|
|
Whether you want to buy
your first iPod or you want to replace your current one,
read on for some tips on choosing the iPod that’s best
for you. |
|
|
|
|
The encoding format and settings that you choose for
importing music when ripping a CD affect sound quality, iPod space, and
hard drive space on your computer. The format and settings might also
affect the music files ability to play on other types of players and
computers.Your iPod’s music software gives you a choice of encoders. This is
perhaps the most important choice to make before starting to rip music
CDs and build up your library. iTunes and MusicMatch Jukebox offer the
same
encoders with some differences. Choose Preferences (from the iTunes menu
on a Mac, or the Edit menu on a
Windows PC) and click the Importing tab to see the Importing Preferences
dialog. You can choose one of five encoders from the Import Using pop up
menu:
1. AAC Encoder:
2. Apple Lossless Encoder
3. AIFF Encoder
4. MP3 Encoder
5. WAV Encoder
If you want to share your music with someone who uses an MP3 player
other than an iPod, you can import or convert songs with the MP3
encoder. As an iPod user, you can use the higher-quality AAC encoder to
produce files that are either the same size as their MP3 counterparts
but higher in quality, or at the same quality but smaller in size. To
have the best possible quality that you can get for future growth, and
for music editing, consider not using compression at all (as with AIFF
or WAV), or using Apple Lossless. You can import music at the highest
possible quality by using the AIFF or WAV encoders or the Apple Lossless
encoder and burn them to audio CDs; then convert the music files to a
lesser quality format for use in the iPod or other devices. If you use
Apple Lossless for songs, you can use those songs on an iPod, but they
take up much more space than AAC or MP3 encoded songs.
Every person hears the effects of compression differently. You might not
hear any problem with a compressed song that someone else says is tinny
or lacking in depth.
|
>>
Customizing the Encoder
settings |
|
|
|
|
|
Customizing the
Encoder Settings in iTunes
To change your encoder and quality settings and other importing
preferences before ripping an audio CD or converting a file in iTunes,
follow these steps:
1. Choose iTunes Preferences on a Mac, or Edit Preferences on a Windows
PC, and then click the Importing tab.The Importing Preferences dialog
appears, allowing you to make changes to the encoding format and its
settings.
2. Choose the encoding format that you want to convert the song into and
select the settings for that format.
The pop up menus help you make your changes. The Setting pop up menu
offers different settings depending on your choice of encoder in the
Import Using pop up menu. See the sections on each encoding format later
in this chapter for details on settings.
3. Click OK to accept changes. After changing your importing
preferences, and until you change them
again, iTunes uses these preferences whenever it imports or converts
songs.
Converting Songs to a
Different Encoder in iTunes
Converting a song from one encoder to another is useful if you want to
use one encoder for one purpose, such as burning a CD, and a second
encoder for another task, such as playing on your iPod. Converting a
song from one compressed format to another is possible (say
from AAC to MP3), but you might not like the results. When you convert a
compressed file to another compressed format, iTunes compresses the
music
twice, reducing the quality of the sound. You get the best results by
starting with an uncompressed song that was imported using either the
AIFF or WAV format, and then converting that song to the compressed AAC
or MP3 format. You can tell what format a song is in by selecting it and
choosing File Get Info. Then click the Summary tab to see the song’s
format. You might want
to keep track of formats by creating CD AIFF-version and iPod
MP3-version playlists for different formats.
To convert a song to another encoding format, follow these steps:
1. Choose iTunes Preferences on a Mac, or choose Edit Preferences on a
Windows PC, and then click the Importing tab. The Importing Preferences
dialog appears, allowing you to make changes to the encoding format and
its settings.
2. Select the encoding format that you want to convert the song into
from the Import Using pop up menu; in the custom settings dialog that
appears, select the settings for that encoder. For example, if you’re
converting songs in the AIFF format to the MP3 format, choose MP3
Encoder from the Import Using pop up menu, and
then select the settings that you want in the MP3 Encoder dialog that
appears.
3. Click OK to accept the settings for your chosen format.
4. In the iTunes window, select the song(s) that you want to convert,
and then choose Advanced Convert Selection.
The encoding format that you chose in Step 2 appears on the menu:
Convert Selection to MP3, Convert Selection to AAC, Convert Selection to
AIFF, or Convert Selection to WAV. Choose the appropriate menu operation
to perform the conversion.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
 |
| |
|
>>
Setting the
volume |
|
Setting the volume in advance for songs
With songs that you already know are too loud (or too soft), consider
setting the volume for those songs (or certain albums) in advance, so
that they always
play with that volume adjustment. To adjust the overall volume of a
particular song in advance, so that it always
plays at that setting, perform the following steps:
1. Click a song to select it.
2. Choose File Get Info.
The song information dialog appears.
3. Click the Options tab.
Drag the Volume Adjustment slider left or right to adjust the volume
lower or higher.You can do this while playing the song.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
