Apple Releases Major iTunes Update 910
shunnicutt writes "Apple has released iTunes 4.5 (and iPod software 2.2 and QuickTime 6.5.1) and relaxed some iTunes Music Store restrictions: now tracks you purchased can be authorized to play on up to five other computers, instead of three. However, they reduced the number of times you can burn a playlist to an audio CD from ten to seven. Another new feature is iMix, which allows you to publish playlists on iTMS, including comments on each track. The iTMS also offers a weekly free single for download."
crazney adds "This release also changes their network sharing protocol in a way that breaks the open source iTunes sharing applications that have been released (based on my work on iTunes 4.2's DRM)."
kefoo writes "Among the new features is Apple Lossless Encoding, which claims to compress losslessly to half the size of uncompressed CD quality audio." Hm, and I was about to re-rip all my CDs at 320 kbps MP3 ...
Update: 04/28 14:56 GMT by P : I just tested, and I can listen to previously de-DRM'd AAC files from playfair, but I cannot use either playfair or FairTunes any longer. The former "Couldn't get DRM key for user," and the latter produces a blank file.
iTMS now accessible through firewalls! (Score:5, Informative)
I love the addition of two more authorized computers as well. I'm getting a new PB this spring to give my four Macs/PCs that I would have iTunes on and now I can keep them all authorized!
Re:But it's not in software update yet?!?!? (Score:5, Informative)
PlayFair'ed files not working? (Score:5, Informative)
Multiple Downloads (Score:5, Informative)
My one complaint with the service is that you can't download the source file multiple times. So, I may have a license to listen to it, but I have to get the file from somewhere, if I lose it. They let you listen to your music on 5 machines, but you have to transport the file itself to those machines, by yourself. A real pain in the butt.
Beyond that, it's fantastic, and I recommend it to anyone shopping for a service.
iTunes campus goals (Score:5, Informative)
Also new (Score:5, Informative)
Also new is the ability to import unprotected WMA into iTunes, and an iPod update [apple.com] to support Apple Lossless Encoder.
And last, iMovie 4.0.1 [apple.com] has been released.
Re:iTunes 4.5 is a screen hog (Score:1, Informative)
And thank Zeus for Desktop Manager [sourceforge.net].
Correct iTunes on Campus URL (Score:5, Informative)
Re:iTunes 4.5 is a screen hog (Score:5, Informative)
If you're talking about the "Join Tracks" feature, this is not new to iTunes 4.5, it has been around for quite some time. If you're talking about a new feature for gapless output, then I'll be a very, very happy user.
Actually, that's my only real gripe with iTunes & my iPod: lack of gapless playback. iTunes has a crossfader, which, if you set it to 0 seconds, does a pretty good job of playing tracks as they should sound on a CD, but it's not perfect, and no such solution exists for the iPod. I know it's an often-requested feature for the iPod, I just hope we see it sometime this year.
Re:iTunes 4.5 is a screen hog (Score:4, Informative)
check out space.sourceforge.net. Space.app is multiple desktops for the mac. been using it since like 10.1
New Party Shuffle feature the best part of 4.5 (Score:5, Informative)
In the past, I have used a playlist I call "now playing" to move music in and out of during a party. This can be a real pain when you really just want to play a few playlists back to back.
Party Shuffle changes all that. It allows you to easily DJ a party. You select how many "just played" songs and how many "upcoming songs to show. You then select a source, be it your music library or a playlist or a smart playlist (think Rock or Pop where 1979 year 1990). You then can easily manage what is coming up in the list and view what just got played. You can click the "refresh" (where Burn and Import are) and the list will be regenerated at random. You can also give preference to the higher ranked songs in your library.
Lastly, and this is a feature of the entire music library, not just playlists or Party Shuffle, the same "arrow" icons that show up in the iTMS when you search for a song are present in iTunes. This means you can click an arrow for a song name, album, or artist and it will launch a search on iTMS. But say you don't like that feature? Well you can of course turn it off in preferences, but you may also hodl down "option" and click it. The result? it searches only YOUR library, not the iTMS.
Re: losslessly to half the size of uncompressed CD (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Multiple Downloads (Score:3, Informative)
2. You don't have to copy the files to 5 different machines. Have it on one, iTunes will stream it to the others. The machine still has to be authorized to play it if it's protected. But you do NOT have to physically copy the file.
