need to get into the 21st century (music, photos etc) - Apple or Windows Media?

[elliott]

Ok please treat me kindly. I have no idea how this electronic music thing works (well ok, some idea, but I am a bit confused).

I have decided to treat myself to upgrading our home computers and finally get myself and the dcs set up with music on the computer. Should I buy an ipad and Apple laptop, and in due course get the dcs ipod touches, or should we stick with windows. How do I get music from CDs into these other things? What else can an iPad do for me? I have an iphone but have never set it up to do music - got a bit nervous when I tried 'syncing' it and all sorts of stuff appeared and disappeared.

I don't even know what it is I need to know in order to make an informed decision. i only know that once with Apple you can't get out of iTunes etc - but does that really matter?

Thanks

Anyone?

Download iTunes and see if you like it. Download Media Monkey (which is IMHO the best of the Windows equivalents) and see if you prefer that - if you prefer Windows Media Player to either of these your name must be Bill Gates

Whichever you choose, rip CDs into MP3 format NOT the proprietory AAC or WMA formats used by Apple/Microsoft respectively.

If you are a HiFi geek you need a different solution.

Not a hi fi geek!
Will Apple play MP3 formats? I guess I am most nervous about finding myself restricted to a certain format - but don't know enough to know what the pitfalls are.

Everything will play more or less any file these days, but mp3 is an open standard so keeps your investment in software independent of Apple and Microsoft.

"Whichever you choose, rip CDs into MP3 format NOT the proprietory AAC or WMA formats used by Apple/Microsoft respectively."

AAC is not proprietary like WMA is, it wasn't invented by Apple, it's not owned by Apple and it will play on other devices. Technically it's better than MP3 and offers a higher sound quality.

It is as much of a standard as MP3 and you're independent of Apple.

However...

It isn't quite as widely supported as MP3 and despite being "better" some players just don't support it.

So if you do buy a player that supports AAC I'd use it but I wouldn't make it something to deliberately go and buy. I certainly wouldn't deliberately avoid it because of a mistaken impression that you're tied into Apple if you use it.

BP is totally right, my brain is confused and stuck in the past when iTunes only sold music in copy-protected AAC files which were not supported by many players and did effectively leave you harnessed to Apple.

Of course it is almost certainly true that Apple would not have removed Digital Rights Management from iTunes if it was not for the pressure of competition from the non-DRM mp3 format and players that supported it and I have a long memory.

It is true that AAC does offer some technical advantages over mp3, but as storage is so plentiful on modern devices I would always recommend ripping at a bit rate that makes the difference imperceptible on the target device - at least 192kbit (personally I use the lossless FLAC format for my home media server which plays through a proper audio system and transcode to 192kbit mp3 for portable music).

Frankly I think your better off with a Linux O.S, VLC and a Sony or Creative MP3 player they have better sound quality.

Now I'm completely lost!! Can you recommend me a simple player for the kids (and, who am I trying to kid, me as well!) you have to understand you are talking to someone who has never used a digital music player of any kind (I did accidentally manage to buy an album on iTunes once, but haven't ventured there since!)

Really! Elliott asked for non-techy help and you've all gone all geeky on him/her ...

The vast majority of people on this board I suspect would not have a clue what any of you are talking about

iTunes is simplicity itself to work and import CDs onto and the good thing about apple (especially for non-techy types) is that iTunes, macs, iPods are all designed to work together so you don't really have to think about it, just enjoy listening to your music

I never really got on with windows media player so didn't tend to use my old pc for music/photos etc so don't know enough about it to comment...

Ah but you can use other players with iTunes, it doesn't have to be an iPod. iPods make it all very very easy, but other players aren't exactly tricky.

There was question about file formats, and for digital devices it is important to understand the very basics...

The general rules are...

Digital music comes in two main formats, MP3 and AAC.

Pretty much anything will play MP3s, and those are what most sites like Amazon or Play will sell you.

Most modern players will play AACs, which is what iTunes will sell you, but that should be checked before buying (easy enough to do).

iPods can certainly play both MP3s and AACs.

Thank you for that simple explanation! I probably won't buy much music electronically, so need to work out how to rip CDs and get resulting files onto a player. No-one's yet recommended a good player! Also, is it easy to choose what music to load onto a player and put different selections on different players? My last foray onto iTunes resulted in it doing all kinds of things I didn't ask it to do and I am wary of automatic syncing- I want to be able to put different things on the kids players and mine.

See thats why I said Linux, which is a range of different Operating Systems for a PC (like Windows), you stick a CD in a PC with most types of Linux and it automatically gives you the option to copy it in MP3 format (well mine does but mines old and that may have been cracked down on due to piracy fears).

As for the players, MP3/MP4 (MP4 is video), ones by Sony or Creative have the best sound quality, but if you are that clueless you might be better off forgetting photo's and vids and just going for a small simple player that just does the music like a Sansa Clip, less complicated, just slap the music on it and it will play it all happily.

I know you'd be stumped by my 60gig Creative Zen, if you copy CDs to it, you have to make sure all the track info is there correctly, just naming the tracks and putting them in a folder named the album name isn't good enough for it, it doesn't read the names, it lists them via the track data that is embedded in the track (called Meta data).

"No-one's yet recommended a good player!"

Well I like iPods :) I used to use a Creative years ago and it was all very good but an iPod is just a doddle. However I'm sure that there are plenty of other players out there that are about the same.

"Also, is it easy to choose what music to load onto a player and put different selections on different players? My last foray onto iTunes resulted in it doing all kinds of things I didn't ask it to do and I am wary of automatic syncing- I want to be able to put different things on the kids players and mine."

It depends on the software...

Some MP3 players work like a USB memory stick, you plug it in and then manually copy whatever music files you want onto it.

Again I find iPods and iTunes very easy here. You can just get them to automatically sync what's in the iTunes library, so everything goes over. However you can also tell them just to sync certain playlists for different iPods. So you could have a Kids iPod playlist and then another one labelled Elliot's play list and then different iPods could sync to a different list. Or you can do it all manually and pick individual tracks to drag onto the iPod or delete from the iPod as you see fit.

So out of the box iPods try to make it all very easy, but you do have the option of doing a bit more work yourself if you want that finer level of control.

To be fair, you asked for recommendations for software to rip CDs and transfer them to a player, not for players themselves.

The Sansa Clip+ is a great player, Amazon have the 8GB one for £35 - it doesn't play AAC files though, hence the point about keeping your options open with mp3!