itunes sync help

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Hey folks,

Sorry for creating a new thread but hopefully I'll get some quick help and then we can let this thread die.


Ok so my issue is that about half my music is lossless and the other half is between 128-320kb/s.

Ideally what I'd like to do is sync the non-lossless stuff without any conversion and have the "convert higher bit rate music to 128 AAC" convert my lossless stuff. This is because I can't fit it all on my ipod without converting some of it and for now I'd prefer to convert the lossless stuff.

Problem is that the "convert higher bit rate music to 128 AAC" appears to be an all or nothing deal. I don't want that.

The other alternative is to manually convert all the music that I want to have in a lower bit rate. This is a pain in the ass too because then I'd have to have duplicates in my library and I'd have to manually convert a ####load of music.

Typically in the past I have used the "manually manage music" option. The issue I have is that manually managing music is a pain in the ####ing ass. #### doesn't sync so if I change artwork, I have to basically do it twice. If I DL a new iOS, I have to completely redo my entire library.


Any constructive ideas? Suggestions? Am I missing something with itunes that can help avoid this issue?

I'd like to have my library auto sync but so long as I have to either have all my music sync as is or have it all converted to 128 aac I'm going to have an issue.

[sclitheroe]

Edit: nevermind I got the question backwards - I thought you wanted to preserve the lossless stuff and convert the lossy stuff.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

I've decided to just say #### it and convert everything above 128, which is what happens when you click "convert high bit rates to 128 aac".

Seems the only other option is to do the converting myself, delete the lossless files from my library (but leave them on my HD) because otherwise it'll sync two copies of each of the files.

According to the interwebs I shouldn't really notice if I downsize all my songs that are above 192-320kb/s.


That being said if anyone has any ideas let me know.

[DownhillGoat]

Could you not just create a new library, with only the lossless files, convert them, and then add them back into your original library? Or am I missing the question entirely?

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Could you not just create a new library, with only the lossless files, convert them, and then add them back into your original library? Or am I missing the question entirely?

This sounds promising.

Create new library with only lossless files and remove all lossless files from original library. Convert them and move smaller bit rate files back into original library.

Then original library is nothing but more manageable sized files, don't get double syncing issues.

I'll be honest I have no idea how to do that except the converting part.

I could basically have a lossless library and a regular library. When I upgrade to a 64g iPhone I just delete duplicates from the smaller bitrate library, move lossless files back in to original library and sync.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

This sounds promising.

Create new library with only lossless files and remove all lossless files from original library. Convert them and move smaller bit rate files back into original library.

Then original library is nothing but more manageable sized files, don't get double syncing issues.

I'll be honest I have no idea how to do that except the converting part.

I could basically have a lossless library and a regular library. When I upgrade to a 64g iPhone I just delete duplicates from the smaller bitrate library, move lossless files back in to original library and sync.

That's basically what I did. I've more or less just archived my lossless stuff. For day to day things I usually just use my lower bitrate versions, but once I start to do more streaming to my good stereo or get a bigger iPhone, I'll probably bring the lossless stuff back again.

I really wish Apple would allow you to vary the 128 setting though. I'd love it if I could have a library of mostly lossless stuff and then have it automatically convert it to 160 or 192 when it transfers it to my phone. Then I could just have one library, but oh well. It's not the most elegant solution but it works.

[DownhillGoat]

So after typing up a lengthy post about how to create 2 libraries then merge them after, I did some poking around on the converting function in itunes.

It looks as though it converts them on the fly and does not store a lossy copy on your computer. So by checking convert, it will only do it to the files on the ipod when it's synced.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

So after typing up a lengthy post about how to create 2 libraries then merge them after, I did some poking around on the converting function in itunes.

It looks as though it converts them on the fly and does not store a lossy copy on your computer. So by checking convert, it will only do it to the files on the ipod when it's synced.

Unfortunately though, it will convert only an entire library, not just some stuff. So if you have a bunch of songs at 160 or 192 that you'd like to keep that way (since the file size difference between those and ones at 128 is fairly marginal) you can't use that option without downgrading your entire collection to 128.

If a person can live with 128 AAC for their entire collection on their device (and for the most part those sound pretty good), then it's a great option. But if you want something a little higher you're kind of out of luck with that option.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by opendoor

Unfortunately though, it will convert only an entire library, not just some stuff. So if you have a bunch of songs at 160 or 192 that you'd like to keep that way (since the file size difference between those and ones at 128 is fairly marginal) you can't use that option without downgrading your entire collection to 128.

Aaaaah. Now I see the issue.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

I've figured out how to create a new library so I think I can do this.