Re:This whole limit of computers... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Multiple Downloads (Score:3, Informative)
Matt Fahrenbacher
Re:iTunes 4.5 is a screen hog (Score:5, Informative)
I've submitted this feature request to apple each time they release a new iTunes version, but still nothing
Hey slashdotters : help me convince apple of this feature ! click here [apple.com] and ask apple to provide networkable playlists (so NOT copying the tracks over the network, only their URL) Let's see if this can work !
Crap crap crap (Score:5, Informative)
Don't install it if you don't have time to upgrade all your computers, if that sort of thing matters to you.
Re:Missing: Basic Features (Score:5, Informative)
Yea, they should definitely sacrifice hardware sales to support this free program! Why didn't they think of that?
Hello? Apple makes money off iPods, not iTunes or the iTMS.
Re:Also new (Score:4, Informative)
Re:iTunes 4.5 is a screen hog (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Apple Lossless encoding (Score:5, Informative)
Re: losslessly to half the size of uncompressed CD (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Missing: Basic Features (Score:5, Informative)
>
> Now with Selective Listening
>
> Of course your party deserves a great soundtrack, and iTunes
> helps you jump-start your set list. The new Party Shuffle feature
> creates a dynamic playlist, similar to shuffle play, from either your
> entire library or a designated playlist. You can review upcoming songs
> to reorder or delete on the fly, taking charge like the DJ you always
> wanted to be. You or a guest can add songs to the mix at any time. If
> you like the random picks, you can always save them in a personal playlist.
> And of course, you can use Party Shuffle when listening to music alone,
> too. So your playlist is always full, and always full of good tunes.
>
And I think your "gapless playback" could have been helped with the preference for the gap between songs (though that nay only apply to burning CDs). In any case, I agree that it's a very important feature for stuff live albums and arty, no-break albums (of which I have a couple).
I minor nitpick... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:wine? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Missing: Basic Features (Score:2, Informative)
Queueing: Drop the track you want to queue onto the "Party Shuffle" icon.
Gapless playback: Turn on "Crossfade playback", and drag the seconds slider to zero.
Re:iTunes 4.5 is a screen hog (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Apple Lossless encoding (Score:4, Informative)
Umm...it's not unoffical. Apple touts it on their website [apple.com].
iTunes 4.5 is a resource hog (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Lossless Encoding at Half the Size? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Lossless Encoding at Half the Size? (Score:4, Informative)
gzip and bzip2 are meant for text. Only with rare audio files will they achieve much of any compression whatsoever. FLAC achieves about 50% compression on average, depending on the source material. All other lossless audio schemes achieve similar compression, within about 5%. The big advantage FLAC has is that it uses only integer ops for decoding (making it very fast and non CPU intensive). That also means FLAC has a number of hardware decoders already on the market.
Re:iTMS now accessible through firewalls! (Score:2, Informative)
In fact unless you distribute to many people, or intend to charge money for copies you are STILL not breaking the law.
Comment removed (Score:2, Informative)
Re:PlayFair'ed files not working? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:wine? (Score:3, Informative)
Not exactly "basic" features (Score:3, Informative)
Are you refering to Apple Lossless encoding? This is not a DRMed encoding. It is lossless and creates large files (8-10 times as large as an AAC or MP3) but is not copy protected.
You also ripped on iTunes not working with other music players. This is just FUD. It most certainly works with a large list [shopping.com] of 3rd party players.
Finally, I noticed how many links ot other applications, little addons, etc you listed. I ask you, is it worth all the trouble of locating these other applications and getting them to work with something other than iTunes? Why not just use the complete package. Nothing is going to satisfay everyone, but are your complaints against iTunes loading slowly or not being able to download songs off an iPod as easily as you want really worth the hastle?
Me thinks you wish you had an iTunes/iPod music solution but are trying to justify why you haven't spent the money.
Re:iTMS now accessible through firewalls! (Score:5, Informative)
Yes I am. I live in the UK, which is in the EU which recently passed a law, not unlike the ones in the USA, which prohibit ripping from media that you already own for personal use. It's been discussed here before.
It's only a matter of time and sods law before someone is sent to jail for it.
Re:I minor nitpick... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Apple Lossless encoding (Score:2, Informative)
When you add a WMA file to the library, it says, "One or more of the songs you are adding to iTunes, including , are in the WMA format. iTunes will automatically convert them to the MP3 format so that they can be added to your iTunes music library."
