[Omari149]

I just got this 40GB IPOD from circuit City and I was wandering what bite rate is the best to use to fit all my 250 CD's on the Ipod and whats the best software to use?

and can you list the problems that can go wrong with an ipod and the remedies for those problems?

Just incase your wondering, Ill have to wait till christmas to use my ipod since it's a christmas present.

All comments and tips are appreciated.

 

[walkman666]

250 cds on a 40gb gives you a lot of options if audio quality is important to you. Many folks here will suggest using "Exact Audio Copy" (EAC) with the Lame encoder (V3.96 is the latest, IIRC). You can set the rip-rate to one of the higher "presets", Alt-Preset-Extreme, and still fit all of those CDs and then some (many). I am not the techiest dude around, and I cannot really figure out how to use EAC nor Codex, two highly recommended pieces of software for ripping CDs. If you are inclined, no one says any other software beats EAC.

Others, like me, who have iPods, use iTunes to rip CDs and use the AAC (mp4) format. If you use iTunes, make sure you do not rip MP3s; use AAC. iTunes does not have a good MP3 encoder (but their AAC/MP4 encoder is good). Some go for the best Apple can offer and use the Apple LossLess which requires a lot more space, but is of the highest quality Apple can provide.

A 40gb is quite huge for merely 250 cds, and you will have lots of room for future cds, so that's cool. I have used about 13 gb on my iPod (20gb 4G version) ripping at 224 or 192 kbps in the AAC format.

If you desire utmost quality, then you should encode with either Apple Lossless, EAC (using one of the higher preset settings), or AAC (high bit rate setting; eg. 224). After a while, it would be difficult to discern much sonic differences using an iPod, so if a gun were to my head, I'd say, for simplicity and maximing the 'Ipod/iTunes experience' (which is a nice combo), use AAC and rip at 224.

Go to this thread here and you're going to see a lot of opinions, the majority of which recommending EAC.

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=95631

Oh, regarding problems and remedies -- I've done my master's and doctoral dissertations already. You'll need to do some research here to learn more about this. I read through the Apple discussion forums before I bought and configured my iPod; it was quite useful and helpful. THAT is the THE place to go to learn about configuring your iPod and troubleshooting (fer sure).

http://discussions.info.apple.com/

- walkman666

 

[bangraman]

If it's for truly portable use, then 256K MP3/AAC is the best to use. You honestly will not be able to tell the difference, even with upgraded phones, while portable betwek 256K and higher bitrates.


If it's a combination of listening at home and portable, then it's a good idea to have a level of versatility as you may end up adding other things (the Apple Airport stereo thing for example)... so maybe worth going for Apple Lossless.

 

[h-man]

Apple lossless is excellent, but overkill for portable use. I personally would go for 224 aac which I think sounds really good. I on't know whether bangraman thinks he might be able to differentiate between 224 and 256 in a portable environment.

 

[fr4c]

what i do is rip my most favorite and listened CD's in Apple Lossless and others in 224kbps AAC. why would you want CD's to take up space when you hardly listen to them right?

 

[Omari149]

Thanks for the helpful tips

 

[mattb]

What about using the "use error correction" when encoding with iTunes. Does this improve sound quality?

 

[blessingx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattb What about using the "use error correction" when encoding with iTunes. Does this improve sound quality?

Yes, in the sense you'd be more likely to get an accurate rip from the CD. I'd leave it on.

 

[aeriyn]

I always rip CDs I own to 224kbps AAC through iTunes for simplicity's sake and at that high of a bitrate, I'm not concerned of the infintesimal differences between QT AAC and Nero AAC.

224kbps equals most files to be smaller than 9mb, which is easier on the iPod's buffer and extends battery life.

Albums that I'm currently auditioning or waiting to buy tend to be in 192kbps CBR through various MP3 encoders or LAME -alt preset-standard. I try not to go over 224kbps because of the iPod Mini's limited storage space and my desire to extend my battery life as long as possible. =P

 

[meithkiller]

I bought a 40GB iPod a few weeks ago, and have been enjoying it. I couldn't tell any significant difference between using iTunes to encode my CD's as MP3 files vs using LAME with one of my other programs. I'm mainly using the MP3 format instead of AAC because MP3 will be compatible with my other MP3 players, and AAC is not. I've got 900-1000 CD's, and I don't want to encode everything twice.

I mainly bought my iPod to fit all of my CD's (well, almost all) on it, so when a craving for a certain song/album/band hits me, I'll have it handy. Because I have so many CD's to fit on it, I'm using 192 kbps for songs whose quality I really care about, and 160 kbps for those songs that weren't recorded that well in the first place, or whose sound quality doesn't matter as much to me. After I fill up my iPod, I'll probably go through and delete songs/albums I likely won't listen to at all, and re-encode some of my favorite albums at a higher bitrate (or lossless/wav). I'll be using the iPod in a noisy car a lot anyways, and won't be able to hear the difference between bitrates anyways. For times when sound quality is a primary concern, I'll use a portable CD player with an amp.

Since you have only 250 albums you want to encode, I'd use the highest bitrate within reason. Spend a little bit of time critically listening to the same song encoded at different bit rates for a better idea of what is best for you.

-Keith

 

[Omari149]

Ok, thanks for the tips

I just opened my Ipod today and I was wandering what does Sound Checker do?

[size=xx-large]AND MERRY CHRISTMAS[/size]

 

[yyoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omari149 I just opened my Ipod today and I was wandering what does Sound Checker do? [size=xx-large]AND MERRY CHRISTMAS[/size]

If you mean the "Sound Check" option under Settings, its purpose is to level the volume level across all of your songs, so that some songs aren't too loud while others are too soft. Unfortunately, it also has the side effect of reducing the volume on every song. To get the best sound, turn off the option.

 

[Omari149]

I was wandering since I drop my portables maybe only 4 times in their life but they are mostly little falls. So my question is how many drops will the Ipod allow before it breaks on you?