[nales]

Quote:

Originally posted by MacDEF Not sure what your conclusion is. AAC is VBR. Is that what you were trying to test?

AAC supports CBR, ABR, and VBR. Most of the encoders are VBR by default but can be manhandled to support CBR and, in some cases, ABR. I am not very familiar with the Quicktime encoder, but you can play the file in Winamp (with an AAC plugin -> http://rarewares.hydrogenaudio.org/aac.php) to determine the mode used. With ABR and VBR, the bitrate will fluctuate (you may have to tick a box in the plugin configuration dialog).

 

[nales]

Quote:

Originally posted by FrostyMMB It still can be. Again, don't judge VBR vs. CBR on file size. I took a minute of silence, encoded it at 160kbps CBR MP3, 160kbps VBR MP3, and 160kbs AAC. All three were approx 1.1mb. The two MP3 files had exactly the same byte count.

there is no such thing as "160kbps vbr mp3" -- you have likely bypassed the vbr mechanism specified and instead created a cbr mp3. with mp3, digital silence always receives 32kbps frames in vbr and abr modes (regardless of the minimum bitrate specified).

 

[nales]

i was wondering if the ipod can be used as a portable external hard disk like the nomad zen.

psytel-aac files encoded with the -extreme preset using the ltp, or "long-term prediction" profile, are truly transparent on all types of musisc [yes, even idm (re: autechre, aphext twin etc.), where mp3 and vorbis both have pre-echo problems, with the former being due to limitations in the format itself], and with a bitrate of about 200 kbps to achieve this. in this case, you would have more leftover space for files on the 30-gb ipod than you would on the 60-gb zen using waves.

apple doesn't specify what kind of aac support the ipod has..if it supports the different prediction profiles or just "low complexity" as phillips has supported. lc can achieve very good results too, but in this case it would be prudent to choose to the next-step profile, -archive, to ensure flawless archives.
anyway, it will be another year before the windows version receives aac support..

 

[nales]

Quote:

Originally posted by MacDEF Under capitalism, if intellectual property rights aren't enforced, the production of intellectual property will gradually decrease. I.e., in plain English, if artists don't get paid for their work, they'll stop producing it.

you are saying that people living in capitalist societies do all they do for the money? if the money is poor, they will find something else? i don't think we have a problem with seeing those fueled by money leaving town. what happened to the days when people did things they enjoyed and made damn sure their efforts produced a good product and/or service -- all for the feeling it left them at the end of the day -- the fulfilment and satisfaction you received for being part of something well-liked and respected?

 

[venzuel00]

Looks like the New ipod service is doing incredibly well. I guess its all part of marketing as well. Check out these links:

http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20030430.html

and this

http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/ar...ent_id=1878475

Enjoy

 

[FrostyMMB]

Quote:

Originally posted by nales there is no such thing as "160kbps vbr mp3" -- you have likely bypassed the vbr mechanism specified and instead created a cbr mp3. with mp3, digital silence always receives 32kbps frames in vbr and abr modes (regardless of the minimum bitrate specified).

To iTunes there is. I selected 160kbps and checked the VBR box and left it at medium. The MP3 is then listed with "160kbps (VBR)" in the bitrate column. Had I done this with the LAME v3.92 encoder, I probably would have gotten a very different (small) filesize. Using LAME on extreme preset, bitrates are always some odd number depending on the complexity, ranging anywhere from 190-280. So, I'm assuming that the MP3 VBR that the iTunes encoder uses is actually ABR, so listing as 160kbps (VBR) is not true VBR. LAME has the true VBR.

 

[blessingx]

Another "transfer aac's on a Windows iPod" thread.

See here.

 

[scrypt]

I'm seriously thinking about an iPod but might hold off until I buy more equipment for *making* music instead of merely *listening* to it. Damn Apple for making the iPod so cvnting luscious.

About iPod/Apple-bashing: The biggest mistake made by people who bash Jobs is in categorizing him as a *moral* alternative as opposed to an aesthetic one. Of course he's as venal as Gates. Of course he sounds like a scary person to encounter in an elevator if you're his employee. That's hardly the point. The difference between Jobs and Gates is that Jobs's spin on the user interface is more interesting aesthetically. This can be true in famously superficial ways (industrial design), but it is also true in terms of the logical structure of Apple's GUI and the alliances/technologies that Jobs chooses to support. He does take away freedoms and options from the user arbitrarily, which can be annoying. But he doesn't do it in ways that deprive people of access to non-proprietary formats (as does Gates). He probably will deprive us in the long run. But he doesn't right now, which means he's the best option in our two-party OS climate.

I view the downloading of lossy files as a way to audition them, not to buy them. If I were to buy an iPod, I'd probably choose to clutter it with vast AIFF files instead of AACs or mp3s.

Here's what I'd like to see from an on line music service: The ability to credit an mp3/AAC purchase toward the purchase of the original CD, SACD or DVD-A from which the file was ripped. I can't help thinking CD sales would improve generally with a pre-purchase audition option.

The problem that gave birth to Napster wasn't thievery. It was the diminishing exposure of listeners to specialized music through other public media, and the rigors of New Economy survival preventing hedonistic (and therefore aesthetically fecund) lifestyles. The corporate assimilation of independent radio stations was also preventing ordinary people from hearing the variety of small label music that FM once offered.

Very little of the new music I like is available through labels as large as Sony, which is why Napster became so important. Every piece I've ever downloaded and loved on Napster I've ended up buying or trading in vinyl or CD form. The ones I didn't love I deleted anyway.

