[Pangaea]

Can someone in fairly easy terms explain rockbox- I get that it is ipod software, but what does it do exactly? I am fairly computer literate but I don't understand what it would do for an iPod's sound quality and/ or interface that would make it worth it.

 

[pentachris]

It's an alternative firmware. There are versions for several different DAP's. Rockbox offers many more options than most standard DAP firmwares (crossfeed, enhanced equalizer control, much more).

I, for one, have tried it and prefer the iPod firmware because of its ease-of-use.

 

[ojyarumaru]

the ipod rockbox is tight.

 

[thomaspf]

On my Iriver it gives me Flac support and bit perfect optical digital output.

Cheers

Thomas

 

[GAD]

I just installed it and I'm thrilled.

Pros:

No more iTunes (Yeah!). Now I can drag my carefully sorted folders right to the ipod and play them like I do in the PC. Awesome.

Rockbox plays flac files and other lossless formats. double awesome

Rockbox has skins, and you can set damn near everything the way you like it including features like crossfeed (that I don't use).

The downside is that battery life is significantly lower, and so far, video is pretty lame.

GAD

 

[Pangaea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GAD /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just installed it and I'm thrilled. Pros: No more iTunes (Yeah!). Now I can drag my carefully sorted folders right to the ipod and play them like I do in the PC. Awesome. Rockbox plays flac files and other lossless formats. double awesome Rockbox has skins, and you can set damn near everything the way you like it including features like crossfeed (that I don't use). The downside is that battery life is significantly lower, and so far, video is pretty lame. GAD

OK... since you seemed to write the most in support of Rockbox I am going to play D advocate... cause I still don't get it.

I find iTunes to be a pretty darn good application, easy to use, easy to organize. Album cover art, etc.

Apple lossless sounds the same right?

Crossfeed would be cool, but most people on this site use amps which most certainly will compensate for that.

Then with the battery and video negatives. I guess I don't get it. But I am very much each unto his own. I was just curious about it. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[GAD]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pangaea /img/forum/go_quote.gif OK... since you seemed to write the most in support of Rockbox I am going to play D advocate... cause I still don't get it.

Cool! I love a real debate!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pangaea /img/forum/go_quote.gif I find iTunes to be a pretty darn good application, easy to use, easy to organize. Album cover art, etc.

Do you use a Mac or Windows? I use windows and iTunes is bloatware. It's slow, sucks up memory and is generally icky. How's that for a rational response?

Seriously, I see no reason for syncing when I can just drag my folders to the device directly. I'm anal about my folder hierarchy, and I have already sorted my files. That being said, I never sort on anything but artist, so I have no need for a database of genre etc. Still, other programs do it better than itunes in my opinion. Musicmatch was excellent alternative until it got to where it is now.

I find that iTunes gets my album art right about 50% of the time, and getting the album art right with itunes is klunky. Of course these are all opinions. If you like itunes, the more power to you. For me - no thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pangaea /img/forum/go_quote.gif Apple lossless sounds the same right?

Technically, this could be argued by those more knowledgeable than me, but as I understand it, the method used by itunes to create apple lossless files is not as good as the alternatives such as foobar. In my case, that is irrelivent, since my lossless files are flac files. I'm not about to recode them. For me, it's not about which format, it's about playing the format I have.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pangaea /img/forum/go_quote.gif Crossfeed would be cool, but most people on this site use amps which most certainly will compensate for that.

Agreed - I don't really find this to be a huge benefit of Rockbox, but it is a feature that the ipod lacks natively.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pangaea /img/forum/go_quote.gif Then with the battery and video negatives. I guess I don't get it. But I am very much each unto his own. I was just curious about it. Thanks for the explanation.

I am a control freak. i want control. Rockbox gives me control. This is also why I disliked using a mac until OSX. I think OSX is the coolest OS in a very long time because now I have REAL control.

I understand you can dual-boot the ipod, which I will try next. I'd like to keep my video capabilities, which are honestly quite good with the native ipod. Hell I may end up using the native ipod firmware for mp3/video and using rockbox for flac. I'm only into it a day.

GAD

 

[ChaseD13]

itunes lossless is as good as any, but if you import the cd with itunes, you do lose out on say EACs better quality.