Now I can finally convert all these old WMA files that idiots kept ripping thinking they had MP3's.
Re:This whole limit of computers... (Score:5, Informative)
If you are recording from one digital device to another; as long as the data stays in the digital domain, jitter is not recorded. The only thing actually captured is a sequence of amplitude values; digital media simply have no provisions for storing information about individual sample timing. The timing is based implicitly on the sampling rate and is freshly re-created by the digital-to-analog converter's clock every time the audio is played back.
Even digital-audio tape systems don't play audio directly from the tape. Instead, they pass the data through a RAM buffer from which a clock pulls individual samples and sends them to the outputs. As a result, variations in tape speed or data spacing aren't reflected in the output data.
Although jitter causes distortion on playback -- and can certainly generate unalterable distortion during the A/D process when recording from an analog source -- it is not recorded when making a digital dub or when recording between digital devices.
Re:Multiple Downloads (Score:3, Informative)
So back them up [apple.com]. Or maybe you want to do an incremental backup [apple.com].
Re:This whole limit of computers... (Score:2, Informative)
Gapless "Join Tracks" feature (Score:4, Informative)
"Join tracks" is an unacceptible solution, IMHO. I still use iTunes, though. I just live with the small gaps.
Re:I minor nitpick... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Update shows iTMS needs more selection (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Slight change in the rules... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:iTMS now accessible through firewalls! (Score:3, Informative)
Nope. Cross the pond and come to America--it's not criminal infringement unless its for "commercial gain." (as in, "I don't want to pay for it.")
Comparison of Lossless Formats (Score:3, Informative)
http://members.home.nl/w.speek/comparison.htm [members.home.nl]
Apple's new lossless codec isn't included, but will have a tough time beating the speed/size ratio of Monkey's Audio.
Re:iTunes 4.5 is a screen hog (Score:5, Informative)
Re:ACK! (Score:2, Informative)
Still no proper" join" (Score:5, Informative)
I'm guessing I will have to cave in and re-rip all my CDs that should not have gaps between the songs.
By the numbers (Score:5, Informative)
140,000,000 - Annualized song sales at current rate
100,000,000 - Number of songs projected to be sold in 1st year
70,000,000 - Number of songs sold the first 365 days of the service
2,700,000 - Current rate of songs sold per week
1,000,000 - Number of songs available by the end of 2004
700,000 - Number of songs available now (5/04)
450 - Number of indy publishers with music on-line
10 - Previously allowable identical CD burns
7 - Currently allowable identical CD burns
5 - Current number of authorized PCs and/or Macs
3 - Previous number of authorized PCs and/or Macs
70% - Market share of iTMS digital music sales
5% - Market share of Apple desktop/laptop/server sales
0 - Number of more successful on-line music services
Re:iTunes 4.5 is a screen hog (Score:0, Informative)
Re:Lossless (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Still not using it (Score:5, Informative)
Granted, there is no mechanism to do it (yet), but you could indeed sell your entire library at once by simply transferring your account to someone else.
Re:Missing: Basic Features (Score:3, Informative)
It shouldn't be that hard, and yet people (myself included) have been screaming for it since version 2 at least.
Re:I minor nitpick... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:This whole limit of computers... (Score:3, Informative)
Basically, an audio CD does not have sectors. However, when software reads data from a CD, be it audio or other data, it requests this in sectors.
Data CDs do use sectors, I believe of 2352 bytes in size, where only 2048 bytes are used for data and the rest for error detection and recovery.
For some reason a lot of CD drives do not return the data for audio CDs on the exact same boundary when a certain sector is requested. So if you look at the CD as a large stream of data and you request the second sector then some CD drives will one time return the bytes at offset 2350 through 4702 and a subsequent call may return 2354 through 4706.
Hence jitter.
Most CD ripper software compensated for this (usually through some setting or command line option). They'd read overlapping sectors to check for jitter.
I always used Plextor drives because they were known to not have this problem (plus they could sustain at high datarates). If, or rather When, I'm going to digitize my CD collection I will absolutely use a Plextor drive.
I'm writing this mostly in the past-tense because it has been a few years ago that I messed with this. I would imagine that most CD/DVD drives today are a lot better.
