[goldenratiophi]

I've been putting lossless files on my iPod for a while now, and while I have no problem not being able to carry everything on it at once, lossless takes a huge toll on battery life. I could just convert everything to high-bitrate AAC and make an iTunes smart playlist to sync just the AACs to my iPod, but it kind of annoys me having 2 copies of every song in the same library (don't ask why, I'm just weird). Yes, I know, you can now have multiple libraries by closing iTunes, holding option, opening iTunes, and selecting a different library, but it's annoying to have to switch back and forth to listen on the computer and sync my iPod.

So what do you do about this (besides rockboxing and using manual drag-and-drop updating)?

 

[Assorted]

I have everything in FLAC, and when I need some songs for my HD30GB9, I decompress it to wav and transfer it. Of course this wouldn't work in your situation though.

 

[geardoc]

I'm also interested in what other people do.

I gave up trying to keep track of my transcodes and use a Cowon X5 which plays flac, mp3, ogg..

 

[hempcamp]

Oh good, since you're using a Mac:

The best option I have found is Doug's Applescripts Lossless-to-AAC Workflow (thanks to blessingx for pointing this out to me!!!). It will make an AAC copy of selected lossless tracks and copy them to your iPod (or from CD right to the iPod). What I do is make a smart playless (Kind is Apple Lossless) and sick the Workflow script on it to crunch them all down to 192kpbs AAC and move them to the iPod (it then deletes the temporary AAC from your library).

The downside is that the first time you do this if you have a lot of lossless files it takes quite a while to complete. Then, every time I add a new set of lossless files I put them in a temporary playlist and every so often sick the Workflow script on that playlist (and then delete that playlist till I've got another batch).

Oh, and then there is a third script that will sync your tags between the lossless on the computer and the AACs on your iPod.

Hope this makes sense, and better yet hope it helps!

--Chris

 

[LawnGnome]

I sort first by the quality, HQ or SQ, then by artist and album.

Then to upload to the ipod, I only upload the album folder i want to put on, and then delete them off the itunes library when im done. That way I dont have 14 000 songs to sort through on itunes.

For your .WAV master copies, you can store those in a compressed folder to save space, if its lacking.

But if space is a problem, invest 60$ in a 250GB solely for music.

 

[D_4_Dog]

just outta curiosity, what do you have against rockbox? For me it's the best news since Foobar

 

[HFat]

-foobar for mass transcoding/renaming/replaygaining
-rsync for copying/sorting/moving

 

[bigshot]

Switching libraries is super easy. I have a half dozen different libraries.

See ya
Steve

 

[goldenratiophi]

I don't like Rockbox's control/navagation, and I never theme anything I have anyway, so I really don't see a use.


Quote:

Originally Posted by hempcamp /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh good, since you're using a Mac: The best option I have found is Doug's Applescripts Lossless-to-AAC Workflow (thanks to blessingx for pointing this out to me!!!). It will make an AAC copy of selected lossless tracks and copy them to your iPod (or from CD right to the iPod). What I do is make a smart playless (Kind is Apple Lossless) and sick the Workflow script on it to crunch them all down to 192kpbs AAC and move them to the iPod (it then deletes the temporary AAC from your library). The downside is that the first time you do this if you have a lot of lossless files it takes quite a while to complete. Then, every time I add a new set of lossless files I put them in a temporary playlist and every so often sick the Workflow script on that playlist (and then delete that playlist till I've got another batch). Oh, and then there is a third script that will sync your tags between the lossless on the computer and the AACs on your iPod. Hope this makes sense, and better yet hope it helps! --Chris

Looks cool! I'm going to try it out later.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif Switching libraries is super easy. I have a half dozen different libraries. See ya Steve

? Within iTunes?

 

[Awk.Pine]

Grouping plus playlist folders with smart playlists.

