Use & Enjoy Your A/V Gear : iTunes

The Genius of iTunes 8 learns slowly

Ralph — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 14:49:00 GMT

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...(read more)

Fill 'er up: Autofilling your iPod shuffle

Jim Ralston — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:15:00 GMT

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....(read more)

The Genius of iTunes 8 has much to learn

Ralph — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:44:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Ralph — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:10:00 GMT

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...(read more)

iTunes Tune-up 12: Upgrading older files

Ralph — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:58:00 GMT

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...(read more)

iTunes Tune-up: Managing Holiday Music

Ralph — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:30:00 GMT

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...(read more)

iTunes Tune-up 11: Upgrading Sound Quality

Ralph — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:18:00 GMT

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...(read more)

Want to play tag with HD Radio and iTunes?

Jim R — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 19:06:00 GMT

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...(read more)

iTunes Tune-up 10: Natural selection

Ralph — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 13:10:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Ralph — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:40:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Ralph — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 18:15:00 GMT

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...(read more)

Free and legal -- the best kind of music downloads

Ralph — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 16:47:00 GMT

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...(read more)

You don't need an iPod to hear a podcast

Ralph — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 21:03:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Ralph — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 13:05:00 GMT

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...(read more)

How to get more from music stored on your computer

TaraW — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 13:10:00 GMT

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...(read more)