48 replies to this topic

[mancopter]

[raubhimself]

ROBOTHOUSE!, i agree that FLAC is dumb, but OGG is less space AND at least as good quality, if not better. <edit> i have done my own tests on this, ripping an album with 192kbps lame mp3, and ogg vorbis q4 (q4 is 128kbps). the vorbis files were noticably better sounding and smaller in file size.

if i buy a digital device, i don't think it's too outlandish to want to play digital formats on it. just sayin'.

as for DRM, i assume most people that use iTunes have no idea what DRM is all about, or the capabities of it in the future. a choice isn't a good choice unless it is a good informed one.

OSX may have a more thought out interface for you, but it bugs THE SHIT out of me. i like doing as much as possible with the keyboard sometimes, and that just doesn't work in OSX. hell, a bash shell is probably the best interface there is, just has a high learning curve. OSX has an easy learning curve but it plateaus rather quickly.

i can change almost everything on my laptop if i want. my friend has a similar one to mine and we have changed the hard drive, keyboard, screen, and i know it wouldn't be hard to change the CD drive, videocard, or wireless card. so what else is left? the motherboard? well i wouldn't replace that anyways unless it completely went to shit.


ANTI-SKUB


this is probably the dumbest arguing i have ever done.

p.s. i am dead serious about really wanting a macbook pro.

p.p.s. i am not trying to say noone should use OSX. use what works for you. i am just saying that mac products are no where near being the best.

[beefstew]

i don't understand some of what has been said in this thread but have read every word and it has taught me a lot.

what i can say is that i did some research for a school project on the best digital sites in terms of library sizes and the biggest one out there right now is napster. itunes is very close behind it though. the thing that sucks about napster is that the files that you 'buy' and store on your computer are 'rented'. once you cancel your service with them or remove their software the files you 'bought' are no longer any good.

i am a mac user at home and pc user at work and agree with danosaur for the most part on which environments each one works 'better' in. i use my mac at home for pics, itunes, making music, updating web pages and email really. the only thing that has ever been a pain in the as for me is having to get ms office for mac, only b/c i am in school. other than that i love it although i am probably a typical user and have barely scratched the surface as to what a mac can do. i don't use final cut pro, file maker pro, etc, but their dashboard widgets are pretty fucking sweet.

to danosaurs point about the iphone, i have the same problem with the oily-face-on-the-screen thing. i also switched from cingular to another carrier for a reason over 2 years ago and won't go back just for the iphone. the phone is awesome to me, but realistically you'll probably never see me with one. like i said, i don't even have an mp3 player yet!! mini-discs baby!!! haha!!

[capthfc]

you guys are all fucking nerds.
my laptop is a turntable.

[mancopter]

you guys are all fucking nerds.
my laptop is a turntable.

You're a douchehole.

Douchehole.

[John MFer]

as far as an MP3 player that uses it, this one took me like 2 mins to find.

http://www.cowonglob...uct_X5_spec.php

a top seller on amazon, good reviews, functions as a separate drive on your computer, supports MP3, OGG, WMA, ASF, FLAC, WAV. doesnt lock you into iTunes.

they have a dozen other products on their site as well offering similar things. there are others out there too, iaudio is just an easy example.

I got an iAudio X5L for christmas, and it's awesome. Sounds great, lots of options for EQ'ing and such, does a great job recording our band practices at 192kbps stereo mp3 (do iPods record? I don't think so), and the battery lasts 32 hours without recharging. I manage my files using Windows Explorer instead of some proprietary crap software, the X5L shows up as an external hard drive through USB. Plays movies too, if I want, which I don't need now, but whatever.

Also, as far as music services are concerned, I use eMusic. All indie labels, absolutely no DRM, and zero of my dollars go to support multinational corporations that support the RIAA.

