CD vs iTunes

[mr moose]

I let a friend try out my m50s and they were blown away by the quality. They went as far to say that the music is actually easier to listen to, and liking songs they never did before! Then when they asked me the price and I replied saying "£100" they gave me a look and said why would you spend more than £10 on headphones?.... The average consumer I say.

 

Still I like audio quality and use iTunes, it's not necessarily just for people with as you say "$2 earphones" I use it to rip my CDs and play all of my music, since it works and organises my music well.

I didn't mean it was just for people with $2 earphones, I simply meant the reason most people don't complain probably has something to do with the fact they think $2 headphones are good.

[Cosmos_i7]

iTunes is rubbish. Just use the File structure of Windows and organise everything yourself. It's simpler and will allow you to do whatever you want. I use VLC player and WMP mini to play all my music whether it's FLAC or just MP3. I have always had terrible experience with all music players after trying pretty much all of them. I just found all of theme to be quite pointless when I could do everything I needed and more with just the Windows folder structure. But thats just me.

I use a Mac first of all.

 

You may not like iTunes but I do. It's far more compatible with Apple products than it is on Windows. Especially with my iOS devices. Used it for 5 years, no plans to switch now. 

 

As I stated earlier you don't change the entire car because a tyre is flat.

[ShearMe]

I use a Mac first of all.

 

You may not like iTunes but I do. It's far more compatible with Apple products than it is on Windows. Especially with my iOS devices. Used it for 5 years, no plans to switch now. 

 

As I stated earlier you don't change the entire car because a tyre is flat.

I think iTunes would be the tire, so for those of us with windows.....

[Cosmos_i7]

I think iTunes would be the tire, so for those of us with windows.....

No I mean I see this a lot on the forums in general, when someone needs help with an applications people are quick to say switch application and uninstall it. That isn't helping the problem, also the fact that because you don't like something doesn't mean everyone else doesn't.

 

In the same way I use Mac OS, I only use Windows for occasional gaming, however I don't go around when someone has a Windows issue telling them to switch to Mac OS, I have experience in Windows its just not for me. 

 

If you guys don't like iTunes fine, but telling me to get rid of it simply because in your eyes it is rubbish is adding nothing to this thread. 

[ShearMe]

Oh, I wasn't telling you to get rid of iTunes - if you like it that's fine. I'm just being nit-picky about the whole car analogy.

[iWearKiltz]

You would rarely see any itunes users complaining about bitrate or quality because, in all reality, they probably wouldn't know the difference. How many would have ripped their own cd to a lossless format in windows and played on another device for comparison? I'm guessing not many. Add to that most itunes users listen through the supplied $2 earbuds not better quality headphones.

ive been through a fair pair of earphones in my time, and i can tell you that for the quality and the longevity of the "supplied earphones" is far above the $2 you are suggesting they cost.

i myself do prefer higher bitrate quality, and ive had others whom dont know the terminology but at least identify that they are listening to low quality music, usually from youtube or something similar, say that they would like to hear better quality music. iTunes is well known, has a vast library and has a sufficient enough bitrate and thus the overwhelming majority do not complain about the offered bitrate 

like the OP said, they wanted to go on a journey and have the ease of listening to a brand new album, which they wouldnt be able to do unless they had a walkman which is now a dated device. thus why i offered the good (note: not the highest available) bitrate and ease of use of iTunes.

[mr moose]

ive been through a fair pair of earphones in my time, and i can tell you that for the quality and the longevity of the "supplied earphones" is far above the $2 you are suggesting they cost.

i myself do prefer higher bitrate quality, and ive had others whom dont know the terminology but at least identify that they are listening to low quality music, usually from youtube or something similar, say that they would like to hear better quality music. iTunes is well known, has a vast library and has a sufficient enough bitrate and thus the overwhelming majority do not complain about the offered bitrate 

like the OP said, they wanted to go on a journey and have the ease of listening to a brand new album, which they wouldnt be able to do unless they had a walkman which is now a dated device. thus why i offered the good (note: not the highest available) bitrate and ease of use of iTunes.