 

[Pangaea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GAD /img/forum/go_quote.gif Cool! I love a real debate! Do you use a Mac or Windows? I use windows and iTunes is bloatware. It's slow, sucks up memory and is generally icky. How's that for a rational response? Seriously, I see no reason for syncing when I can just drag my folders to the device directly. I'm anal about my folder hierarchy, and I have already sorted my files. That being said, I never sort on anything but artist, so I have no need for a database of genre etc. Still, other programs do it better than itunes in my opinion. Musicmatch was excellent alternative until it got to where it is now. I find that iTunes gets my album art right about 50% of the time, and getting the album art right with itunes is klunky. Of course these are all opinions. If you like itunes, the more power to you. For me - no thanks. Technically, this could be argued by those more knowledgeable than me, but as I understand it, the method used by itunes to create apple lossless files is not as good as the alternatives such as foobar. In my case, that is irrelivent, since my lossless files are flac files. I'm not about to recode them. For me, it's not about which format, it's about playing the format I have. Agreed - I don't really find this to be a huge benefit of Rockbox, but it is a feature that the ipod lacks natively. I am a control freak. i want control. Rockbox gives me control. This is also why I disliked using a mac until OSX. I think OSX is the coolest OS in a very long time because now I have REAL control. I understand you can dual-boot the ipod, which I will try next. I'd like to keep my video capabilities, which are honestly quite good with the native ipod. Hell I may end up using the native ipod firmware for mp3/video and using rockbox for flac. I'm only into it a day. GAD

GAD- thanks for taking my comments for what they are, genuine questions out of curiousity. I started a thread on cable burn in awhile back that I am afraid to go back to.

What is interesting is that we share a similar passion for organization. I cannot stand to have anything labeled wrong or out of place. I even hesitate to put songs on my computer unless I have the whole album (plus I am an album guy- not into the Singles). But I still think iTunes is pretty good at tagging and organizing (I have an iMac). If I go into my Music file its all pretty in line by Artist- Album- Song. I do everything by artist as well. I agree the iTunes jacks up the album art most of the time- so i get it from Amazon. Plus i love to build my album list in a playlist called 60GB iMod and then the next time I slide it on- boom its synched. I don't even have to be in the room.

I just finished my 3rd re-rip in a month finally settling on apple lossless, and like you I am not changing it. Its time to listen.

 

[ChaseD13]

well you can easily batch-convert your lossless files using something like foobar or dbpoweramp if you ever had to change. i'm assuming u were rerepping mp3s

 

[Pangaea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChaseD13 /img/forum/go_quote.gif well you can easily batch-convert your lossless files using something like foobar or dbpoweramp if you ever had to change. i'm assuming u were rerepping mp3s

No I was taking them from my CD collection- which is quite extensive. I just kept going up in bitrate starting with 128-until I realized it had to be lossless.

 

[Pangaea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChaseD13 /img/forum/go_quote.gif well you can easily batch-convert your lossless files using something like foobar or dbpoweramp if you ever had to change. i'm assuming u were rerepping mp3s

Tell me more about batch converting- how does that work and how would my end product be better than what I have now. Bear in mind everything I use is apple- and I don't really see that changing for me anytime soon.

 

[ChaseD13]

oh well i meant if you wanted to transcode across LOSSLESS formats, you can simply load all your files into foobar- right click- convert to your lossy format OR to a different lossless format. saves time.

you can go from one lossless format to another without losing anything, and you can convert them to a lossy copy to throw on an mp3 player.

its basically if you want to change formats- dont rerip (if you are going lossless to lossy or lossless to lossless- DO NOT Go lossy-lossy or lossy-lossless as you lose quality or waste space).

you probably know all of this though, i just wanted to make sure you werent needlessly reripping.

 

[ChaseD13]

oh well i meant if you wanted to transcode across LOSSLESS formats, you can simply load all your files into foobar- right click- convert to your lossy format OR to a different lossless format. saves time.

you can go from one lossless format to another without losing anything, and you can convert them to a lossy copy to throw on an mp3 player.

its basically if you want to change formats- dont rerip (if you are going lossless to lossy or lossless to lossless- DO NOT Go lossy-lossy or lossy-lossless as you lose quality or waste space).

you probably know all of this though, i just wanted to make sure you werent needlessly reripping.

 

[melomaniac]

hmm... can someone out there with a grasp of PCM, jitter, word length and sample rates confirm that copies from one lossless format to another do not compound some kind of degradation? - also, about the rockbox vs iTunes: I don't get the rockbox advantage on an iPod either (but I did discard a number of other DAP that might have greatly benefitted). and I also agree that iTunes, while nowhere near right, is useful, and there are a number of free or shareware solutions to improving tagging and other issues with iTunes (Windows: ID3-TagIT, Mp3tag,MP3 Tag Editor, Tag & Rename, Godfather, MusicMagic Mixer, Foobar2000; Mac: Media Rage, Max, Cog; Linux/Unix: EasyTag (GTK) - and of course, MusicBrainz, on Windows/Linux/Mac)