[ChristineMFer]

i disagree


ipod's can't play much more than mp3 and their aac format. lame. i want ogg, flac, and other support.

itunes is a horrible music player and the service for buying songs is riddled with DRM. magnatune may not have a good selection but at least i can do whatever the fuck i want with the files i download.

macs aren't really that great. as personal computers you can't be too personal with them. my personal computer should use the hardware that i personally want., and the software that i personally want, and not do things that i personally don't want it to do. even the macbook's are kinda lame in many aspects. no home/end/ins/del/pgup/pgdn keys? only two or three USB ports? for christ's sake my dell inspiron has 6!

everything good under the hood with OSX is because it is heavily based on the BSD kernel. everything good on the front end (in my opinion) is just fancy looks. apple relies so much on mouse usage but even that is a pain in the ass.

Who the hell uses ogg and flac on a daily bassis? Do any other mp3 players? I wont argue that the iPod is perfect, but to disagree that it is the best you need to show one that is better.

OGG is an open source, free format. this is a good thing. many linux users and some windows users choose to use it because it offers better sound quality and smaller file sizes while avoiding the patents that come along with formats such as MP3. FLAC is also open source, free format offering lossless audio. this is important to not everyone, but to some, yes.

as far as an MP3 player that uses it, this one took me like 2 mins to find.

http://www.cowonglob...uct_X5_spec.php

a top seller on amazon, good reviews, functions as a separate drive on your computer, supports MP3, OGG, WMA, ASF, FLAC, WAV. doesnt lock you into iTunes.

they have a dozen other products on their site as well offering similar things. there are others out there too, iaudio is just an easy example.

John and I both have the X5 that you mentioned. It is completely awesome. I recommend this to anyone looking for an mp3 player and isn't stuck on getting an IPOD.

I dropped mine a while back and broke the input jack. It cost me $30 send it back to manufacturer and get it repaired, oh and i got it back within 2 weeks.

Also, the X5 can record "Line In" in mp3 format as well as voice recording and fm recording. That is a big plus for john and i since we use the "line in" feature to record our band practices. I don't think Ipod's do that.

as far as an MP3 player that uses it, this one took me like 2 mins to find.

http://www.cowonglob...uct_X5_spec.php

a top seller on amazon, good reviews, functions as a separate drive on your computer, supports MP3, OGG, WMA, ASF, FLAC, WAV. doesnt lock you into iTunes.

they have a dozen other products on their site as well offering similar things. there are others out there too, iaudio is just an easy example.

I got an iAudio X5L for christmas, and it's awesome. Sounds great, lots of options for EQ'ing and such, does a great job recording our band practices at 192kbps stereo mp3 (do iPods record? I don't think so), and the battery lasts 32 hours without recharging. I manage my files using Windows Explorer instead of some proprietary crap software, the X5L shows up as an external hard drive through USB. Plays movies too, if I want, which I don't need now, but whatever.

Also, as far as music services are concerned, I use eMusic. All indie labels, absolutely no DRM, and zero of my dollars go to support multinational corporations that support the RIAA.

[capthfc]

You're a douchehole.

Douchehole.

if you say so, shirt lifter.

[mancopter]

You're a douchehole.

Douchehole.

if you say so, shirt lifter.

I prefer the term "moobflaunter".

[unluckycharm]

you guys are all fucking nerds.
my laptop is a turntable.

my turntable is a cd shelf

[Danosaur]

you guys are all fucking nerds.
my laptop is a turntable.

my turntable is a cd shelf

my cd's are beer coasters...

[unluckycharm]

someone should make an evolutionary chart

[ROBOTHOUSE!]

DING! XiphQT components is all you need to playback FLAC & Ogg/Vorbis files in QuickTime or iTunes. A must for people like me who have both iTunes and a Linux media player (Rhythmbox/Listen/Amarok) accessing their music library.

[raubhimself]

DING! XiphQT components is all you need to playback FLAC & Ogg/Vorbis files in QuickTime or iTunes. A must for people like me who have both iTunes and a Linux media player (Rhythmbox/Listen/Amarok) accessing their music library.

that's cool and all, but you still can't listen to ogg or flac on your iPod.

[mancopter]

DING! XiphQT components is all you need to playback FLAC & Ogg/Vorbis files in QuickTime or iTunes. A must for people like me who have both iTunes and a Linux media player (Rhythmbox/Listen/Amarok) accessing their music library.

that's cool and all, but you still can't listen to ogg or flac on your iPod.

Does it have format conversion?