2010 iPod + iPhone Buyers' Guide

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Ask iLounge 8-17-06

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By Jerrod H.

Contributing Editor, iLounge
Published: Thursday, August 17, 2006
Category: Ask iLounge

Ask iLounge offers readers the opportunity to get answers to their iPod-related questions from a member of the iLounge editorial team. We'll answer several questions here each week, and of course, you can always get help with more immediate concerns from the iLounge Discussion Forums. Submit your questions for consideration using our Ask iLounge Submit Form. We reserve the right to edit questions for grammar, spelling, and length.

The most asked question at iLounge.com:

How do I copy music from my iPod onto my computer?

Click here for the answer.

The second most asked question at iLounge.com:

How do I put DVDs on my iPod?


For converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and home movies to your iPod, iPhone or Apple TV, we have a three-part series outlining the best formats, settings, and various tools to use for converting all types of video content for use on these devices.

The Complete Guide to iPod, Apple TV and iPhone Video Formats

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Mac)

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Windows)

Top five questions most recently asked by iLounge readers:

Q: What are the best speakers to use with my iPod? (15, 76-79, and 90-92)

Q: What are the best headphones to use with my iPod? (10, 72-75, and 90-92)

Q: I really want to get a nice case for my iPod. Do you have any suggestions? (36-37, 54-67, and 90-92)

Q: How can I connect my iPod to my car stereo? (14, 32-35, 68-71, and 90-92)

Q: Are there any batteries that I can use to extend my iPod's battery life? (82-83 and 90-92)

A: Answers to these and many other questions can be found in two places. Our Free iPod Book 3.3 provides a complete report card to all of the iPod accessories we've reviewed as of summer 2007, as well as over 125 iTunes and iPod tips & tricks. Further, our new 2008 iPod & iPhone Buyers' Guide has accessory tutorials at the page numbers listed in parentheses above. These and other publications in our Library are free downloads, developed by the editors of iLounge!

And now, for this week's Ask iLounge column:

Q:

I’m having some trouble with tagging certain songs in my library. For example, when I go to change a song’s genre, the changes only ‘stick’ until I play the song later. At that point, the tags revert to their previous value. How do I prevent this from happening, and to make sure that the tags I set are permanent?

- Jason

A:

We’ve answered a similar question before, and as with that user’s album artwork issue, we suspect that the song files you are attempting to write to are in some way write-protected, allowing iTunes to only update its own tag database, but not the underlying files.

To find out if this is the case, and to fix it, use the “Summary” panel in iTunes’ “Get Info” window for the affected song to locate the path to the file. Then, browse to that location in Windows Explorer or the Mac’s Finder, and do the following:

Windows: Right click on the file, and choose “Properties.” Ensure that the “Read Only” checkbox is unchecked. If not, try doing the same operation on the folders that contain it.

Mac: Open “Get Info” for the file (CMD-I), and ensure that “Ownership and Permissions” indicates that “You can Read & Write.” If not, change the setting to reflect this (you may need an administrator to enter a password).

Q:

I am planning on purchasing a fifth generation iPod, but I have heard from friends that the iPod can only use the headphones that come with the iPod’s package. Is this true? Surely it can’t be.

- Mark

A:

There are indeed certain proprietary aspects of the iPod and the hardware it’s compatible with, but headphones are absolutely not an example of this: Apple uses an industry-standard 1/8” “Miniplug” audio jack for its headphone audio out port. This means that virtually any headset intended for portable use will easily work with the iPod. Even headsets intended for use with a full-size home amplifier (i.e. those with a 1/4” plug) can easily be used with an iPod using a simple, inexpensive adapter.

The bottom line is: don’t worry - virtually any pair of headphones will work.

Q:

I am seeing a lot of references to eAAC and eAAC+ in cell phone test reviews, notably for Sony Ericsson phones. I use AAC for my iPod, but I’m interested in these other formats. Can you elaborate on what eAAC and eAAC+ actually are? Does my iPod or iTunes support them?

- George

A:

The eAAC and eAAC+ codecs are evolutions of the current AAC codec, allowing for even smaller files at excellent sound quality levels. They achieve this in part by the use of a technology called “Parametric Stereo”, which combines the left and right channels of audio for greater compression, but in a special way that allows the stereo separation to be restored for playback.

You’re right - at this point, the codec has currently only appealed to cell phone manufacturers and over-the-air music stores, as their needs for low-bitrate music are clearly more urgent than manufacturers of large-capacity hard drive players.

Years ago, there were rumors of Apple’s plans to incorporate the codec into the iTunes/iPod/Quicktime/Music Store system, but this still hasn’t materialized.

Still, more efficient codecs are a natural progression of audio technology, and especially with Apple’s rumored entry into the cell phone market with its “iPhone,” updated AAC technology may find its way to iTunes in the near future.

Q:

I’m trying to get my smart playlists to select a new batch of songs each time I open them. I have “Live Updating” checked, but that doesn’t seem to do the trick. How can I make this happen? Any help would be appreciated.

