Re: Prepping for new iPod

My favorite way to store files is:

d:\...\genre\artist\album\01 - title.mp3

There are many mp3 tagging tools out there that will then be able to tag
whole swaths of mp3s across many directories at once with all the
appropriate info.  This layout also guarantees "uniqueness" in terms of
combinations of tags and Ephpod won't have any trouble sorting out a
situation where files might have identical tags.  (Actually, I don't know if
this would ever be a problem...Joe may have addressed this.)  Ephpod reads
tags like a champ (Ephpod IS the champ.)  My usual transfer routine is: tag,
drag, drop 'n forget.  I never seem to need to "fix up" tags (on mp3s) with
Joe's built in tag editor.

One thing to watch out for:  if you encode using VBR, the vbr header in the
mp3 file may become "invalid" after tagging with some tagging software.
Essentially, the vbr header no longer reflects the new size of the file and
some player software and some devices will have trouble playing the entire
track.  I found this to be true with my iPod, anyway.  It seems to be a
problem mostly with very large and long tracks.  In my case, these were 60+
minute long tracks (an entire CD ripped as one VBR track) and I found that
the iPod was skipping to the next track 2 to 4 minutes before the current
track was done.  There are tools out there that will recalculate and repair
the VBR header in mp3s.  I use mp3 tag studio:
http://www.magnusbrading.com/mp3ts/

As to which encoding switches to use, I'm sure there are folks out there
with more informed opinions than me.  I tend to use the extremes myself, in
terms of vbr quality settings.  For music (in my case, classical) I use the
highest quality VBR with true stereo settings.  For audio books, I use the
lowest quality vbr mono settings.  Borders is now selling some unabridged
audio books that have appealed to me.  The longest so far has been 17 cds.
With those low quality vbr mono settings, an entire cd still ends up being
smaller than 30 megabytes...which is more easily "digestible" by the iPod
with it's 32megs of NVRAM.


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Timothy Luoma
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2003 6:44 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [ephpod] Prepping for new iPod




Sorry for the long and slightly off topic post, but having lurked a couple
days it seems like this group would be able to help.

I am anticipating my first iPod sometime in the next week or so (Windows
version).  I have very little of my CD collection "ripped" so I want to get
started so I will have something to listen to on the iPod when it arrives.
I have two main questions.


1) The first one is easier, I think.  What do folks suggest as the best way
to store the files?  Is it better to store songs like this:

c:\music\Diana Krall\When I Look In Your Eyes\2 Devil May Care.mp3
or
c:\music\Diana Krall - When I Look In Your Eyes - 2 Devil May Care.mp3
or some other way?

(I assume the iPod is smart enough not to just show me "2 Devil May
Care.mp3" if I used the former method, assuming that the Artist/Album
information was written in the file somewhere.)

I kinda like the idea of having them all in one folder, but I can imagine
it becomes a mess when you have 15GB worth of mp3s


2) I have CDex (http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/) for making Mp3s, but the
vast array of options is somewhat overwhelming for me.

The default setting seems to be for the "Lame mp3 encoder (version 1.30,
engine 3.92 MMX)" however there are several others.

Then there are a slew of options

Version: MPEG I or MPEG II or MPEG II.5
Bitrate Min/Max (32 to 320 kbps)
Mode: Stereo/J-Stereo/Forced Stereo/Mono
[ ] private [ ] checksum [ ] original [ ] copyright
Quality Normal q=5, q=2, q=9, very high quality, and a bunch of --alt-
presets
VBR method ("VBR old" seems to be default)
VBR Quality ("VBR 2" seems to be default)
Ouput Samplerate auto/48000/44100/32000

	Now I know everyone is different, and from what I see via Google there are
a lot of hard core folks who are using really high bitrates and have a very
specific set of preferences.  I'm not so high tech as to sit down and try
and minutely compare.  I just want to be able to listen to music I like
when I'm driving to work or biking or when I'm at home.

	I have learned that VBR means "Variable Bit Rate" and that the Quality
setting and Bitrate will control the size and sound quality.... but I
haven't found anywhere to tell me what are acceptable settings for a
"regular guy listener".  Can someone point me towards a resource or share
their thoughts?  Is MP3 what I should be using?  (I see references to AAC
popping up but I'm not even clear that the Windows iPod can use them yet).


	Thanks very much for your patience and help.  As I was searching around
for Ipod information, it was clear that ephpod was the way to go.  I'm
looking forward to trying it out, hopefully soon!

	TjL




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