iTunes: A Primer for non-geeks Part I: Terminology. What the heck are we talking about?

[barondave]

Enough people have expressed dismay/fustration with iTunes that a brief primer is in order. I'll try to make this as non-techie as possible. All you geeks, please cut this into some slack, but feel free to add or correct in comments.

I have to be a little technical, but if you can handle LiveJournal, you can handle iTunes.

A few definitions:

File types. The songs on a computer may be stored in many ways. Here are the most common for iTunes.

AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format): CD quality audio. A lossless format. That is, you don't lose any information (sound quality) using this format. This format will create the largest file.

MP3 (MPEG Layer 3. Basically, you're making the soundtrack to a video). A compressed format. You will lose some audio quality but the file will be much smaller. The small size of the file is what has made this format the standard.

AAC (Advanced Audio Coding), sometimes known as M4a. An Apple compressed format. Any iTunes or iPod should be able to read and play these files. Like mp3s, you will lose some audio quality but the file will be much smaller. The advantage of aac over mp3 is that aac was specifically designed for this purpose. Aac files can also contain pictures and movies, making it ideal for podcasting and/or video iPods. It tends to be a better compression (that is, the sound is better and the file smaller) than mp3, but won't work if you don't have iTunes or other Apple software.

Files using these methods will have the extensions ".aiff" or ".aif"; "mp3"; or ".aac" or "m4a" respectively. Capitalization doesn't matter for these purposes.

Importing and Exporting

Getting files into your computer. I will, for the sake of a short article, only deal with getting files off a CD and putting them into iTunes, and then taking the files and burning them onto your own CD.

Importing (or Extracting or Converting): Files on your CD are in aiff format. You may extract them to your computer in any format. The tradeoffs are as above: Importing a song in it's original aiff format make a larger file (and your hard drive will fill up more quickly) but the sound quality will be better, and you will be able to burn a CD with no loss of sound quality. Importing a song as mp3 or aac will make a smaller file (easier to send via e-mail or download off the net) at a loss of sound quality.

You can extract a file already in iTunes. If you have an aiff file, you can convert it to mp3; if you have an mp3, you can burn a CD which requires aiff. See below.

Exporting (or Burning). iTunes makes burning a CD remarkably easy: You push the "Burn Disk" button on the lower right (see Part II). (There are other ways to do this as well.)

HOWEVER

There are two types of disks that we will deal with here: Audio CDs and mp3 CDs.

Audio CDs (which will work in all CD players, DVD players and virtually all computers) use aiff files. They ONLY use aiff files. Starting with aiff files will burn a sound file with no loss of data (that is, it will sound the best). In your playlist (see Part II), the number of songs, time and space is listed at the bottom of the window. Generally speaking, you can get about 1.2 hours, just under 800 MB of files. More than this and iTunes will not let you burn an Audio CD (or warn you that it's going to burn more than one).

If you're burning an Audio CD from mp3 or aac files, iTunes will convert those formats to aiff as its burning. This will work just fine, but you may not be able to predict just how large the files will be.

To burn an Audio CD: Under the iTunes menu, select Preferences, select Advanced on the icons at the top of the window, and select Burning from the three choices and click the Audio CD radio button. This is the default, so don't be surprised if it's already selected.

Navigation note: Future instructions will use a bit of shorthand, so the above will be notated:

iTunes --> Advanced --> Burning --> select Audio CD

Important consideration: After you've burned an Audio CD using iTunes, the CD will appear in the left pane of iTunes with the CD name and track information. This information only appears on your computer. The CD will play on another computer, but file information is not part of the aiff format.

More on Audio CDs later.

MP3 CDs (which virtually all computers can read, all DVD players and most CD/car stereos made in the last few years) use mp3 files. Probably aac files as well, but you're then limited to computers with from Apple or with iTunes. Mp3 CDs can hold a LOT more songs, but you'll lose some audio quality and you probably can't play them on your stereo.

The mp3 format includes file information. That is, the name, artist, album etc is carried on the CD along with the song itself. Any information you see on your computer when you burn the CD will appear in the iTunes of someone else's computer, and much of the information will be available on any mp3 reader (the name/grooup/album will be in your iPod).

The aac format may include even more information, such as links and pictures, as long as they were part of the original file. That's why aac is used for podcasting and such.

To burn an MP3 CD: iTunes --> Advanced --> Burning -- select MP3 CD.