Smart Playlist Enhancement (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Missing: Basic Features (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Update shows iTMS needs more selection (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Update shows iTMS needs more selection (Score:2, Informative)
Radiohead's hands are tied because they are contracually obliged to produce singles and videos for their record label. Signing the contract was neccessary for launching their careers, especially in pre-Internet 1990. Perhaps they regret the contract now?
Regardless, they have said that now that they have fullfilled their obligations and are contract-free they will be pursuing alternative methods of releasing their music. That's really the test of how true to their art they are.
Radiohead isn't an example of a band lying about their intentions, they're just another example of RIAA member companies' continued mistreatment of their artists.
Re:My personal iTunes wish list (Score:5, Informative)
Create your playlist, "Rock List" as such:
- if genre == rock
Then create your second list, "Highly Rated Rock" as:- if my rating > 3
- if playlist is "Rock List"
and you're done. Easy.Lossless audio compression is nothing new (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Older iPods? (Score:1, Informative)
It already does! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:DRM Agreement Changed. (Score:1, Informative)
But what if, as you say, they made things incredibly worse? What would happen? Would fire and brimstone rain from the skies? No. People would just stop buying songs from iTMS. This is the nature of a free-market. They aren't FORCING me to agree to their terms. I have agreed because I feel, as they do, that the terms are fair, but the agreement is not binding for all future music purchases. If Apple, at the request of the RIAA, changed their DRM to a more draconian model, I would simply stop logging into iTMS and giving them money.
Re:FLAC in iTunes (Score:1, Informative)
By the way, even if iTunes doesn't understand how to tag a file, you can still assign all the tag info; it's just that it only exists in the iTunes database and does not get copied to the audio file itself.
Re:iTunes 4.5 is a screen hog (Score:3, Informative)
A sub-second pause is the current state of affairs on the iPod. Try to keep up.
The iPod pre-caches about 30 minutes of music at a time, and starts grabbing the next 30 minutes into memory before the first 30 completely runs out, so it already does exactly what you say it wants you to do. The rest of us are just whining about the presense of that tiny sub-second gap, which is annoying when listening to Dark Side of the Moon or other albums where the tracks lead into each other continuously.
Re:Encoding is free if your time is worth nothing. (Score:3, Informative)
There is a pretty good way around this, but it seems to slow down importing by about 25%.
Go to Preferences->Importing, and check "Use error correction". This has worked for me on a some pretty scratched up disks. Even allowed me to get around a CD that had DRM on it. (on a mac, haven't tried that on my PC yet).
Re:Apple lossless (Score:1, Informative)
1. Monkey Audio (Best)
2. Flac
3. Apple Lossless
4. Windows Media Lossless
quick and dirty Apple Lossless Encoding analysis (Score:5, Informative)
Re:By the numbers (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Apple lossless (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.nue.tu-berlin.de/forschung/projekte/lo
Which in turn points to this link as the basis for the standard:
http://www.nue.tu-berlin.de/wer/liebchen/lpac.htm
Possibly this is what they're using?
Re:Does this update require a new MPEG2 component? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Far Out There (Score:3, Informative)
Apple Lossless is an encoding scheme for music you import into iTunes, not music you buy from the iTunes Music Store. iTMS still uses 128kbps AAC files.
Re:videos not available for saving (Score:1, Informative)
Or if you're really lazy just get iGetMovies - a freebie app that caps safari and itunes movies easily:
homepage.mac.com/djodjodesign/
Re:iTunes 4.5 is a screen hog (Score:3, Informative)
Re:iTunes 4.5 is a screen hog (Score:3, Informative)
This is not Informative. Crossfade does not make it gapless. The best it can do is provide the illusion of gapless playback by fading into the next song before the gap starts. If you have tracks with fast beats that run together with no gap, you will notice a glitch when the fade happens. It is NOT a proper solution.
And Steve says the people at Apple are music lovers. I say bullshit. If they were, they'd have fixed the gap problem long ago. The solution's easy.
Re: Why is seamless playback so hard? (Score:2, Informative)
What does work is ripping the whole CD as one continuous file and using a cuesheet in the metadata to store track info. Song names, start/stop times, etc. Then modify the player to skip around just as if they were different tracks.
THAT part surely isn't too hard. I just don't think Apple is interested because most users don't give a shit. Send feedback now [apple.com].
Re:updating iPod troubles (Score:2, Informative)