iTunes 4.6 Now Available

[wolfywolfbits]

Runeasgar, first just to clarify... You have a good quality external D/A so you want to have a digital input into it (without having gone through any intermediate D/A which would be of interior quality). And the problem with the AP-Express is that it does support digital out, but uses the wrong plug/format (i.e. optical out) for your equipment. Correct?

Which brings me to my questions, what type of digital input does your D/A take then?

That's a problem at the moment, there seems to be a few audio digital plugs/formats battling it out. Optical seems to be pretty popular with home stereo equipment these days, coaxial more popular with pro equipment.
However, I haven't seen anyone claim (but haven't looked) that one digital plug/format is better than another. So you'll just have to wait for the industry to consolidate i guess

How about getting an optical to coaxial (if that's what your D/A uses) converter? I think I've seen those around??

 

[mattmack]

Yay!! Finally, I've been wating since yesterday for this.

No problem with iTunes on this computer with 4,100+ songs ( ).

OMG I love your sig site

 

[g4cubed]

hit the nail on the head

The record companies will love the AirPort Express; it will provide them with an excuse to decrease the number of burns permitted per track - why do you need to burn a CD to listen to it on your Hi-Fi when you can use an AirPort Express? That car thing Jobs hinted at will strengthen this argument because then you won't need a CD copy of your iTunes files for the car either.

You've got that right on the money$$$

 

[runeasgar]

How about getting an optical to coaxial (if that's what your D/A uses) converter? I think I've seen those around??

Yes, jeff suggested that. I think it's a fantastic idea. Of course, this is where a disadvantage of my audiophile usb comes into play, it doesn't work without my laptop.. so darn..

I have to either choose.. laptop hookup.. or airport express living room hookup =[

too bad i'm not keeping my bx5s or i could have two setups.. ah well

<< relatively poor college student.

 

[titaniumducky]

wow, this comment is really out of touch.

a modem is for connecting to the internet at 56Kb per second. nothing more
...........
..........

I'm not trying to be picky - just to add.

A modem can connect at 14.4, 28.8, or 56 Kbs.

 

[ZildjianKX]

It's a shame it now blocks songs that are decrypted by hymn. This was a bad call by Apple, since now a version is going to have to be released that strips the user ID from the file so it will play.

 

[runeasgar]

I find it hard to believe that runeasgar is SO committed to hi fidelity audio, all the while listening through what are really mid-fi M-Audio monitors with..gasp...a powered M-Audio sub. Sorry, kiddo, but I really think you're talking yourself in circles here. If you're going to be stressed about audio quality, be stressed about the things that really matter and are easily remedied...like what speakers you're using, what amp you're using to drive them (and, I don't think I'm alone when I say that if you're really an audiophile, you wouldn't be using powered monitors on a reference system...pull those M-Audio's apart and I'm sure you'll find the amp to be under-engineered and all of the drivers connected with 18-16 gauge zip cable...or worse). How come you're not arguing about the crossover design of those monitors, or the purity of the cable you're using to connect your speakers to your DA converter (for the last time, it's a cotton-picking DA converter. Using the wrong term is not acceptable in this)?

Totally off topic with the iTunes release, I know, but it can't handle it when "audiophiles" spout about things they may have only a partial grasp on...or don't really have much bearing on real-world listening.

Talk when you're not using mid-fi powered M-Audio monitors, or even those Mackie monitors which, truth be told, still aren't really worth the price of admission.

1) I've said before, I'm poor.
2) The M-Audios are active, not passive. Their damping is better than a passive system. I realize they aren't awesome moniters, I've never said they are. I'm concerned with getting the best sound out of what I HAVE.
3) I'm using high-grade mogami cables to connect my speakers (because I can afford expensive cables)
4) Getting rid of M-Audios, or hadn't you noticed. The HR824s are 10x better and infinitely less expensive than what you probably have in mind. Unless it's some demented sound colored truth series monitors.

So if you can stop referencing the fact that I'm poor (thanks so much for reminding me), as I said, I'm concerned with getting the best sound out of what I HAVE, and I'm working towards better speakers (MackieHR824s) and converters (haven't decided yet). So, will you PLEASE stop bringing my relative poverty into this..

So thanks for bringing up a series of completely irrelevant comments.

EDIT: please stop bringing subjective arguments about speaker quality into this. i'm not interested in your opinion of a particular monitor just as much as i'm sure you aren't interested in mine, so stop sharing it. if you are going to argue something, do it objectively.

 

[PHARAOHk]

What kind of reference monitors are more flattering or easy on the ears for a smaller budget. I am sorry for the possible inappropriateness but there seem to be some knowledgeable people around this thread.

I like to make music but I want my monitors to serve dual purposes as my only listening speakers for my records as well. I don't know what speakers to start reviewing to so any suggestions would help me.

Thanks.

 

[runeasgar]

What kind of reference monitors are more flattering or easy on the ears for a smaller budget. I am sorry for the possible inappropriateness but there seem to be some knowledgeable people around this thread.

I like to make music but I want my monitors to serve dual purposes as my only listening speakers for my records as well. I don't know what speakers to start reviewing to so any suggestions would help me.