Update: Part II: Extracting music from a CD into iTunes --A. Where do the track listings come from?

Comments

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

My big question is why it constantly crashes on me. If I've had it open and close it, if I try to re-open it without restarting the computer, it crashes. I also can't open at all if if the iPod isn't attached to the machine.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

I assume by "it" you mean iTunes on a Mac.

If I had to guess (and this is just a guess) I'd say you have some non-Apple audio program (including any program that uses audio, such as a DVD player) open. Are you using the latest version? If you need to restart the machine, that implies something annoying going on in the background, such as lots of Microsoft .dll files taking space.

Only when an iPod is attached? Go to Apple Menu --> System Preference --> CDs and DVDs --> When you insert a music CD --> Open iTunes. Put in aCD and see if that works. (Yes, you can find the System Preferences in the dock.)

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

If you ARE using the latest version (i.e., 7.0 or later) that may be the problem, especially if you have a Windows PC. iTunes kept prompting me to upgrade to the newer version and I eventually accepted the offer. BIG MISTAKE! Ever since I upgraded, my computer has been hanging regularly, usually requiring a powercycle. It hangs while importing a CD if there is any flaw in the CD or if I have too many other programs open. If I burn a CD while doing ANYTHING in another program, it is likely to hang just after finishing the burn. Occasionally it even hangs while I am just playing music

I did some searching online and discovered that the 7.0 upgrade for Windows was a disaster - not only did it hang and crash computers, it frequently corrupted the iTunes library!! 7.0.1 was an improvement, and 7.0.2 is better yet, but still prone to problems.

[asimovberlioz.livejournal.com]

I have had zero problems with 7.0.2, running on a Windows XP Home machine. Both 7.0 and 7.0.1 gave me problems, sometimes ripping a CD ver-r-r-r-y slowly; 7.0.2. is a big improvement.

In fact, I refused to buy an iPod until Apple finally figured out how to do gapless playing, which is an absolute necessity for many classical music works, and therefore a requirement for me. I'll be happier yet when iTunes, and the iPod firmware, permit grouping tracks into "works," the way one sees classical works listed and sold at the iTunes Store.

I'd also be delighted if they'd call tracks tracks instead of "songs."

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Done!

Gapless album is a checkbox in Get Info.

[asimovberlioz.livejournal.com]

Errr.... I know. A friend (who knew that it was an issue for me) was following Steve Jobs' presentation last September 16th and as soon as gapless playback was mentioned, emailed me with the news. If I hadn't just had some expensive dental work, I would have ordered immediately, but I did order when I got my next paycheck.

[mmagidow.livejournal.com]

Golly, I will be glad when they (and the rest of the world) calls them cuts. Is that SO old school?

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

That sounds like my problem.

[ckd]

Minor nitpick: AAC, while it is the default format for iTunes, and is used for songs sold via the iTunes Store, is not solely an Apple format. (Among other devices, my Sony Ericsson cell phone supports AAC.)

You will not be able to play "protected AAC" files from the Apple Store on anything but iTunes or an iPod, however.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Apple has consistently been 3-5 years ahead of the PC world, and AAC Format (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/technologies/aac/) is a good example. It's not solely an Apple format, but Apple is the main device that uses it for iTunes/CD burning purposes. While mp3s aren't going away soon, I suspect more and more people will use aac (or allow for it).

I'm not fond of the "protected AAC" format either. You can, however, burn the file onto a CD (which will convert it to aiff) and thence back. The long way around, to be sure.

[emiofbrie.livejournal.com]

And as an FYI, protected AACs usually carry the file extension ".m4p" I've noticed.

[calimac.livejournal.com]

That seems sort of vaguely grokkable. Thanks. I'll mentally file it away in case I ever need it.

The CD rip & burn programs on our computers convert the CD files to .wav files when ripping and storing, and back again when burning. I've always assumed that .wav is a lossless file, in fact I sure hope so, but I don't know for sure.

[fmsv.livejournal.com]

.wav and .aiff are pretty much the same; the only real difference is the endianness of the samples, and probably some differences in the file headers.

[calimac.livejournal.com]

"endianness". Huh. I just looked that up. Learn a new word every day.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

All makes sense except for one thing. If I buy a CD and read it into iTunes, the names of the CD and all the tracks pop up. Clearly, these are encoded in the CD somehow. If commercial CDs use the AIFF format, and iTunes burns CDs with the AIFF format, then why don't the CDs burned with iTunes have the track info that came with the original CD?