 

I wasn't being literal, I meant they are worth $2 not that they cost $2. Although it would not surprise me if they only cost $2 to manufacture.  

 

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20022394-1.html

 

They are certainly not "far" above $2. 

[ShearMe]

Ihttp://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20022394-1.html

 

They are certainly not "far" above $2.

I lol'd.

[kuddlesworth9419]

I use a Mac first of all.

 

You may not like iTunes but I do. It's far more compatible with Apple products than it is on Windows. Especially with my iOS devices. Used it for 5 years, no plans to switch now. 

 

As I stated earlier you don't change the entire car because a tyre is flat.

I spent 4 hours trying to get a selected amount of songs onto my mothers iPod classic. I gave up in the end. Enough said.

[tycheleto]

I spent 4 hours trying to get a selected amount of songs onto my mothers iPod classic. I gave up in the end. Enough said.

 

I use iTunes for music on my desktop/laptop, and it's just easier overall for my whole family to be using it(since my sister/father have Macbooks). Trying to choose about 4000 songs that I wanted to put on an iPhone/iPod touch took like 10 mins. Trying to get these 4000 songs out of the iTunes ecosystem onto an Android phone took weeks of trying, using multiple free syncing software which would all crash halfway, and I eventually ended up having multiple copies of the file.

 

iTunes isn't entirely broken, and frankly I found it much easier to work with.

[ShearMe]

You're arguing apples and oranges guys...

[mr moose]

You're arguing apples and oranges guys...

and the occasional lemon or grapefruit. :blink:

[ShearMe]

[Cosmos_i7]

Look I don't care if iTunes blew up your house or whatever. Windows caused me to have to wipe both my SSDs and had problems with entering the serial key for over a week. To top it all off, I couldn't buy a new license.

However I don't see the need to go around saying Windows is rubbish and telling everyone my experience with it. Just because I don't like it doesn't mean everyone else doesn't like it as well!

Bottom line is this, if iTunes took you 4 hours to move some songs then maybe there was a problem on your side. So don't assume that the software is awful and no one should use it ever.

I'm not switching.

[Cosmos_i7]

ive been through a fair pair of earphones in my time, and i can tell you that for the quality and the longevity of the "supplied earphones" is far above the $2 you are suggesting they cost.

i myself do prefer higher bitrate quality, and ive had others whom dont know the terminology but at least identify that they are listening to low quality music, usually from youtube or something similar, say that they would like to hear better quality music. iTunes is well known, has a vast library and has a sufficient enough bitrate and thus the overwhelming majority do not complain about the offered bitrate 

like the OP said, they wanted to go on a journey and have the ease of listening to a brand new album, which they wouldnt be able to do unless they had a walkman which is now a dated device. thus why i offered the good (note: not the highest available) bitrate and ease of use of iTunes.

What I meant by the fact I am travelling was if ordered the album off amazon instead of downloading I would not get it in time because it would be released on the day I leave. I have my trusty iPhone as my player though.

[ShearMe]

Look I don't care if iTunes blew up your house or whatever. Windows caused me to have to wipe both my SSDs and had problems with entering the serial key for over a week. To top it all off, I couldn't buy a new license.

However I don't see the need to go around saying Windows is rubbish and telling everyone my experience with it. Just because I don't like it doesn't mean everyone else doesn't like it as well!

Bottom line is this, if iTunes took you 4 hours to move some songs then maybe there was a problem on your side. So don't assume that the software is awful and no one should use it ever.

I'm not switching.

 

[kuddlesworth9419]

I use iTunes for music on my desktop/laptop, and it's just easier overall for my whole family to be using it(since my sister/father have Macbooks). Trying to choose about 4000 songs that I wanted to put on an iPhone/iPod touch took like 10 mins. Trying to get these 4000 songs out of the iTunes ecosystem onto an Android phone took weeks of trying, using multiple free syncing software which would all crash halfway, and I eventually ended up having multiple copies of the file.

 

iTunes isn't entirely broken, and frankly I found it much easier to work with.

