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The Genius of iTunes 8 learns slowly

Back in September I posted my experience with the Genius feature of iTunes 8 . My admittedly eccentric library proved something of a challenge to the then-new application, and I promised to retest Genius in a few months. For those not familiar with this...

Published Sun, Feb 1 2009 9:49 AM by Ralph

Filed under: iTunes, Ralph, Genius

Fill 'er up: Autofilling your iPod shuffle

Recently, I found myself getting ready to mow the grass on an unseasonably warm weekend afternoon, and I decided I'd rather listen to music than the drone of a lawnmower engine. (My Klipsch in-ear headphones help tremendously with this kind of thing....

Published Wed, Oct 29 2008 10:15 AM by Jim Ralston

Filed under: Jim Ralston, iPod, iTunes, iPod shuffle

The Genius of iTunes 8 has much to learn

iTunes 8 has several new features, including Genius . Highlight a song and click the Genius button, and a playlist is instantly generated from your library of other songs that relate to your selection. And if you open the Genius sidebar (the button in...

Published Thu, Sep 18 2008 4:44 PM by Ralph

Filed under: iPod, iTunes, Ralph, Genius

iTunes Tune-up 13: Crossfade and pick up the pace

As I listened to my iPod the other day, it occured to me that there was something wrong. The song selection was excellent, of course -- after all, I'd hand-picked every tune loaded into the library -- but there wasn't much excitement. Was I *gasp* getting...

Published Fri, Feb 29 2008 2:10 PM by Ralph

Filed under: iPod, iTunes, smart playlist, Ralph, podcasts, song, radio

iTunes Tune-up 12: Upgrading older files

In my last iTunes Tune-up post I talked about changing the import default to burn CD tracks at a much higher bitrate for better sound quality. Since that time, music I've added has sounded great. But what about all those songs I had already saved at 128kbps...

Published Tue, Jan 22 2008 4:58 PM by Ralph

Filed under: iTunes, Ralph, sound quality

iTunes Tune-up: Managing Holiday Music

In olden times my parents kept the family's holiday music in a separate part of the record cabinet. The LPs came out in November, and went back in early January. We carried on the same tradition with CDs, until I ripped them all into iTunes. But changing...

Published Mon, Dec 10 2007 10:30 AM by Ralph

Filed under: iPod, iTunes, smart playlist, Ralph, music, holiday

iTunes Tune-up 11: Upgrading Sound Quality

I recently moved my iTunes library to an external hard drive. While it meant I could greatly expand the number of songs I could have in my library, the primary reason for the move was so I could upgrade the sound quality of the music I stored. iTunes...

Published Fri, Oct 26 2007 7:18 AM by Ralph

Filed under: iTunes, MP3, song, sound quality, compression, music

Want to play tag with HD Radio and iTunes?

Here's a new feature that's about to be introduced on select HD Radio™ receivers: a special "Tag" button that lets you queue up songs you hear on certain HD Radio channels for later purchase through iTunes®. Here's how it works: as you're listening to...

Published Fri, Oct 12 2007 3:06 PM by Jim R

Filed under: iPod, iTunes, HD Radio

iTunes Tune-up 10: Natural selection

Ripping a CD to iTunes is simple enough. But moving a large collection of music from compact disc to iTunes can be time-consuming. Here are three simple tips I've discovered to make the process go a little faster. It may only take a few seconds off the...

Published Thu, Oct 4 2007 9:10 AM by Ralph

Filed under: iTunes, tune, computer, song

iTunes Tune-up 9.1: Moving your library off a laptop

In my last post I talked about relocating my iTunes library from my PC's hard drive to an external drive. The process worked so well, I decided to do it to my laptop, too. My laptop serves as a portable office, and I have it with me just about all the...

Published Thu, Sep 27 2007 3:40 PM by Ralph

Filed under: iPod, iTunes, Ralph, computer, song

iTunes Tune-Up 9: Moving your library up and out

It didn't take long for the size of my iTunes library to start taking over my computer's hard drive -- especially once I started saving songs at a higher bitrate for better audio quality. Fortunately, it was pretty simple for me to move my cramped collection...

Published Tue, Sep 18 2007 2:15 PM by Ralph

Filed under: iPod, iTunes, Ralph, computer, song, sound quality, compression

Free and legal -- the best kind of music downloads

There's a growing concern about unauthorized music downloading, and the legal consequences it can bring. What's not talked about are the thousands of free, legal downloadable songs available on the Internet. Many artists offer free tunes from their catalog...

Published Wed, Aug 22 2007 12:47 PM by Ralph

Filed under: iTunes, podcasts, MP3, Internet, music listening, free downloads, song

You don't need an iPod to hear a podcast

What do you call a series of free downloads that automatically arrive on your computer? A podcast. TMC recently reported on a study by TDG that shows that while approximately 11 percent of online consumers listen to at least one podcast a month, for most...

Published Thu, Aug 9 2007 5:03 PM by Ralph

Filed under: iPod, iTunes, podcasts, MP3 player, Internet

iTunes Tune-up 8: Pump Up (or Down) the Volume

I assembled my iTunes library of 4,000+ tunes from a variety of different sources. As a result, the volume levels varied greatly from track to track, making for a less-than-ideal listening experience. iTunes provided a simple fix that works for most of...

Published Fri, Jul 27 2007 9:05 AM by Ralph

Filed under: iPod, iTunes, Ralph

How to get more from music stored on your computer

If you've complained about the poor sound coming from your computer, but haven't gotten around to doing anything about it -- there's no time like the present and you won't have to take out a loan to hear a vast improvement. I have an extensive music collection...

Published Tue, Jul 24 2007 9:10 AM by TaraW

Filed under: iTunes, music listening, Sonos, computer, streamer, Escient

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