Grouping. I keep many albums in both ALAC and AAC. Lossless files backup the original disc, and listening to them obviously removes as doubt as to source quality. Lossy files are used portably. I also have a fair number of lossy files from before the beginning of time when I wasn't ripping losslessly. Every song is grouped either "Lossless", "Compressed", or "Lossy". Lossless songs are, well, lossless. Compressed songs are lossy compressions that have lossless copies in my library. Lossy songs do not have lossless counterparts.

Playlists. I almost never use my "Music Library" to select music. Instead, I use playlists and playlist folders. When I'm listening from my computer, I use a "Listening" playlist that contains two smart playlists: one, of every song grouped Lossless, and two, of every song grouped Lossy. This shows me the highest quality copy of every song I have, without any duplicates. I also have a "Small" playlist folder, which contains a smart playlist for every Compressed song and another for every Lossy song--again, no duplicates, but everything is in a small file. For each iPod, I maintain a separate playlist folder; for one, the folder includes a smart playlist for classical music (all songs in playlist Small, with genre including Classical, limited to x gigabytes, with a rating of 3 stars or higher) and a miscelaneous playlist I can just drop other albums I want on to. Then I just sync that folder and am good to go.

 

[kmcdonou]

I use Sveta Portable Audio software from the dbpoweramp family to convert albums from my flac library to mp3 (for my imod) on the fly. It takes a while to convert several albums and I generally start the process before I go to bed. However, it reduces the need to have two libraries, which I am adamantly against.

The software cost $30 or so, but to me is really worth it.

 

[ChaseD13]

Here's what i do.

70% of my library are mp3s, 30% applelossless (with a 320 aac copy of each to go on the ipod).

i set up one smart playlist and call it iPod. It includes all AAC files and all mp3 files.

I set up another smart playlist and call it Comp (the one i use as "my library" on my computer). I has all mp3 and all applelossless.

i never just click "music", instead i go to my playlist comp.

this way i dont get bothered by seeing doubles for 30% of my songs.

 

[nfusion770]

I rip everything to ALAC and store it and all my backups (the best copies I have of everything) on a backup NAS drive- I use these for foobar and Slim server playback.

I keep another library on my desktop computer- exact copies of my original lossy files, and lossy (256VBR AAC) copies of my ALAC's, for use with itunes/ ipods. Basically, itunes is used for ipods only, and foobar and Slim server are directed to the originals for playback. This is the best way I have found, otherwise libraries turn into a mess- regardless of smart tags, and I don't want 2 copies directed to either itunes or my playback software.

I am thinking of getting another imod. Luckily, at one point I purchased Anapod, which I plan to use for lossless to imod transfer.

Then again, if you have a Mac, there is probably an easier way.

 

[KenW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hempcamp /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh good, since you're using a Mac: The best option I have found is Doug's Applescripts Lossless-to-AAC Workflow (thanks to blessingx for pointing this out to me!!!). It will make an AAC copy of selected lossless tracks and copy them to your iPod (or from CD right to the iPod). What I do is make a smart playless (Kind is Apple Lossless) and sick the Workflow script on it to crunch them all down to 192kpbs AAC and move them to the iPod (it then deletes the temporary AAC from your library). The downside is that the first time you do this if you have a lot of lossless files it takes quite a while to complete. Then, every time I add a new set of lossless files I put them in a temporary playlist and every so often sick the Workflow script on that playlist (and then delete that playlist till I've got another batch). Oh, and then there is a third script that will sync your tags between the lossless on the computer and the AACs on your iPod. Hope this makes sense, and better yet hope it helps! --Chris

Great program! I hadn't heard about this one. Man, this is going to save me a great deal of time once I get my ipod. Thanks for posting that link and by extension, thanks to blessingx!!

 

[mojo]

WinAMP has good support for this kind of thing, but is of course Windows only.

The built-in iPod support can transcode when you copy to the iPod, and the ml_ipod plug-in can do that plus it supports ReplayGain conversion.