iPod Nano Question For The B&B Tech-Heads

Amongst my Father's Day gifts was a 2 gig iPod Nano and a JBL Docking Station.

I was fooling around with the iPod last night and it doesn't seem to like Windows Media Player. Can I use this program to rip music to the iPod, or do I have to download the "Recommended" software ?

WMP would be preferred since that is on my work notebook and I need permission from an Administrator at Corporate level to install anythig else.

Thanks in advance.

unfortunately I think you are gonna need to get iTunes on there somehow.

There are ways around it but unless you are a computer geek I would just use Itunes..

Thanks guys. Another victim of the Microsoft Vs. Apple battle, eh??

Do I have to pay the $19.99 license fee for the I-Tunes or will the free version do the trick?

the free version of iTunes does absolutely everything you will need it to

PS: Sweet father's day gift!!

ada8356 said:

PS: Sweet father's day gift!!

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Thanks. Gonna be nice on the 'Wing this summer for long trips. Seem to spend quite a bit of time in areas of lousy reception for Classic Rock.

The docking station is for the ManCave, BTW.

Newfie said:

Do I have to pay the $19.99 license fee for the I-Tunes or will the free version do the trick?

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If a site is making you pay for iTunes, it's probably a scam site. Apple has never charged for iTunes at all. Be sure you're getting it directly from Apple.

ClunkClunk said:

If a site is making you pay for iTunes, it's probably a scam site. Apple has never charged for iTunes at all. Be sure you're getting it directly from Apple.

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It actually gave me a choice. Said with the paid version you got 50X (or something) faster burn and 10X faster rip. And IIRC, it was www.apple.com or something. But once I get home I'll try that link.

Thanks.

I don't know if this will help....

but, in the linux world, we just mount mp3 devices as flash drives and manually transfer files to the player. No iTunes, etc. needed.

See if your iPod is recognized (under "MY COMPUTER" or wherever) as a drive and you may be able to act accordingly.

RichGem said:

snip....See if your iPod is recognized (under "MY COMPUTER" or wherever) as a drive and you may be able to act accordingly.

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Yes it is, as Drive: E. WMP also gives an option to send to iPod, but nuttin' happens.

Newfie said:

It actually gave me a choice. Said with the paid version you got 50X (or something) faster burn and 10X faster rip. And IIRC, it was www.apple.com or something. But once I get home I'll try that link.

Thanks.

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Be wary, something about that seems very fishy to me. I've been dealing with Apple products professionally for at least 5 or 6 years now, and they've never charged for iTunes on the Mac or Windows platforms. You may want to just install iTunes from the CD that came with your iPod.

ClunkClunk said:

Be wary, something about that seems very fishy to me. I've been dealing with Apple products professionally for at least 5 or 6 years now, and they've never charged for iTunes on the Mac or Windows platforms. You may want to just install iTunes from the CD that came with your iPod.

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Yes, it's always been free. Just go to the Apple site and dl from there.

Thanks again guys.

And, uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Adam..........................

ClunkClunk said:

snip...You may want to just install iTunes from the CD that came with your iPod.

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Didn't get one. As soon as I plugged it it the iTunes install came on, so it either connects automatically, or the software is loaded onto the unit instead of with a CD.

Oh yeah, I forgot you said you got a Nano. Those aren't coming with a CD anymore, they're just directing you to the website, or doing the install with Autorun like you did. I completely forgot about that fact.

Once again, thanks to everyone who posted hints, suggestions, etc.

I went home yesterday and went to the Apple site and yes, it was quite different to the one I'd been in the night before.

Long story short, I Ripped 119 songs to the iPod last night and I have to say the quality of sound out of the player and the JBL Docking Station is utterly fantastic. Volume isn't there, but the quality rivals many high end stereos I've owned over the years.

All is good, and I'm looking forward to our first long bike trip and having 20+ hours of our favourite music uninterrupted and unduplicated!!

When importing songs off of a CD with iTunes, it's best to change the default format to MP3. By doing this, you can eventually use whatever player of choice without worrying about being locked into iTunes.

In the windows version of iTunes, Go to the Edit menu -> Preferences -> Advanced Tab -> Importing -> Change Import Using to MP3 Encoder and change the setting to be Higher Quality

Having a similar nano, I find iTunes does a good job of rotating songs within a playlist if the iPod is full. That being said, it's always best to be free.

-Dan

qwerk said:

When importing songs off of a CD with iTunes, it's best to change the default format to MP3. By doing this, you can eventually use whatever player of choice without worrying about being locked into iTunes......snip

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Interesting Dan. I noticed it was importing them in AAC format (which I have no idea what it is or stands for) but didn't know it would prevent me from using it somewhere else, like another computer. Can I change the ones I already have loaded onto the unit?

Newfie said:

Interesting Dan. I noticed it was importing them in AAC format (which I have no idea what it is or stands for) but didn't know it would prevent me from using it somewhere else, like another computer. Can I change the ones I already have loaded onto the unit?

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Every music player I've ever used plays MP3s. Not all play AAC. This was the restriction I mentioned.

In addition, if you buy songs from iTunes, they come with an added "feature" called FairPlay. This feature allows you to play the song on up to 5 authorized computers. Don't blame Apple too much. I hear that's one of the concessions the made with the Record Industry to sell music online. You can remedy the ones you buy by burning a CD with the song and importing it.

So keeping the ones you've ripped in AAC shouldn't be too much of an issue. I prefer to use high quality MP3 to keep them as portable as possible.

Edit Seems like some of my information is dated. According to the wiki, AAC is supported by almost all players and even by the Zune. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding) I hope I haven't mislead anyone too badly. (I must've been channeling my experience ripping songs onto my 32mb Diamond Rio Player) However, the information about FairPlay is still true.

Are there any quality benefits of one file format over another? Do the AAC formats sound better on the iPods vs. the mp3 or vice versa?