- Andy

A:

The Live Updating feature of smart playlists is not intended to generate a new set of selections each time a playlist is selected. Instead, it simply marks the difference between a playlist that is created once using the logic it is given, never changing, and one that continuously updates itself to represent the logic it’s governed by.

For example, if you were to create a smart playist that finds all of your 5-star songs, and not select “Live Updating,” these tracks would stay in the playlist even if you de-rated them later. With “Live Updating” selected, the items would immediately disappear if de-rated.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to create a smart playlist that automatically generates a new list of random songs each time it’s clicked. Our suggestion is to emulate this capability by simply shuffling your entire library - the effect is roughly the same.

Q:

I recently purchased and downloaded music from the iTunes Music Store using my desktop computer, later copying these files to iTunes on my laptop. Now, however, I can’t download the music files from my laptop to my iPod because iTunes says they can only be played on the computer it was downloaded to.  Since I paid for the music, why would this be the case and can I correct the problem?

- Bill

A:

Good news - everything you want to do with your purchased music is completely possible under Apple’s digital rights management rules. In fact, you’re 99% of the way to making it work.

Music purchased from the iTunes Music Store is able to be copied to and played on up to 5 computers, each of which is allowed to serve an unlimited number of iPods. The complication you’ve run into is that before any of these computers is added to the list of 5 “authorized” computers, the music must be explicitly authorized for use on that machine. It sounds as if you’ve transferred the music to the laptop, and immediately attempted to synchronize it to an iPod, without any intermediate step.

To authorize the laptop to play music from your iTunes Music Store account, simply open iTunes and begin playing any single song that belongs to your iTunes Music Store account. An authorization box will appear, prompting you for the password to your account. After you’ve entered the proper password and clicked OK, your laptop’s copy of iTunes—and any iPod connected to it—will be fully authorized to play and synchronize your songs. Enjoy!

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Ask iLounge Archives:

11-20-09: Sharing iTunes libraries between two user accounts, Enlarging text on iPhone 3GS, Transferring an iPod to a new user, iPhone shuffles when walking, New 8GB iPod touch models, Transferring purchases from a remote iTunes library

11-13-09: Syncing different contact info with two iPhones on the same computer, iPod shows no content, Syncing music and videos in playlists, Exclamation marks next to tracks in iTunes, Playing podcasts on 3G iPod shuffle.

11-6-09: Storing iPod software updates, Playing an iPod continuously, Transferring play counts to a new iTunes library, iPhone backups, Klipsch S4i earphones

10-30-09: Authorization problems with iPod touch, Changing Grid View background in iTunes, iTunes library and Music Folder are different sizes, Older iPods and firmware updates, Reconciling two different iTunes libraries, Syncing multiple devices to one iTunes library

10-23-09: Using a laptop with an iTunes library on an external hard drive, Transferring YouTube videos to iPod, iPod touch accessibility settings, Disabling Shake to Shuffle on iPod nano, Purchased songs fail to download from iTunes Store, Charging and powering off iPhone

See the rest of the Archives...

Next: Ask iLounge 8-25-06

Previous: Margins, pressures lead iPod vendors to Microsoft Zune

Comments

1

I realize that any headphones with a 1/8 inch jack will fit any iPod, but aren’t there also considerations of the impedance of the phones. ?  There is probably some range around 32 ohms that works best.  But I may be wrong.

Posted by otaku on August 20, 2006 at 5:12 PM (PDT)

2

Andy, Re: Smart Playlists - Here’s something close that I use to keep my music fresh.  Criteria:
Genre = Rock
Last Played > 2 Months
Checked Songs only
Limit to 40 songs at random by song
Check Live Updating

Every time you come back to this list or sync your iPod the songs you have played through (not skipped) will be replaced with new ones.

Posted by Elcoholic in So Cal on August 21, 2006 at 2:06 PM (PDT)

3

I just bought a replacement iPod battery from http://www.laptopsforless.com/mp3playerbattery/apple-ipod-Battery and it works great.  Is there any reason to think that a replacement battery would be less relaible than if I payed the extra money to go through Apple?

Posted by GreenApple123 on August 23, 2006 at 11:04 AM (PDT)

4

Usually I burn Cd’s on my computer using itunes and it works like a charm.However recently I made a playlist on my mom’s computer and when I attemped to burn the Cd an error mesage saying “disk burner or software not found” popped up in the box at the top of the screen.My question is, is there any software that I can purchase or download that will alow me to sucessfully burn a Cd usuing itunes?

Posted by KatieMcd on August 23, 2006 at 12:23 PM (PDT)

5

Not being able to “remix” a smart playlist is ridiculous.  RealPlayer 10.5, and other media players can do that.

Posted by Galley in Greenville, SC on August 27, 2006 at 10:44 AM (PDT)

6

After posting this question to a forum and trying a couple of things, I’ve found that a very easy way to get a new “remix” is to set and select “limit playlist to [2] [songs]”, click “ok”, and then go back and deselect the limit or restore whatever limit you originally had.  For me, this is particularly helpful when I import new CDs and want them to be potentially included in the random sampling that goes to my nano (which won’t hold my entire library).

Posted by masspod on October 19, 2006 at 5:24 PM (PDT)

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