itunes, ITMS, ipod and ipodmini (1 Viewer)

Elnur_E65

Senior Member
Feb 21, 2004
10,848
#21
BigIzz, a quick question if you don't mind.

How do you connect your I-pod to your car stereo? A lot of manufacturers nowadays have integrated hard drives in car head units. Have you ever considered getting one of those (just for the sake of not connecting your portable player to your car stereo all the time) ?

Thanks for the links, guys!
 

Buy on AliExpress.com

BigIzz

Senior Member
Jul 12, 2002
1,088
#22
I have the Belkin Power adapter, which has a line out on it. I run a stereo cable from that to a Aux Input Adapter I bought for my high end Sony headunit and then run that to the headunit. It would be easier to get a headunit with an input but I didn't have the cash to spend on a comprable one.

I've never really considered getting a hard drive based headunit. I doubt any will have an interface nearly as intuitive as the iPod and would not be as good of an option. Anyway, I'll have an iPod regardless so why buy a hard drive based headunit when the ipod can do the job?
 

Elnur_E65

Senior Member
Feb 21, 2004
10,848
#23
I just don't like the idea of connecting anything to my h/u and have cords etc. in the interior.

The way I solved this problem is I've gotten an mp3 12 disk changer (total of about 8 gigs), and it interfaces greatly with my Alpine 7878 h/u.
 

BigIzz

Senior Member
Jul 12, 2002
1,088
#24
I don't have any cords exposed either. I installed a second ciggarette lighter and mounted it behind the dashboard. I plugged the power adapter into it, ran the one cable under the center console to the Aux adapter that is under the seat. Then I ran a cable from the aux adapter back to the head unit. The connector to the iPod runs under the console to the cup holder, where I drilled a hole. So there really arent any wires exposed.
 

3pac

Alex Del Mexico
May 7, 2004
7,206
#25
im getting an i pod soon, (the 20 gb one) but ive heard from quite a few people about a problem with the battery. i saw it on tv (tech tv) where they claimed that the i pod battery only lasts about 18 months and is irrelaceable, this may be a rumor for all i know, but ive heard it quite a bit

could someone let me know if this is true or not, because id like to know before i go shell out 350$ (for a 14 yr old thats a hell of a lot)

thanks
 

Elnur_E65

Senior Member
Feb 21, 2004
10,848
#26
After I've read that article about a new Sony walkman I am also sticking with an Ipod, for sure. If it takes 3 hours to upload 400 songs, that's not for me.
 

swag

L'autista
Administrator
Sep 23, 2003
84,524
#27
++ [ originally posted by BigIzz ] ++
I'm going to have to disagree with you a bit here. I like the iPod because it is simple to use. I don't think it means you are lazy because you aren't willing to use a more inefficent operating system, which every other player pretty unanimously has.
I've used the iPod. I've used iRiver and Rio. To be honest, they're all pretty darn simple. It's a toss-up. I mean, we're talking a simple consumer electronics product here where all it really has to do is seek, play, and move around MP3s. We're not exactly talking about some computer OS that has to support a million possible configurations of peripherals and device drivers. The OS on a player here is pure commodity... noise level, really.

I think it's "lazy" for the same reason that buying a Honda Accord in the U.S. 10 years ago was a lazy answer (and similarly, why dealers then charged a $1500 premium just based on demand/waiting lists alone). Or why buying Sony stereo equipment is a lazy answer. It's about going with the flow for what's popular. Popular isn't a bad thing. Things are popular for a number of reasons, but its not necessarily because it's the best value out there.

Don't get me wrong -- the iPod is a very good product. But as with many things in higher demand, you pay a bit more for what you can get from competitors, feature for feature. (Basic marketing principles allow Apple to charge a premium over their competitors for that reason.) And the most popular products are not always the best products on the market either.

First, the iPod is unquestionably the market leader and has tremendous support and third party developers.
No argument there...

The iPod will be around in 5 years but will the other players?
Ironically, if you look back, the iPod hasn't been around for that long. Meanwhile Rio, for example, has been around making MP3 players for at least 6 years.

If you are going to spend $150-200 on one, why not just spend $200-300 for the best one?
Because pound-for-pound, feature-for-feature, you could get the same level of quality in a player (as rated by some semi-trustworthy third party comparison review) with the same disk space for about $100 less if you don't get an iPod. Plays all the same stuff with all the same basic features. Maybe even has better compatibility for people with desktop PCs instead of Macs for that matter too.

To change the subject a bit, you work for CNet? That must be a lot of fun. Ive used their website for years, I even remember watching their TV show back in the day. What do you do for them?
I've been there for over 8 years now... and they used to film some of their TV shows right outside my office. But then the public finally got around to realizing that all this Internet stuff over a TV is boring once the novelty wore off -- you can only take so many hand-on-mouse shots interspersed with computer screens.

I manage a team of software engineers who develop a few of our sites and run their back-end publishing and commerce systems.
 

swag

L'autista
Administrator
Sep 23, 2003
84,524
#28
Oh, and one complaint about iTunes: the 128k bitrate thing. They make it so you really don't want to play the stuff on higher-end audio equipment.

The irony is that BMW is using an iPod/iTunes tie-in as a selling point to demonstrate just how advanced their car audio system is for their advanced vehicle. And yet the audio quality with 128k -- when compared to today's basic CD standard -- takes us several steps back. It's as if BMW is telling you, "Our new cars are so advanced, we have high-tech audio systems that can now provide you with 8-track audio quality!"
 

Elnur_E65

Senior Member
Feb 21, 2004
10,848
#30
++ [ originally posted by swag ] ++
Oh, and one complaint about iTunes: the 128k bitrate thing. They make it so you really don't want to play the stuff on higher-end audio equipment.
What is that? Ipod doesn't play anything above 128k bitrate?

