itunes sucks. what alternatives are there?

itunes plain blows. i just wasted 99 cents on a download that isn’t even an mp3, it’s a mp4 and it’s protected somehow so i cant play it in anything but itunes it seems.

where can i download an mp3 and actually be able to manipulate it in an editing suite? Something that’s not going to put an assload of spyware on my computer like limewire.

thanks

There is a lot wrong with it, but it’s the best by far.

There is a program called Switch that can change a MP4 to a MP3, but it won’t work on iTunes Mp4’s

Tintin

Well, it’s a bit of work to do it but one could install a phantom cd drive and “write” that song to it. Then burn it back into an MP3.

I did that once when I needed to convert a song. Apparently Audacity can’t work with the non-protected mp4’s.

If you want I can look when I get home to see what I installed.

Also there is a program somewhere that removes the DRM from iTunes tracks, I can find that. I might have even posted it up here once. Then you could use that Switch program that I’ve never heard of. Tintin, can you link that for us?

And I have to agree with tintin, iTunes is really good. Nothing else legal is going to give you a non-DRM file.

nothing else will work with an ipod…that’s the way apple does…you cant install it on another computer, you cant listen to the music you pay for in anything else (how…freaking…ridiculous…is that…that’s the dumbest thing ive ever heard of)…etc etc the programs terrible anyway etc…

winamp is great but again, nothing will work with an ipod except itunes. apple must control everything their products are associated with. you want customization? too bad.

I believe when you buy a song from iTunes you are allowed to put it in 4 or 5 places. I have only done it a couple times though so I am no expert.

I have been able to move those songs from my iPod to my work computer with all the other MP3s I obtained not from iTunes using this sharepod software. I have not tried to burn any purchased songs to CD, because I haven’t burned a CD since I got my iPod.

rusty use itunes + if it bothers you that much.

If you want a mp3 that badly. Burn a cd with all your “protected” songs on it. Then import the songs under the mp3 format. There problem solved.

[QUOTE=ninerball49;251753]nothing else will work with an ipod…that’s the way apple does…you cant install it on another computer, you cant listen to the music you pay for in anything else (how…freaking…ridiculous…is that…that’s the dumbest thing ive ever heard of)…etc etc the programs terrible anyway etc…

winamp is great but again, nothing will work with an ipod except itunes. apple must control everything their products are associated with. you want customization? too bad.[/QUOTE]

wrong again. you really need to learn what you are talking about. If you want another media player that works with iTunes you can use Music Match Jukebox. Yes it does work with iPod’s because i’ve used it on my iPod before.

iTunes/Mac encourages you to do this because they don’t want you to lose your files. If you need to know how here you go.

Make A playlist. Add 18-20 protected songs on there. Insert a blank disc. Wait a couple of seconds. Then click burn disc at the bottom. After the burn is over your CD will be on the left side where your playlists are. Go to your properties make sure your importing with a mp3 encoder instead of Apple lossless or whatever else they have. go to your cd. On the bottom right corner there is a button called import. Click that and there you go your songs will be in mp3 format. problem solved rusty.

itunes sucks. as a media player and for purchasing music. i’d prefer a nice V0 Mp3 rip to the AAC and MP4 DRM files that itunes provides. i think they sound better and you don’t have to mess with with activating different computers to play files and such. i can’t really reccomend any “legal” sites, but torrents seems to be the way to go these days if you aren’t worried about that. if you are interested, send me an email address and i can get you an invite to oink.

for a media player, there are a bunch of good options out there. most of them come with a lot more flexability than itunes (skins, ripping/encoding. file organization, auto-tagging, etc.).

MediaMonkey: http://www.mediamonkey.com/
this program will sync your ipod. it is free for the basic version and only $20 or so for mediamonkey gold (which includes a few more features)

Heluim Music Manager: http://helium-music-manager.com/
doesn’t do ipods yet, but has some neat features.

There are some other good ones out there. Foobar2000 is probably the best (and free), but a pain to configure. Winamp is another option. You can get a free plugin for both of these programs to manage your ipod.

sweet, thanks dax. i actually needed it converted to aiff, and that worked.

