, I found changes that I wasn't overly happy about. But
I had to live with it.

AAC doesn't have any of these weird sound colorations. The other
thing is that even at 128 kbps AAC encoding the bass is tight,
deep and punchy. I'd encoded "V-wave" by Vertu at 128 kbps mp3,
160 kbps mp3, 128 kbps aac and 160 kbps aac and the 128 kbps aac
file is both smaller and better sounding than the larger 160 kbps
mp3 file.

I'll be switching because my iPod has no compatibility issues with
other devices - it will play audio through whatever device I route
it through.

As far as my MP3 collection - it's backed up on MP3 CD-R discs, but
if I lose them the AAC equivalents will more than fix their issues.

And yes, encoding AAC tracks is a dream on a G4 400, I can't even
imagine how fast it would be on a 1 ghz + machine. It took four
minutes even to encode a 32 minute piece this morning at 7x the
recording speed. Most 2-5 minute song encode in under 30 seconds.

[GORDYmac]

I read a Fortune article that stated that the AAC files purchased from iTunes sounded awful when burned to CD and ripped to MP3. Is that true for any AAC files? I did plan on changing my entire library to AAC, but now I'll wait until I learn more about this.

[wtmcgee]

that's awesome!

i think i'm going to hold off on re-ripping my library, but anything new i buy, i will encode in AAC, and slowly change over my library in the future.

Originally posted by JLFanboy:
Oh this is really cool. I'm re-ripping a CD of mine, and iTunes is set to automatically replace the MP3 file with the AAC file. But not only that, it actually keeping all the info related to the MP3.

Now I won't lose my playcounts!

[Eug]

Even at high bitrates, MP3 files always had a dodgy sense of
phase relationships. At lower bitrates (128 kbps and below)
MP3 files would have this annoying glitchy oscillating envelope
curve on the high end - it would be like subtly changing the
attack or decay knob on a synthesizer - the high end would
subtly change thoroughout the entire track. I lived with it
because getting thousands of songs in a small space was worth
it. The higher bitrates were better but the disk space was
smaller. It all depends on the encoder you used - I still think
one of the best encoders was the SoundEdit 16 plug-in that allowed
MP3 creation - but it took eons even on a fast mac.

It sounds for MP3 like:

1) Your bit rate is too low.
2) You're using joint stereo. (Even if you use high bit rates, if you stick with joint stereo you'll still have problems.)

[shadybirdstan]

Sounds to me as if some people are jumping the gun. Just because Apple tells you to do something doesn't mean you HAVE to do it.

Think about it, how many consumer products can actually play AAC files?

If I even wanted to convert my 200+ CDs again into AAC, I'm not really sure the time spent would be worth it (remember what Steve said about working for below minimum wage ).

Not to mention my car or PDA does not play AAC files but plays MP3s. I'd rather "suffer" through the extra 1mb or so a song (considering you can get hard drives at less that $1/GB now) and maybe at some point down the road use AAC when its supported by more then Apple.

[typoon]

Originally posted by shadybirdstan:
Sounds to me as if some people are jumping the gun. Just because Apple tells you to do something doesn't mean you HAVE to do it.

Think about it, how many consumer products can actually play AAC files?

If I even wanted to convert my 200+ CDs again into AAC, I'm not really sure the time spent would be worth it (remember what Steve said about working for below minimum wage ).

Not to mention my car or PDA does not play AAC files but plays MP3s. I'd rather "suffer" through the extra 1mb or so a song (considering you can get hard drives at less that $1/GB now) and maybe at some point down the road use AAC when its supported by more then Apple.

That maybe true but for me I don't usually share my music with others, if I do I usually burn them a regualr CD anyway. Second I have an iPod no longer listen to CD's in my Car. So for me it doesn't matter. I'm going to slowly convert everything to AAC. I figure by the time I'm done there might be more out that supports it. I would give the rest of the industry 6 months to a year to follow Apple's lead.

[shadybirdstan]

Originally posted by typoon:
That maybe true but for me I don't usually share my music with others,

Who said I do?

if I do I usually burn them a regualr CD anyway. Second I have an iPod no longer listen to CD's in my Car. So for me it doesn't matter. I'm going to slowly convert everything to AAC. I figure by the time I'm done there might be more out that supports it. I would give the rest of the industry 6 months to a year to follow Apple's lead.

6 months......we'll see about that.

[bewebste]

Originally posted by Swiss Bob:
Thanks - think I'm gonna put that up on my web space for anyone who wants it too.

Ok... State of play. I'm back at 3. Can't get the installer to work for 3.0.1 'coz it's moaning I already have a more recent version on my system. All plists deleted so I don't know what's up.

Go into /Library/Receipts and remove the iTunes receipt. That should make it think that no previous version is installed. I'd also recommend deleting or moving the iTunes application as well, just to make sure you don't get some weird hybrid install.

[poulh]

Originally posted by JLFanboy:
Oh this is really cool. I'm re-ripping a CD of mine, and iTunes is set to automatically replace the MP3 file with the AAC file. But not only that, it actually keeping all the info related to the MP3.

Now I won't lose my playcounts!

Wait! I did this with a cd and it kept both copies. I even told it to replace the old ones. What am I doing wrong???

[Swiss Bob]

Originally posted by bewebste:
Go into /Library/Receipts and remove the iTunes receipt. That should make it think that no previous version is installed. I'd also recommend deleting or moving the iTunes application as well, just to make sure you don't get some weird hybrid install.

OK. Did a Finder search for "iTunes", deleted everything but the install dmgs, library index and icon sets (from Xicons). Sorted. 3.0.1

[OptimusG4]

Originally posted by poulh:
Wait! I did this with a cd and it kept both copies. I even told it to replace the old ones. What am I doing wrong???

It should prompt you with a warning, then asking to replace the old or keep them alongside each other.

[scottiB]

I've got 6000 mp3s, some purchased form eMusic, so I'm not re-ripping anything. I will, though, start ripping CDs that I haven't done yet with AAC.

Size doesn't matter as much--hard drives are cheap, and I usually only have 5GBs of music on my 10GB iPod at any given time.

[Todd Madson]

Originally posted by Eug:
It sounds for MP3 like:

1) Your bit rate is too low.
2) You're using joint stereo. (Even if you use high bit rates, if you stick with joint stereo you'll still have problems.)

Nope - basically a crap encoder from the days when I just didn't
know any better.

[Eug]

Originally posted by Todd Madson:
Nope - basically a crap encoder from the days when I just didn't
know any better.

Yep, that would do it too.

[dampeoples]

I thought about it, being off work for 6 more weeks, but I doubt I could tell the difference if I did, as I encoded all my MP3's at the max VBR setting