Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with audio and itunes

How do I get my files from Point A to Point B?

reenum — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:10:14 -0800

I need to move several gigs of music files from one external hard drive to another. But, there are a few problems... I have a 250GB WD HD in an enclosure and recently bought a WD Elements 640GB drive. I now want to back up all my music files from the 250GB to the 640GB drive. They total about 33GB.

Problem is, my computers do not have USB 2.0 drives. Every time I begin the backup process, it goes for a while, and then terminates due to an error in writing from the 250GB drive.

Is there an easy way to do this backup?

Podcasting software

tdreyer — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 06:42:02 -0800

Looking for website software to host podcasts & generate an XML feed to sent to iTunes. I've got the site, space, and bandwidth; now I just need software to organize the podcasts (audio) and generate an XML feed to submit to iTunes. Any suggestions for good software or tools to do this will be appreciated.

Podcast Playback

Jenna Roadman — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:27:26 -0800

How can I get podcasts in my iTunes to play continuously from one podcast to the next? Some podcasts are only two minutes and it's so annoying to have to go back and click the next track every time. Even when I put them in their own new playlist, they still stop at the end of the podcast.

How can I get them to act like normal audio tracks in general?

electronica just doesn't do it for me

kidsleepy — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:32:30 -0800

How can I create my own Couch to 5K running podcast? I'm starting the Couch to 5K program and I want to make my own podcast/music track to listen to. All I need is to combine some music tracks together into one long mp3 and record some vocal cues at the appropriate times (start running, start walking). What's a simple way to do this? (I'm on a Mac, with iTunes, if it matters)

Audio files for non-audiophiles

fusinski — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:27:21 -0800

What is the simplest way (free or otherwise) to convert M4P and M4A audio files to MP3 en masse?

Modest home Linux server hardware selection

scruss — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 05:01:53 -0800

Looking for hardware recommendations for a very modest home Linux server. I used to run a Via SP13000 Mini-ITX box as a home server, but the motherboard recently died. While I could replace the mobo with something compatible like the Intel D945GCLF, mini-ITX cases get pretty warm, which might have been a cause of the last board's demise.

My needs are simple:

run Firefly (or some other DAAP server) to feed the Soundbridges;
generate my daily podcast, which realistically means a linux box with Perl, sqlite and the like;
have something to ssh into when ~~boredom strikes~~ the need arises. Perhaps unwise having an open machine sitting directly on the internet, but only the ssh port will be open.

I might want to double this machine up as a NAS box, as my trusty NSLU2 is deathly slow - but it's not really too smart to have personal files unfirewalled, is it?

why what a big audio cable you have

SirStan — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:52:34 -0800

AudioH4x: How can I remotely play on my stereo? I used to own an Airport Express with Airtunes and loved it so much. The biggest downfall was of course, it was locked to iTunes last I checked.

Is there a client/server application of SOME SORT that will let me remotely stream audio? The 'dream' would be an application that could latch into my audio driver, so I could stream music ad-hoc. If that isnt possible, even VLC, or Winamp with a plugin that will send music to an embedded system of some sort (I have a tinsy motherboard that can boot off a USB stick... so 128mb linux with a TCP/IP stack and some sort of sound 'receving' system).

I use Windows. Multiple 'senders' (though not at the same time) would rock.

Thoughts?

How can I make all the songs in a playlist be the same volume?

k8t — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 18:47:24 -0800

Is there a way in iTunes (or another application) to make all of the songs on a playlist be approximately the same volume? I am making a wedding/iPod DJ playlist. I get annoyed when a song was ripped at a low volume. Is there a way to fix this so that all songs are at the same volume?

How does Apple TV behave?

ascullion — Mon, 14 May 2007 09:46:24 -0800

Can someone with an Apple TV tell me something? When you listen to a music track on your Apple TV, does the play count of the song in the relevant iTunes library increase?

