itunes advice

[Uncle Shags]

So yesterday I finally got an ipod. My gf and I got a 16gb itouch. She already has a shuffle and itunes account.

Here is what I want to do, but am not sure what the best way to approach it is.

I want to get all her music into the new ipod. I want to get all my music (cds and wmp library on my old, non-itunes computer) into the new ipod. I want to consolidate all her music and mine onto my new computer.

The way I was thinking of doing it would be to dload her music into the ipod through her itunes account. Then I would dload itunes on my old computer and dload all that music to the ipod through her itunes account. Then, somehow get all that music onto my new computer.

Can you have more than one computer for one itunes account?

Please be gentle, I've never had itunes or ipod, so I'm a complete novice at all this. I figured I'd ask around before I got into it to make sure I didn't do something stupid that would bite me later.

[Fretty]

Yes you can have more than one computer per iTunes/iPod. I believe the maximum number is 3 though.

You should be able to attach/register that new iPod to her existing account. Perhaps there is an "add hardware" section of account management or something like that? I know you can do it, I just forget how though.

Once that is done, this is what I would do:

1) Transfer all your music (cd's, mp3's whatever) to her computer and add them to her iTunes library.
2) Attach her new iPod and transfer everything over at once.

It really should be just that easy, once you get the new iPod registered in her name under the same account.

[Diggles]

Uh, copy the entire contents of her mydocs/mymusic/itunes/itunes music folder and paste it into the same directory on the desired computer

or if shes under 4.9/8gb (dual layer writer/disc required) respectively, use the File>Library>Backup to disc function

[Uncle Shags]

I'm a bit worried because a lot of my music is in wma, and I think I'm going to get hassled doing a computer switch. Do I need to switch it to mp3 first?

[Fretty]

I really never use WMA, and if I were you I wouldn't either from now on if you have the choice.

As for doing a computer switch with your WMA's...I don't see it being a problem...why would it? Is there something I am missing?

[Uncle Shags]

My impression is that WMA has DRM issues. When my gf tried to get all her music from her old comp to her new one she couldn't do a bunch of it due to DRM.

[Slamz]

WMA supports DRM but it's also the default format used by Windows Media Player if you pop in a disc and tell it to rip.

Will the iPod even play WMA format? I know when they first came out they simply didn't support it at all (part of why I got a Rio instead of an iPod).

Incidentally, doesn't iTunes have its own DRM issues? I buy everything through Amazon these days. Their MP3s are DRM free.

[Diggles]

lol @ noobs that dont change rip formats to mp3~

[Uncle Shags]

lol @ noobs that dont change rip formats to mp3~

Glad you find it funny asshole.

[Fretty]

I'm sure as heck that there's a conversion application out there. I mean, I know Cubase will do it, but that's professional recording studio stuff...there's gotta be something simpler...preferably something that can batch/que multiple files at once.

I know Windows Media Player can now rip to mp3...but I suppose that doesn't help since if you were to re-rip everything you'd just do it in iTunes.

Anyone know of one that can help him out?

[Fretty]

http://www.wma-mp3.org/

Free conversion tool specifically for this process.
It DOES support batch queuing of files to make it easier for you.
Below is a copy and paste from their website of it's key features.
I personally have not used this program, but give it a shot if you want. The link to the download is right there on the main page.

Let me know how it goes if you do use it.



Key Features

-It's clean and free, without any adware or spyware.
-It's stable and fast.
-Easy-to-use wizard-like user interface helps you setup converting process easily.
-It uses up-to-date and high quality libraries.
-ID3 Tag can be derived from the input files automatically.
-Batch Processing is supported, it can process an unlimited number of files at one time.
-Detailed HTML help file is included.
-The installing and uninstalling process is very easy.

[Uncle Shags]

Thanks a lot Fretty. I am in the process of converting now. Should be done by the morning.

[Fretty]

No problem, glad I could help. =)

[Jakensama]

Also you can download ipodutil to get music from an ipod onto a computer.

[Grieve]

iTunes doesn't use DRM any more. They never wanted to in the first place, the music companies basically forced it on them. If you have older MP3s with DRM, there are tools to remove it.

WMA supports DRM but it's also the default format used by Windows Media Player if you pop in a disc and tell it to rip.

Will the iPod even play WMA format? I know when they first came out they simply didn't support it at all (part of why I got a Rio instead of an iPod).

Incidentally, doesn't iTunes have its own DRM issues? I buy everything through Amazon these days. Their MP3s are DRM free.

[Snowreap]

there's nothing inherently wrong with WMA, but it's not the best choice for every situation. I use WMA Lossless for the "master" copy of all my music. I turned off the "copy-protect my music" option, of course, since the whole point of the master copy is to make further copies. if you've ripped a lot of music to WMA format and you didn't turn that option off, then you will probably want to rip all your music again.

whether you rip to WMA again (properly this time) or some other format depends on your situation. for example, you might not have enough disk space to keep a lossless copy on-hand (I currently have 275 albums ripped, using 70GB of disk space). I have lots of disk space (3.4TB free on a 4.5TB volume), and prefer the flexibility of being able to convert to any format at any time without worrying about distortion from lossy compression or needing to re-rip from CD again.

from my WMA-Lossless master copy, I downconvert selected albums to WMA 128Kbps for my car, but could also just as easily convert to some other format (like MP3 or OGG), depending on what the target device supports (my car does support WMA so I just use that). I use MediaMonkey to do conversions, because it has good batch support, including renaming/moving files (which is important for me, since the best layout of files and directories for my car is very different from the layout I want on my server).

if you don't have a lot of disk space, you are probably better off ripping directly to your final desired format (e.g. 64Kbps MP3, or whatever). but if you want to use a different format later, you will probably have to rip everything again because converting from one lossy format to another can often introduce distortion.

-ken

[Diggles]

I believe you are certifiably insane Snow

65kbps MP3? you realize that is below radio quality? Rip the shit at 256kbps MP3 and forget about all this converting and compatibility shit

[Snowreap]

I don't ever use a bitrate that low myself. but somebody else with a device with a puny amount of memory might want to. especially for content that doesn't need a high bitrate, such as audiobooks.

-ken