Might be in the market for my first iPod. Got some noob questions...

[lordrobs]

Right firstly appologies, I've been quite happy with my Zen Micro for the past 3 1/2 years and have had my head in a cave for all that time

Basically I'm fed up of my media pc in the living room. The only thing I really need it for at the moment is my music collection. However having to boot it up, then select my music, then having to leave my TV on incase I want to skip track etc. means that most of the time I get a case of CBA and stick the radio on

Basically I'm looking for an mp3 player with a large capacity- 30GB would be overkill at present but I'd like to leave myself some growing room. I could then hook this up to my amp, take it in my car, plug it into the radio in the kitchen, plug it into my x360. Basically have my music anywhere I want it but I won't be using it as a "personal" mp3 player when I'm walking about if that makes sense as I'll still have my Zen micro for that.

What I want to know is this-

1) I think an iPod classic will fit the bill perfectly or one of the older (5.5G?) models if I can pick one up. Do you think I'm right in this or is there something else that would be better? I know I'm in mac hardware but I'm not set on an ipod if there is something more suitable.

2) My main question really. Will all my music which is in mp3 of various quality's and bit rates that I've ripped over the years work on an ipod via itunes or is it going to have a paddy and render my music collection incompatible?

Many thanks for any help

 

[lordrobs]

iPods will quite happily play back MP3 files, just be sure that you set iTunes to rip in MP3 as by default it will use protected AAC files, and also set the library options before you import anything else it will have a tendency to copy files all over the place

Not sure whether it will work as a USB device on your Xbox 360 though.

That was my main concern so thats cool

If it works on the 360 that would be ace but if not I'll just use one of my many sets of PC speakers or something for it so that wouldn't be a deal breaker.

 

[lordrobs]

It will 100% work with the Xbox, but you need to download the iPod enabler from the Live Marketplace (it's free).

Hope that helps

Even better

I see a lot of negativity with regards to itunes as a piece of software. Any reason for this or is it just people complaining for the sake of it?

 

[lordrobs]

I'd say AAC > MP3 for quality, so unless you're paranoid (or need room) then go with AAC.

Would it be worth converting from MP3 to AAC? Re-ripping from cd would be an absolute nightmare from both a time point of view and the fact that all my cd's are packed up in storage at my parents place

 

[lordrobs]

If you ever get the chance to re-rip those CDs lord-robs then go with a nice 256 AAC, or higher

Will do chief.

I might do one day. Some of those files hark back to the days when you had to save up to buy a 30GB hard drive so space was at a premium having said that I checked today and my music collection weighs in at just 11.8GB

 

[lordrobs]

One more thing

OK I'm deffo going for an 80GB classic

...but coverflow. Now as I say some of my stuff is ooooold rips and some of it is unreleased stuff and some by unknown artists. How will coverflow work with the tracks where the covers aren't picked up? I'm guessing if the cover doesn't apper when it plays in media player that means its a no no for coverflow too?

 

[lordrobs]

Let me show you...

http://www.jtgfx.com/files/Images/Coverflow.PNG[img]

As you can see, Albums/Tracks with no artwork are given a placeholder. Yes, I could have done that without a picture, but I needed to express my love for Pendulum.

Of course, if you wish to take pictures of the covers or scan them in and then add that to the tracks in iTunes they'll be added to the songs on your iPod the next time you sync.

Or, you'll just get bored of the gimmick that is Coverflow.[/QUOTE]

I got ya, and a pic speaks a thousand words so they say :p

Hmmm... Obviously the music will go on via iTunes so I wonder if it will gain any covers? Probably wishful thinking but time will tell :p

Now the only problem is I want it NOW but part of the deal with 'er in drawers is that I need to raise [I]at least[/I] £100 of the cost from selling some old junk on ebay first :(

 

[lordrobs]

Ooh so I can add album covers later if they don't automatically appear? Sounds like something to keep me busy when the soaps are on

 

[lordrobs]

Already seen those thanks EVH, they were part of the deciding factor that I needed one

 

[lordrobs]

Just wanted to bump this to say thanks to all those that gave me advice

Bought a black 80GB last Saturday and I'm very pleased with it

iTunes seems fine for what it does, music went across without hassle. Missing a lot of covers but I'll get round to sorting that at some point. I really don't like the coverflow thing as it seems a bit of a gimmick and takes forever to find the music I want so the lack of covers isn't a huge issue.

I've got it plugged into my AV receiver via a dock that I picked up for a tenner so I can sit back on the sofa and control it all via remote I didn't realise just how rubbish the sound card in my media pc was as everything sounds excellent.

Anyway enough of my rambling and thanks again