Napster was responsible in large part for revitalizing many people's interest in new music. For example: How many thirty-to-forty-something Head-fi denizens would have ever heard Lali Puna, Mum or Cinematic Orchestra without Napster? That's quite a large audience for economically challenged labels to miss. It's an audience that youth-oriented adverts overlook and clubs override.

Which is why I agree with a lot of what MacDef said but disagree with the idea that downloading an mp3 is always reducible to stealing. I'm not stealing a movie when I record it on my VCR, nor am I stealing a piece of music when I listen to a radio broadcast. What I'm doing is checking out a rather low-res version of something to decide whether I wish to own the real thing or not.

An RIAA advocate might argue that the difference lies in the artist's right not to allow a film or piece of music to be broadcast, and that the same right is taken away by P2P file sharing. But I'd insist that the deciding factor should be whether the consumer is likely to be any more satisfied with an mp3 than s/he would have been with a cassette tape ten years ago.

The irony is this: labels that used to pay radio stations scads for air time in order to sell songs are now suing the facilitators of low-res song file distribution channels that could serve the same exact promotional purpose as radio once did. Sony might as well sue their publicity department.

 

[blessingx]

Quote:

Originally posted by scrypt About iPod/Apple-bashing: The biggest mistake made by people who bash Jobs is in categorizing him as a *moral* alternative as opposed to an aesthetic one. Of course he's as venal as Gates. Of course he sounds like a scary person to encounter in an elevator if you're his employee. That's hardly the point. The difference between Jobs and Gates is that Jobs's spin on the user interface is more interesting aesthetically. This can be true in famously superficial ways (industrial design), but it is also true in terms of the logical structure of Apple's GUI and the alliances/technologies that Jobs chooses to support. He does take away freedoms and options from the user arbitrarily, which can be annoying. But he doesn't do it in ways that deprive people of access to non-proprietary formats (as does Gates). He probably will deprive us in the long run. But he doesn't right now, which means he's the best option in our two-party OS climate.

Thanks for the good comments Scrypt. It can be a moral choice (well political anyway - in opposition to the major force), or it can be an aesthetic one. Sometimes visual, sometimes larger design issues. And it's certainly give and take. As a longtime Windows (home)/Unix (work) user (last touched a Mac in '85 until switched 9 months ago), the Mac's hardware restrictions are sometimes maddening. With OSX/Fink the open source stuff is a hugh plus. Easily set up a server and run Photoshop next to it. Curious though, how many Mac users are simply frustrated with Windows and looking for any alternative? If Linux ever gets there (no it's not ready for the desktop yet), we'll see how everything fractures... or not.

 

[uniuniunium]

damn, i never realized the iPod can play .wavs. Freaking sweet, I might actual get a PDAP now.



edit: I'm thinking about switching, or at least getting a Mac for work and internet. The variables of windows hardware can be a lot more maddening than the limitations of Macs. When I'm working on a paper that's due in 12 hours, I don't want to have to spend 6 trying to update drivers or switching out NICs or whatever else might be causing my box to misbehave.

 

[Kermy]

Quote:

Originally posted by uniuniunium damn, i never realized the iPod can play .wavs. Freaking sweet, I might actual get a PDAP now. edit: I'm thinking about switching, or at least getting a Mac for work and internet. The variables of windows hardware can be a lot more maddening than the limitations of Macs. When I'm working on a paper that's due in 12 hours, I don't want to have to spend 6 trying to update drivers or switching out NICs or whatever else might be causing my box to misbehave.

Yea me neither that's why I don't use ANY computer.

All computers (OS) have problems, Macs, Windows and Linux. Every one of them can give you hardware driver problems, crashes, freezes. Only safe bet for doing your paper and not having any problem, type it out on a typewriter or just write it out. I'm not bashing Macs or anything (I work with Macs in the office and Windows at home).

They both have their strong points, but to say Macs don't have problems is ridiculous.

Oh Ipods kick ass. Love my 5 gigger.

 

[lextek]

Quote:

Originally posted by Kermy Yea me neither that's why I don't use ANY computer. All computers (OS) have problems, Macs, Windows and Linux. Every one of them can give you hardware driver problems, crashes, freezes. Only safe bet for doing your paper and not having any problem, type it out on a typewriter or just write it out. I'm not bashing Macs or anything (I work with Macs in the office and Windows at home). They both have their strong points, but to say Macs don't have problems is ridiculous. Oh Ipods kick ass. Love my 5 gigger.

Good thing you threw that in at the end. I was going to ask if you wanted to buy my mint 8-track.

 

[RunsWithScissors]

New iPods have record feature according to users at ipoding.com -

http://www.ipoding.com/modules.php?o...ticle&sid=1137

 

[lextek]

Yeah. 6 seconds of mono. But it's there. Who knows what else is lurking in there.

:

 

[hempcamp]

Quote:

Originally posted by RunsWithScissors New iPods have record feature according to users at ipoding.com - http://www.ipoding.com/modules.php?o...ticle&sid=1137

That thread also suggests a recording device that plugs into the dock connector will be available in a few months.

I sure hope this is true. I am definitely buying a new iPod, but I also need a voice recorder for more practical reasons. If it turns out I can do both with an iPod a few months down the road, I'll be in hog heaven! (Not to mention it will integrate with the hardware/software I already have, and save me a few hundred more dollars.)

I think students are becoming Apple's no. 1 target for the iPod, which is probably why they are adding a DVR. Imagine how much free advertising they will get when people start showing up at lectures with their iPods, archiving the lectures in iTunes along with the rest of their music...

--Chris