Maybe the problem is that the world CAN'T listen.

punchdrunkhistory — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:24:13 -0800

Why won't this CD rip properly? 12 out of 18 songs are completely garbled, regardless of which program I try to use. I've been trying to rip the Smiths' "The World Won't Listen" to my computer for about three weeks now, and it always fails. The first four and last two tracks are fine, but 'Shakespeare's Sister' through 'You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby' are garbled completely -- each song is at the proper running length, but is made up entirely of approximately five-second bits and pieces of other tracks from the album. Occasionally it plays the correct song for about fifteen seconds, and then returns to the mishmash.

This has happened no matter what program I use. At first I used solely iTunes to rip and play the tracks, but I've had the same results ripping in CDex and playing in foobar2000. The CD plays fine in regular CD players, and is in no way scratched. I get bad results when I try to simply play it as an audio CD through iTunes as well.

I don't believe that the CD is copy-protected. I purchased it new from a record store in Omaha, but it appears to be an Australian import -- if it matters, the inner bit on the underside of the CD reads "D.A.T.A. IFPIL 311 4509918982 D E1" (D.A.T.A. apparently stands for "Digital Audio Technologies Australia).

This hasn't happened with any other CDs I've ripped -- only this one, so I don't think it's a problem with the drive. Thanks!

From Mini to Nano : will iTunes be a problem ?

XiBe — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 04:59:04 -0800

iPodFilter : In 2005, I bought her a Mini. Now, she has a Nano. Not sure how to deal with it the iTunes way. Knowing vaguely about the iPod limits and such, is there any problems she could encounter while just plugging her Nano is the PC she's been using her Mini with ? What should she do beforehand ?
Second : I inherit the Mini. Never had one before. Can I just install iTunes on my PC and roll with it ? What about the songs on the Mini - will they be deleted, or become mine, or...

Please hope !

Merry thinggies !

Audio balance problems (iTunes?)

stupidsexyFlanders — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 23:07:31 -0800

My WinXP PC is suddenly playing music with a weird mix between the two channels. With the balance faders (control panel and playback app) in dead center, the sound coming out is like what's left when you subtract the left channel from the right channel. If I slide to either side, the instruments and vocals get clearer and louder (of course in different proportions, depending on the mix). In the middle it's muddy and the vocals are buried.

I noticed this right after I installed iTunes 7. I checked "Safe Mode" in the Quicktime control panel audio tab, but I don't think it's a quicktime problem because the same problem happens in Windows Media Player and Audacity. I did notice while I was futzing around with the equalizer in WMP that the problem suddenly went away, but I don't know if it was a result of what I was doing. When it went away, it also seemed like it went away in iTunes. But then it came back.

I'm thinking this is iTunes/Quicktime related but it's odd that it affects playback in WMP. Thoughts?

sound advice

grumblebee — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 09:47:51 -0800

My PC is in the living room. I want to be able to listen to iTunes in the kitchen and the bedroom. I have a linksys router, if that helps. What sort of setup works best for this? Wireless speakers? Which ones. I mostly listen to talk radio and audio books, so I don't need amazing sound. I would love a relatively cheap (under $200) solution.

iTunes Laptop/Desktop Blues

abbyladybug — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 14:21:41 -0800

How do I get iTunes to stop reverting the music folder back to my local laptop drive every time I leave the house? How can I play music that is housed on my desktop from my laptop through my stereo receiver?! I listen to music at home much more than at work. I have a large mp3 collection (12,000+ songs) that I keep on a desktop computer that simply acts as a server. I call it the G drive. I do all my computing on my laptop, which I bring to and from work. Its hard drive is the C drive. In iTunes, I have G:\My Documents\My Music\iTunes as my Music folder location, so that I'm not filling up my laptop hard drive with all these music files. I have both "Keep iTunes music folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library" checked in my Advanced preferences. When I listen to music at work (which isn't that often), I'm fine with listening to CD's or my iPod. Home is where music matters.