[QUOTE=Max Power;251760]itunes sucks. as a media player and for purchasing music. i’d prefer a nice V0 Mp3 rip to the AAC and MP4 DRM files that itunes provides. i think they sound better and you don’t have to mess with with activating different computers to play files and such. i can’t really reccomend any “legal” sites, but torrents seems to be the way to go these days if you aren’t worried about that. if you are interested, send me an email address and i can get you an invite to oink.

for a media player, there are a bunch of good options out there. most of them come with a lot more flexability than itunes (skins, ripping/encoding. file organization, auto-tagging, etc.).

MediaMonkey: http://www.mediamonkey.com/
this program will sync your ipod. it is free for the basic version and only $20 or so for mediamonkey gold (which includes a few more features)

Heluim Music Manager: http://helium-music-manager.com/
doesn’t do ipods yet, but has some neat features.

There are some other good ones out there. Foobar2000 is probably the best (and free), but a pain to configure. Winamp is another option. You can get a free plugin for both of these programs to manage your ipod.[/QUOTE]

I don’t own an ipod. I download music to use in my videos sometimes, and I have to be able to edit/cut the song. AIFF’s work best with Final Cut Pro. Mpeg files get glitchy and poppy in FCP for some reason.

[QUOTE=Max Power;251760]itunes sucks. as a media player and for purchasing music. i’d prefer a nice V0 Mp3 rip to the AAC and MP4 DRM files that itunes provides. i think they sound better and you don’t have to mess with with activating different computers to play files and such. i can’t really reccomend any “legal” sites, but torrents seems to be the way to go these days if you aren’t worried about that. if you are interested, send me an email address and i can get you an invite to oink.

for a media player, there are a bunch of good options out there. most of them come with a lot more flexability than itunes (skins, ripping/encoding. file organization, auto-tagging, etc.).

MediaMonkey: http://www.mediamonkey.com/
this program will sync your ipod. it is free for the basic version and only $20 or so for mediamonkey gold (which includes a few more features)

Heluim Music Manager: http://helium-music-manager.com/
doesn’t do ipods yet, but has some neat features.

There are some other good ones out there. Foobar2000 is probably the best (and free), but a pain to configure. Winamp is another option. You can get a free plugin for both of these programs to manage your ipod.[/QUOTE]

I believe that statement is relative to the listener. I prefer the non protected AAC files over mp3 because they are a more compressed version of mp3 and AAC 128 kbps file sounds the exact same to me as mp3’s 256 kbps. It’s all a matter of taste. What you do and do not like. Not trying to argue one is better but there are ways around the protected files. Except napster is really stingy with there protected stuff (still haven’t figured that out). But to solve sideshow’s problem he just needs to follow those steps above.

[QUOTE=Sideshow;251762]sweet, thanks dax. i actually needed it converted to aiff, and that worked.[/QUOTE]

i’ve done that with about 2000k purchased itunes songs.

i've done that with about [B]2000k purchased[/B] itunes songs.

Damn dax, does your dog lay golden eggs or something?

[QUOTE=dax;251759]iTunes/Mac encourages you to do this because they don’t want you to lose your files. If you need to know how here you go.

Make A playlist. Add 18-20 protected songs on there. Insert a blank disc. Wait a couple of seconds. Then click burn disc at the bottom. After the burn is over your CD will be on the left side where your playlists are. Go to your properties make sure your importing with a mp3 encoder instead of Apple lossless or whatever else they have. go to your cd. On the bottom right corner there is a button called import. Click that and there you go your songs will be in mp3 format. problem solved rusty.[/QUOTE]

Transcoding will work, but you will lose sound quality. When you burn the disc, it has to convert all of the files to larger .wav files. When you re-import from the disc, it compresses them back down to .mp3. Also a pain in the ass if you have a lot of files you want to remove the DRM from since you can only fit 74 minutes on a CD.

[QUOTE=kevinharbin;251780]Damn dax, does your dog lay golden eggs or something?[/QUOTE]

no spent an entire summer’s earnings my freshman year in college purchasing music from itunes. Seeing how there was a guy caught on campus downloading music illegally and was busted by the RIAA and he was 5 floors below mine.

no spent an entire summer's earnings my freshman year in college purchasing music from itunes. Seeing how there was a guy caught on campus downloading music illegally and was busted by the RIAA and he was 5 floors below mine.

You made enough money in one summer to buy 2,000,000 songs? Where did you work?

[QUOTE=kevinharbin;251786]You made enough money in one summer to buy 2,000,000 songs? Where did you work?[/QUOTE]

meant just 2000 sorry. i’m not that rich haha.