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iTunes idiot needs some help


Hi,

Although I've owned an iPod for quite a while now I'm in need of some help. Up until now I've stored approximately 400 WAV files on my iPod. I recently bought two Western Digital 160gb external hard drives and I'm copying 400 CD's on to the hard drives using iTunes, importing the songs as WAV files (I bought all these CD's BTW).

I'd like to rip all of my music on to my iPod. To fit all this music onto a 20gb iPod will require compression, any recommendations as to which compression format to use would be appreciated. Priority is sound quality (I really hate the sound of MP3's) but by the same token I'll need to fit a lot of music on it. I'm very interested in your opinion and will certainly appreciate any advice.

I want to keep the WAV files on the hard drive(s) as is, allowing me to make compilations or copies of my CD's as required. The thing I can't figure out for the life of me: I have the WAV files on my hard drive and want to use some sort of compression to load them on the iPod while I maintain the original WAV files on the hard drive. There must be a way to grab the WAV files off my hard drive and using iTunes compress the files, store the compressed music in a directory on the drive, and then load my iPod with the compressed files. All the while keeping the original WAV files in WAV format on the drive. I'm running XP with the latest iTunes software. Thanks in advance to any iTunes aficionados who can lend a helping hand. Best Regards, Jeff
jeffloistarca
jeffloistarca OP
1,004 posts
 

Hi Hector,

I searched the archives here and on the iPod lounge before posting this. I'm sure this can be done...

I figure 400 Cd's @ at an average of 600mb each will take up about 240gb of disk space on my hard drives, to shrink the files to fit on my 20gb iPod I'll have to compress 12:1. I don't know which compression utility will compress 12:1 and still sound decent.

Bigger problem is maintaining the WAV files on the HD while converting, the import feature on iTunes doesn't seem to support such a thing. Then again, as the title suggests I'm an iPod idiot.
edesilva
768 posts
 
You can get LAME, which does various mp3 compression types on a standalone basis, and run those on the files to get mp3 versions. You would end up with both WAV and MP3 versions on the HDD and iTunes would presumably see both. Maybe you could have iTunes filter them in some way?

You should have enough storage to store both WAV and MP3--400 CD @ 450 MB/CD (WAV) + 45 MB/CD (alt preset extreme MP3) = 200 GB total, well below your total 160 GB x 2.
pabelson
344 posts
 
First, you need to get realistic. You can't compress 400 CDs to fit on a 20GB iPod with acceptable sound quality. Period. So you either have to get a bigger iPod or leave some of your music off it. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

How much music you have to leave off depends on what sound quality you're willing to live with. When you say you "hate the sound of MP3s," I suspect you mean 128kbps MP3s. My suggestion is that you try ripping MP3s at various bitrates, copying them to the iPod and deciding what you can live with. You might find that 160 or 192kbps gives you a pretty good compromise between compression and sound quality. At 192kbps, you can store almost 250 CDs on a 20GB iPod.

iTunes is not a full-service audio program, so you may have to try other software (like LAME, as Ed suggested) to convert your WAV files to MP3s. iTunes should give you the ability to maintain more than one music library (I know it does on Macs). I'd keep my WAVs and MP3s in separate libraries.
edesilva
768 posts
 
I think I was getting 10:1 compression using the LAME alt preset extreme setting, which, to my ear, sounded far better than similar sized constant bit rate (CBR) mp3s. The extreme setting has been argued by a number of folks to be total overkill, and for an iPod it may well be (I was listening in a home rig). Look at the alt preset standard setting and you may get the compression you need. All of the "alt presets" are variable bit rate schemes with various coding tweaks to maximize sound quality for a given file size.

Think you can also set up LAME to batch process...
matt8268
92 posts
 
I want to do the exact same thing as you. I want to be able to keep my collection on the computer as (Apple) lossless, and somehow sync a compressed version onto my iPod. This will allow me to Airport the (uncompressed) music to my receiver from my computer, yet still be able to fit my whole collection in my (40G) iPod.

Unfortunately, I don't think there's a way to do it without maintaining two separate libraries. I don't want to do this because I've already changed titles, composers, artwork, etc. to perfection. Just can't consider keeping two versions up to date. Hopefully Apple will make an update, but maybe not, since it's sort of a niche capability for audiophiles.

FYI, my encoded files with 128k AAC sound great through my iPod and Ety ER4P earspeakers. I experimented with higher bitrates, and couldn't hear a difference (not one I could identify consistently). I think 128 AAC is similar to if not better than 192 mp3, but of course this depends on many variables, including which encoder is being used.
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