iTunes and windows, bad sound

Well, this response is inevitable, so I might as well say it:


Computer >>> Trash

Friend >>> Apple Store or Apple Reseller or Ebay

Money >>> Salesperson

Mac >>> Home



Is your friend playing the same files? or are the ones in WMP in a different format from the ones in iTunes? Where did he get the files? Bitrate? Sound card? Speakers? If he burns songs to a CD, do they sound the same? (both WMP and iTunes)

abhishekit said:

One of my frends showed me his comp today. he is having problem with iTunes. The sound is really bad, for all songs. And they play perfect with windows media player.!! i moved the iTunes to trash, reinstalled it. but still same problem..anyone here who uses windows and knows what to do?

thanks a lot

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What does "sound is really bad" mean? Does it sound muffled? It is scratchy?

And on Windows, dragging iTunes to the trash does NOT uninstall it--you need to run the uninstaller to do so (assuming iTunes doesn't leave stuff all over the OS, I know it leaves a footprint in %appdata%.

"they play perfect" -- I would assume that both in WMP9 and iTunes you are playing mp3 files?

Abhishekit, I hadn't seen a post of yours with your avatar before (although it looks like you've been over 500 for a while). Congrats! 🙂 *jealous*

There was an *apple* post here a couple of weeks ago with a similar sounding problem, where the solution was to turn off the sound enhancer and/or sound check, which were having some kind of math problem with certain MP3s...maybe it'll have the same impact?

Is your friend using the latest version of iTunes for windows? This sounds like one of the bugs with the initial version of iTunes (like 4.0) and was fixed in 4.0.1 and defenitly would be fixed in 4.5.

BEN

A few things.

1. When you say moved to trash do you mean you deleted the folder? Windows does not work that way. You need to go into START -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs and uninstall iTunes and possibly Quicktime as well that should also be listed. Simply dragging the folder leaves other files behind along with reg entries.

2. #1 problem fixer for any problems with devices is going to be to make sure the system is using the most current device drivers. Right click on My Computer (This is Windows XP or 2000 Right?) on the desktop and select MANAGE. (There are alternative ways to get to the manager but we are going to use the tree method that is pretty streight forward.)
In the nested tree find Device Manager. Under that locate Sound/Video/Game Controllers and under that will be their audio card. If you right click on the properties section and select the Driver tab it will give you a rev number for the drivers along with the date the drive was released. Compare that to whatever version is on the sound card manufacturer's website.
If you get me the version numbers and make\model of the audio card I can do the legwork for you and post a link to the drivers.

3. Does the computer meet iTunes minimum specs?
Windows System Requirements
* Windows XP or 2000
* 500 MHz Pentium class processor or better
* QuickTime 6.5.1 (included)
* 128 MB RAM minimum/256 RAM recommended
* Latest Windows service packs recommended
* Supported CD-RW drive to burn CDs, video display card, soundcard
* DSL, cable modem, or LAN-based high-speed Internet connection recommended for buying and streaming music


4. If this is Windows 95/98/98SE/or god help them ME slap them upside the head and go have them buy Windows 2000 or XP because anyone who is on 98 and meets the above system specs should NOT be running Windows 9x. This is not an option. If you have a gun, water BB whatever, force them at gunpoint to get an NT based OS instead. XP home which is still better then 98 IMHO is $99 off of some online sites and while it would be a PITA to upgrade in the long run it is WAY worth it. Be tactful though. 🙂


Sorry folks but for some spending a grand or more (Most likely more.) on a computer is not an option so simply telling a person to go buy a Mac isn’t going to help but will simply alienate this person keeping them from considering a Mac purchase in the future.
Solve their problem don’t complicate things by pissing them off.

SiliconAddict said:

4. If this is Windows 95/98/98SE/or god help them ME slap them upside the head and go have them buy Windows 2000 or XP because anyone who is on 98 and meets the above system specs should NOT be running Windows 9x. This is not an option. If you have a gun, water BB whatever, force them at gunpoint to get an NT based OS instead. XP home which is still better then 98 IMHO is $99 off of some online sites and while it would be a PITA to upgrade in the long run it is WAY worth it. Be tactful though. 🙂

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There is nothing wrong with running win98. While I think anyone still using ME is a moron (sorry if any of you do), 98 is a pretty solid system. A normal email, word, internet user doesn't need to get 2000 or xp is they don't want to spend the money. That doesn't mean that I don't recomend using xp, It's just not manditory.

2nd, while i love apple and my ibook, itunes for windows isn't the best. I hate that apple can make a great program for mac and a so-so one for windows. Winamp blows it away.

grapes911 said:

There is nothing wrong with running win98. While I think anyone still using ME is a moron (sorry if any of you do), 98 is a pretty solid system. A normal email, word, internet user doesn't need to get 2000 or xp is they don't want to spend the money. That doesn't mean that I don't recomend using xp, It's just not manditory.

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Hehe I'll second that, since I still have Win98 on my PC. But its mostly because spending any more money on my PC at this point would be like an ex-smoker shelling out for a fancy silver-plated lighter. 🙂

But from what I've seen of ME, its soooo bad that I probably would've updated.

The most recent version of iTunes and quicktime does this on my Compaq work laptop. The sound is very choppy, garbled, and generally inaudible.

This happened just after I upgraded to 4.5. Back to winamp I guess. 🙁

I believe iTunes for Windows requires Win2K or WinXP to run...

If they are running Win2K, make sure they have installed the latest Service Packs (SP4 is the latest for Win2K - this made a huge difference for my work machine).