Thanks.

Hmmm.. that I don't know. My first guess would be genelecs.. but I wouldn't consider them to be easy on the wallet

Truth monitors are very colored. They are like.. $600? or more.. it's a series, so you can pick a grade.

edit: definitely not mackies, they are exceedingly unforgiving to badly produced music.

 

[JGowan]

... it looks like I'm going to have to use Quicktime/Audio Hi-Jack and strip them more. Apple did *not* do this to me and I understand that. I did this to myself. I just wish it didn't have to be this way...

Did you just "HYMN" your files and then delete the Protected ones? I can't believe you didn't burn a disk of your protected files :: just in case ::

I "hymn'd" all 55 of my M4P songs, but I made a back-up of them. I just felt in my bones Apple was going to somehow piss on the circumvention I had going.

 

[Jeff Harrell]

It doesnt play continous in the fact that if you have two songs that are mixed together there is a gap between them when itunes switches from one track to the next.

If you turn on crossfade and set the value to zero, this problem goes away.

Doesn't help on the iPod, of course, but whatcha gonna do.

Honestly, I spend virtually all of my time in shuffle mode or listening to my own playlists anyway. I'm sure the fact that lots of other people do this as well goes a long way toward explaining why this isn't a high-priority item for Apple.

 

[ethernet76]

I love it when Apple cracks down on all of those little pirates out there!

GO APPLE GO!

Ahh, yes, because there is no difference between piracy and fair use.

Not everyone who breaks the encryption wants to distribute their songs to the world. But it is more important to go after single abusers instead of Chinese pirates that distribute 1000s of illegal albums at $7 each.

Now that your two cents is in, go back to the republican party you came from. For surely, I know of no one else who would make such an incorrect, blanket statement.

 

[nate13]

ill tell ya

Wanna know where the 8 MBs went?! Guess? No, not speed improvements. Neither the GUI. Remember that little app that popped back up a few weeks ago that removed Protection from AAC files from the music store? Got the hint? ThEY DONT WORK! i converted a few of them to regular AAC and then to MP3 for my cheap MP3 player (i use it to run) and now it wont play on my iPod! no, Airtunes was not the only thing in that update. it was the copyright protection. im stuck right now, as i converted some 30 songs for future runs. Do NOT download without making sure you have originals. if anyone has the 4.5 version, please email me so i can recover my songs.
~Nate13

Oh yeah, this has nothing to do about the post in front of it, i jsut hit reply in the wrong spot.

BUT- The thumbnail below is of a *funny* song that i downloaded and wanted to listen to on my cheap MP3 player.

 

[spankalee]

And you say you are getting Mackie monitors, they are so damn hyped and inaccurate it is ridiculous, what do you use now?

Dude, he's using M-Audio BX5's which are some of the worst monitors I've ever heard at any price.

runeasgar, speaker don't have optical in. Speakers are strictly an analog affair. Some powered monitors have digital in, like the Roland DS series (which have optical and coax S/PDIF btw), but they generally suck and you end up being stuck with their D/A. Some computer speakers have optical in as well in order to decode surround, but the optical feeds a D/A, then an amp, then the speakers.

And believe me, I've hear the audiophile, and the Delta 1010, they both have mediocre converters. M-Audio is just a pro-sumer company anyway, (though they do have a nice 88-key weighted USB controller coming out)

 

[spankalee]

What kind of reference monitors are more flattering or easy on the ears for a smaller budget. I am sorry for the possible inappropriateness but there seem to be some knowledgeable people around this thread.

I like to make music but I want my monitors to serve dual purposes as my only listening speakers for my records as well. I don't know what speakers to start reviewing to so any suggestions would help me.

Thanks.

For a tight budget I'd start by looking by looking at Events. They came out with a new series last year, the TR, that sounds very, very close to their PS series for almost half the price. The low-end TR5s start at around $300 for a pair. They have a surprisingly good low-end for small speakers; well-defined if not exactly earth shaking. The TR6s or 8s might serve general listening better.

Other than that there's not too many cheaper speakers I like, Yamaha made a nice $500 pair (the MSP5 I think) but I think they got discontinued. Other brands worth checking out are Genelec and KRK.

 

[nacl99]

Wanna know where the 8 MBs went?! Guess? No, not speed improvements. Neither the GUI. Remember that little app that popped back up a few weeks ago that removed Protection from AAC files from the music store? Got the hint? ThEY DONT WORK! i converted a few of them to regular AAC and then to MP3 for my cheap MP3 player (i use it to run) and now it wont play on my iPod! no, Airtunes was not the only thing in that update. it was the copyright protection. im stuck right now, as i converted some 30 songs for future runs. Do NOT download without making sure you have originals. if anyone has the 4.5 version, please email me so i can recover my songs.
~Nate13

Oh yeah, this has nothing to do about the post in front of it, i jsut hit reply in the wrong spot.

BUT- The thumbnail below is of a *funny* song that i downloaded and wanted to listen to on my cheap MP3 player.

Doesn't seem fair to blame Apple for stopping you from breaking their business model, not to mention the law.