[fmsv.livejournal.com]

Actually, they aren't encoded into the CD. You've just been lucky that all the CDs you've bought have been in the Gracenote system. AIFF is just a format for storing audio; there's nothing in there for storing title information. iTunes just pulls the CD name and track names from Gracenote seamlessly behind the scenes. (If you want to check this, try putting a newly-purchased CD into iTunes running on a computer that's not connected to the net. Unless iTunes downloads all of Gracenote's database when it installs, which I doubt, the CD will come up without the CD name or track names.)

[asimovberlioz.livejournal.com]

You may want to note, for those who would recognize the old name, that Gracenote is the new name for what used to be the open-source CDDB, with data input by users in what would now be regarded as a Wiki-like manner. There is a free alternative, called FreeDB, which is used by Exact Audio Copy and perhaps some other Windows applications. I don't know about Mac or *X.

I believe your initial guess is the correct one; Gracenote queries each time via an Internet connection. Since success depends on somebody else having entered the contents of the CD before you, this means that brand-new and/or obscure and/or foreign items might not be found. I'm not looking forward to hand-entering the contents of my 35-CD Felix Weingartner Edition on Shinseido-EMI, for example.

Naturally, since the ID3 format isn't a whole lot more classical-friendly than its predecessors, there is little consistency among entries for classical CDs; and anybody who has ever even met me in passing over the last thirty years will be able to make the accurate guess that I'm none too pleased about this. Still, the presence of a "Composer" field helps some.

[fmsv.livejournal.com]

I'd thought about putting in a parenthetical rant about Gracenote, but decided that it would just confuse the point I was trying to make. I personally find Gracenote's actions in going commercial with the data submitted by users pretty obnoxious, and every CD we enter in to a system (we use it for CD cataloging) goes into FreeDB rather than Gracenote.

[asimovberlioz.livejournal.com]

I agree with you; that is very irritating.

I wish there were a way to hack iTunes (for the PC) so that one could point it at FreeDB instead. I've experimented with some classical CDs and have found that sometimes the ID3 data in FreeDB is more usable by my standards. Before iTunes 7.0.2 solved the slow-ripping problem, I was actually using Exact Audio Copy with an AAC codec, and then putting the files into folders and importing these into iTunes, and cleaning the entries up there.

While I'm complaining: Since I do not buy any music other than that on pressed CDs, I don't have to deal with DRM, but on general principle I am of the opinion that we need a Slayer to take care of the RIAA once and for all.

Submit to CDDB

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Every CD has a unique ID (in theory). The information is NOT kept with the CD itself. iTunes checks with CDDB, and if your CD ID # matches something in its database, it sends the info down to you.

On the other hand...

If you do want to add your CD to CDDB (sort of iffy, since you don't have the rights to the songs, but we're well under the radar), put the CD back in the computer. When the listing comes up, go to Advanced --> Submit CD Track Names. That will (in theory) put your tracks on the net. Make sure everything is spelled right...

Try it, and let me know, and I'll see if your listing comes up on my computer.

Re: Submit to CDDB

[asimovberlioz.livejournal.com]

markiv1111's "Water Over the Bridge" is in Gracenote. Probably many other self-published CDs, too.

Re: Submit to CDDB

[barondave.livejournal.com]

"Self-published" is vastly different than "Mix CD".

Re: Submit to CDDB

[asimovberlioz.livejournal.com]

Sorry, didn't realize that's what you were talking about. Perhaps in my Copious Spare Time I'll make a mix CD of some sort, upload the data to Gracenote and/or FreeDB, and send you one to see which works.

Re: Submit to CDDB

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

I finally did this. The popup said it was accepted. I'd be curious to know if it worked.

Re: Submit to CDDB

[barondave.livejournal.com]

I have one with 24 tracks, which isn't the same CD by the database. You'll have to ask someone else.

Re: Submit to CDDB

[(Anonymous)]

If you burn a CD from iTunes, the tracks will show up on your own computer, because it stores it in the "iTunes Music Library.xml" file in the /Music/iTunes folder.

But I am wondering: if you burn a Mix-CD, submit info to CDDB, will it then show up on other computers? And after how long? I can not imagine that the millions of people burning a Mix-CD, will all have their info on CDDB...but if so, how is that info filtered?