This sucks... I rip my stuff at 256!

++ [ originally posted by swag ] ++
The irony is that BMW is using an iPod/iTunes tie-in as a selling point to demonstrate just how advanced their car audio system is for their advanced vehicle. And yet the audio quality with 128k -- when compared to today's basic CD standard -- takes us several steps back. It's as if BMW is telling you, "Our new cars are so advanced, we have high-tech audio systems that can now provide you with 8-track audio quality!"
No surprises here at all. Where have you seen a vehicle with an advanced car audio in it as an option? A "nice" stereo system with a slightly above average sound quality will require a top of a line h/u, independent channel amplification, superb cabling and many other things, which will run up your bill to $3 - $5k easily! Who would wanna sell cars with that difference on a price tag?

With an orgininal car system BMWs or any car producers have you will feel no difference between a 128 or 265 bitrate.
 
OP

maxmc

Junior Member
Jul 27, 2002
347
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #31
    no!!!
    you can rip & play ur cds at any bitrate you want, but the songs you download from the music store are ripped with 128kbs, BUT these are no mp3-files.. it's AAC and you can compare it with 160k mp3 files...
     

    Elnur_E65

    Senior Member
    Feb 21, 2004
    10,848
    #32
    ++ [ originally posted by maxmc ] ++
    no!!!
    you can rip & play ur cds at any bitrate you want, but the songs you download from the music store are ripped with 128kbs, BUT these are no mp3-files.. it's AAC and you can compare it with 160k mp3 files...
    Thanks.

    So the Ipod will recognize both regular mp3 with various bitrates + the AAC's, right?

    What if I bought music from a store other than apple's? Can I play it with the ipod?
     

    BigIzz

    Senior Member
    Jul 12, 2002
    1,088
    #34
    The battery in the iPod is a lithium ion battery, common in many electronic devices. Lithium ion batteries, be it in your iPod, other mp3 players, cell phone, whatever will all stop holding charges as well as they once did.

    So yes, the battery in the iPod will stop being as effective after about 500 charging cycles (some say 3-500). This means that the battery will not hold a charge as well as it once did and a fully charged iPod might last for 2 or 3 hours where it would go 5 or 6 before. This might be in 18 months, this might be in 5 years, depending entierly on how often the battery is charged.

    The iPod battery is not user replaceable. Apple will replace your iPod if the battery stops working and the one year warranty has ended for $99. There are other companies that will do it for cheaper and for even cheaper, you can buy a do it yourself battery replacement kit for $50-60. This invloved opening the iPod and all the stuff invloved with that. By this time your warranty has probably expiered so it isn't a huge deal. You can even buy stronger batteries now that will last even longer then the stock iPod battery.

    So yes, the battery in the iPod will eventually wear out, just like it will in every other rechargeable device you own. But no, it can be replaced from $50-100 but it isn't as simple as chaning the batteries in a flashlight..
     

    swag

    L'autista
    Administrator
    Sep 23, 2003
    84,524
    #36
    ++ [ originally posted by Pendir_E65 ] ++
    Thanks.

    So the Ipod will recognize both regular mp3 with various bitrates + the AAC's, right?

    What if I bought music from a store other than apple's? Can I play it with the ipod?
    Yep. My 128k limitation point was about the standard encodings used for iTunes and not about the iPod's capabilities.

    The iPod, like many other MP3 players, also supports the wav format. There's been a bit of controversy over iPod's lack of support for Ogg Vorbis (".ogg" files) -- a sort of open source encoding format that doesn't require the software package that rips files to pay a license to the MP3 holders. There was a petition to Apple going around from iPod users to have Ogg Vorbis supported -- as many of the iPod's competing players already support the format. But it certainly doesn't look like the ogg format is going to take over mp3 anytime soon.

    I can't say anything about the battery issue myself, other than the built in batteries of all devices will degrade over time with continuous recharges. Some are better than others, but most devices are probably technically obsolete by the time the internal battery can't cut it anymore.
     

    BigIzz

    Senior Member
    Jul 12, 2002
    1,088
    #37
    Yeah exactly, the life of the battery in the iPod or any other device is probably as long as or longer then most people will use it.

    Apple also supports their new Apple Lossless codec, which is similar to FLAC from what I understand (no data loss and much smaller files then wav. Codecs like this will probably be what everyone uses in 5-10 years, once bandwitdh increases and mass storage gets cheap enough).
     

    swag

    L'autista
    Administrator
    Sep 23, 2003
    84,524
    #38
    Totally with you on that, Matthew. I'm actually quite surprised at how many people look at the mp3 standard as if it's not going to fade away anytime soon. My company bought the mp3.com domain name for a song in a Vivendi-Universal fire sale, but I honestly questioned how much it was really worth anyway. Branding yourself with a technology standard that's about to be antiquated in due time seems like a bit of short-sighted hubris.

    There's a reason AT&T doesn't call themselves "American Telephone & Telegraph" anymore. Who remembers .gl video files anymore? And soon who's going to remember .au audio files -- or even 3.5" floppies for that matter? Old standards decay quickly.
     

    BigIzz

    Senior Member
    Jul 12, 2002
    1,088
    #39
    Exactly. Once broadband is up to 50-60 mbps and 500 Gig hard drives cost $65 and they are able to 1" or 1.8" hard drives at 200 gigs, why would anyone want compressed mp3s? A Flac or other lossless file is about 4 times larger so what is the big deal. I know people with 2,500-5,000 CDs, which is a real lot but even they only need a finiate amount of space.
     

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