 

[bishopduke]

!

 

[legacyb4]

Not "branding" you, mind you. Just commenting on the fact that you seem so ready to pooh-pooh the unit before you've even tried it out. And when did I ever claim it was "perfect"? You are the one whinging that:

Does me no good to have a high quality digital optical signal if it's coming from a 16-bit 48kHz sample. I might as well throw my $250 A/D converter in the trash and lose a huge portion of my clarity if I want to use AirTunes.

All I said was that if that was the case, you'd be better off NOT using compressed music as your source since it obviously isn't good enough for *your* perfect fairy world...

Oh, by the way, my D/A conversion IS done on my $1,400 amp which is why I'm looking forward to this one; guess that too low of a standard for you?

Cheers.

I'd have to have.. like.. a $1000 - 2000 converter minimum to process an optical digital out.

Also, in addition to my statement to whomever was branding me earlier, this technology will go hi-fi, it's just that apple will not do it. So I won't be enjoying my 'cabled' world for long.

YOU are just like the people who will, rather than taking note of anything that could even be construed as negative, will argue that everything is completely perfect. Apple is awesome, best computer company out there, no doubt about it. Lots of things are awesome. But if you want to sit in your little fairy world where everything is PERFECT, go right ahead.

Just because your standards are low don't mean that everyone's standards are low.

 

[sinclairZX81]

You are misinformed. You should be ashamed of yourself. You should gather your people and go to the forums at CNN. Stop trying to bring politics into everything.

while I agree that political sigs need to be banned from this and the rest of the mac forums, it seems partisan of you to attack this person when we all know who's sig plasters his dumbass political views all over this thread.

 

[bishopduke]

!

 

[nacl99]

poli-sig

Have a political sig is one thing, but blatently attacking a party in an actual reply is worse. And the only political view I'm spreading, is none. I am simply trying to get people to shutup and focus on computers, or whatever else. Don't you hate when a conversation starts out on one subject, and ends in a political discussion. yes, it seems a bit ironic that this is how this one is going. But the point is to talk about it, so we don't talk about it. If that makes sense.

And you're use of the word partisan is a bit ignorant. I don't belong or follow a political party. If he would have said Something about Liberals, or Kerry, I would have had the same response. When I used the term "your people" I mean people who won't shutup, not Democrats, or however you want to phrase it.

Personally I just like to counter others slander.

 

[PolarbearTed]

Hey well at least that's one promised delivery date that Apple has met this week.

Promised by who...?? With all due respect, I don't believe it was Apple circulating '3Ghz PM next week' rumours.

 

[macridah]

I am a little surprised that Apple did not add two features to iTunes, given the utility of this new AirTunes/AirportExpress combo:

1. Sleep timer
2. Alarm clock

I mean, think about it. Wouldn't it be cool to:

1. Stream the music to the bedroom, and turn on a sleep timer for (60 minutes or so), and/or:
2. Set the alarm clock to start a certain playlist, streaming to a certain AirportExpress (in the bedroom, of course) to go off at 6:30 AM.

This seems obvious. Maybe iTunes 4.7.

P.S. Yeah, I know AppleScript and all that.

Hey, I like that idea. You should send that feedback to apple.

 

[runeasgar]

Ok, what would you do with $920, geniuses? That's how much I spent on the entire system: speakers, audiophile and cables.

You tell me how you would get a complete sound system, a COMPLETE sound system for that price BETTER than what I have, k?

Otherwise stop being so f'ing annoying.

Not everyone is f'ing rich, I can't afford a $1400 amp. Rest assured if I ever have the money I'll have a $20 - 30,000 sound system or more. But guess what, up until now I've had about $920 to spend on speakers.

So YOU tell me, what could YOU do with $920 that I didn't do, k? Otherwise stop constantly ragging on my sound system. I KNOW it's only a $920 sound system, I don't need that re-emphasized. AS I SAID BEFORE, I WANT THE BEST SOUND OUT OF WHAT I HAVE, AND WHAT I HAVE IS THE RESULT OF HAVING $920 TO SPEND UP UNTIL THIS POINT.

 

[Powerbook G5]

Ok, what would you do with $920, geniuses? That's how much I spent on the entire system: speakers, audiophile and cables.

You tell me how you would get a complete sound system, a COMPLETE sound system for that price BETTER than what I have, k?

Otherwise stop being so f'ing annoying.

Not everyone is f'ing rich, I can't afford a $1400 amp. Rest assured if I ever have the money I'll have a $20 - 30,000 sound system or more. But guess what, up until now I've had about $920 to spend on speakers.

So YOU tell me, what could YOU do with $920 that I didn't do, k? Otherwise stop constantly ragging on my sound system. I KNOW it's only a $920 sound system, I don't need that re-emphasized. AS I SAID BEFORE, I WANT THE BEST SOUND OUT OF WHAT I HAVE, AND WHAT I HAVE IS THE RESULT OF HAVING $920 TO SPEND UP UNTIL THIS POINT.

For $920, I'd take my girlfriend to Disney for a weekend and by the time I come back I wouldn't give a rat's ass whether or not my system could do analog better than digital optical.