For me just using the windows structure would take 2 seconds. All you need to do is highlight the music and click and darg/right click copy/right click cut. You have to admit iTunes and all music players have overcomplicated things. With the sync feature in particular and the rubbish UI.

[iWearKiltz]

I wasn't being literal, I meant they are worth $2 not that they cost $2. Although it would not surprise me if they only cost $2 to manufacture.  

 

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20022394-1.html

 

They are certainly not "far" above $2. 

i started reading that article, but all its talking about is fake apple earphones which obviously dont have the same quality.

[tycheleto]

For me just using the windows structure would take 2 seconds. All you need to do is highlight the music and click and darg/right click copy/right click cut. You have to admit iTunes and all music players have overcomplicated things. With the sync feature in particular and the rubbish UI.

 

I'd kill myself using the windows structure. Having to pick out specific albums or artists in a directory with some 500 artists would take hours. Sometimes these music players overcomplicate things, but sometimes they also make things so much easier.

 

I'm not here to get into a long drawn out battle over what is the best. The fact is iTunes is not useless, and some people are better off with it, just like some people are better off without it.

[mr moose]

i started reading that article, but all its talking about is fake apple earphones which obviously dont have the same quality.

you worked that bit out?

[kuddlesworth9419]

I'd kill myself using the windows structure. Having to pick out specific albums or artists in a directory with some 500 artists would take hours. Sometimes these music players overcomplicate things, but sometimes they also make things so much easier.

 

I'm not here to get into a long drawn out battle over what is the best. The fact is iTunes is not useless, and some people are better off with it, just like some people are better off without it.

You can group together seperate albums, artists and so on. I like to organise everything into folders though. Or have different genre structures. I find it works very well for me. It's quicker to select which music I like.

[iWearKiltz]

you worked that bit out?

im talking about the original earphones you would get with an iPod 

[mr moose]

im talking about the original earphones you would get with an iPod 

OMG.  so am I, that article is just to illustrate how cheaply a pair of headphones can be made, It is common knowledge that the apple ear-buds are cheap, the reality is they cost about $8 to make  and ship absolute tops and are just as bad as any OEM earbud that retails under $30.  Do you honestly think a company like apple would make something to rival $60 earbuds and then only charge $30 for them?  Not likely. Having compared them directly to my Senns I would throw the apple buds out, they aren't even worth the wrapping they come in.  Hence I go back to my original statement with the one exception, I should not have said "most itunes users", I should have said "most ipod users": 

 

You would rarely see any itunes users complaining about bitrate or quality because, in all reality, they probably wouldn't know the difference. How many would have ripped their own cd to a lossless format in windows and played on another device for comparison? I'm guessing not many. Add to that most itunes users listen through the supplied $2 earbuds not better quality headphones.

 

[iWearKiltz]

OMG.  so am I, that article is just to illustrate how cheaply a pair of headphones can be made, It is common knowledge that the apple ear-buds are cheap, the reality is they cost about $8 to make  and ship absolute tops and are just as bad as any OEM earbud that retails under $30.  Do you honestly think a company like apple would make something to rival $60 earbuds and then only charge $30 for them?  Not likely. Having compared them directly to my Senns I would throw the apple buds out, they aren't even worth the wrapping they come in.  Hence I go back to my original statement with the one exception, I should not have said "most itunes users", I should have said "most ipod users": 

just so we're clear, im not trying to instigate an argument here, so lets calm down shall we lol!

 

i've owned many earphones, from cheap ones to quiet expensive ones, and the apple ones, though being priced at $30, have beaten others in term of life and quality even when others have costed $50 upwards. this includes their old ones and their new ones (the pod ones)

 

maybe they do cost $8 to manufacture, but they are cleverly designed. or at least i think so

[stevv]

...Also the fact that I will be away on the day the album is released and I want to listen to it on the journey. So another reason iTunes is convenient.

 

...

 

I'm am really stuck right now. I have a small CD collection but the fact that I have credit just makes the choice that much harder.

 

Thanks.

 

So, hypothetically speaking.. you find the itunes versions clearly a little off compared to the CD.... what would you still do?