Here's the problem: Every day I go to work and use my computer, and regardless of whether I actually use iTunes or not, I come home, and the iTunes music folder in Advanced preferences has reverted back to the iTunes folder on the C drive. Every day! It's driving me nuts, and I'm not sure why it does this.

Also, any tips on playing music at home from my laptop through my stereo? I'm pretty sure it's possible because at one time, a friend was able to get music on the desktop computer (the one that acts as a server) to play through the stereo. I just had to log on to that computer remotely and play from iTunes there. Surely, I could do that more directly.

(I do apologize if this has been asked before, but I did look for a while and came up with nothing specifically geared towards my question.)

What's best way to stream my music collection to some outdoor speakers?

matty — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 15:37:13 -0800

Summer's coming!! It's pool time! My problem is I want to set up an outdoor stereo system, without actually having a system out in the elements. My first inclination is to buy an AirPort Express - then mount it up in the ceiling of the gazebo where there is available power and speakers. All my music belongs to iTunes ("all your bases belong to us..."), so I figured AirPort Express would be easiest.

I've read some old posts about Soundbridge and SlimServer, but I don't know how difficult those would be to set up - especially outside in a 'permanent' installation. Also, I can live with using a laptop as the music controller, as I suppose I could set up "Playlists for Pooltime" - but are there any other options? Maybe a Sonos system ($$$- ouch!!)?

Any thoughts, suggestions?

How to get iTunes to play tracks without gaps?

tommyc — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 12:58:38 -0800

Seamless tracks in iTunes? When playing tracks in iTunes there's always an annoying gap between tracks while the computer catches up with the next song. Is there a plugin or hack to pre-buffer the next song so I get a seamless audio experience? I remember Winamp being able to do this.

burning need

aclevername — Thu, 30 Jun 2005 19:00:37 -0800

I seem to be having a weird issue burning MP3s with itunes. In the past I've created playlists specifically to burn (MP3 format) so that I can clear out some of my harddrive. However, no matter what I do, itunes never seems to want to burn the entire playlist. If I have a list of 135 songs, it'll burn 118 (random) songs.

At first a thought it was a CDR space issue, but even if I add 60 songs, it'ss burm something random like 47. There's nothing in the options or help that I can find to deal with this. Anybody know hat the problem is and how I can fix it?

iTunes to SACD by way of CD

ao4047 — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 15:42:25 -0800

Are CDs and SACDs physically the same - just with different audio encoding? If I buy NIN's The Downward Spiral Deluxe Edition which is mixed in SACD on iTunes, then burn it to a CD and play it in my DVD player (+ 5.1 channel audio system) will it retain the 5.1 information? Will moving from AAC format to an audio CD strip the encoding for some stupid DRM reason?

Is 128kbps AAC enough?

nickerbocker — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 09:05:15 -0800

Do you think that 128kbps AAC files are good enough? I was checking out the Apple Music store (for the first time), and was actually very surprised on what kind of selection they had, and their prices are hard to beat (are they?). The DRM bothers me, but not too much as there are ways around it if need be. I'm use to buying audio CDs and ripping them as ~196-256 vbr mp3s. After they are ripped I package up the CD (unless I want to read the booklet) and put it away in a box and really don't ever pull it out again. Thinking an Online Music store would probably be better for me, but how close will the sound quality come to what I'm use to? 128kbps doesn't seem like enough for something I payed money for.

Can you use AirPort Express to stream audio to the stereo from a DVD player?

o2b — Thu, 18 Nov 2004 07:56:43 -0800

AirPort Express allows you to stream audio to your stereo from iTunes, and only from iTunes. I would love it if I could get it to stream audio from the DVD player as well, but this is probably a fool's errand. Unless... Is there a way to make a local source of audio look like an internet radio station? To generate a stream that iTunes can grab onto? If that could happen, then it would be the answer I'm looking for (provided you can maintain the original quality -- or close enough).

If there isn't a solution for this already, I'm kind of hoping someone more tech-y than I will run with the idea.