So... what's so bad about iTunes anyway?

[finlay666]

He must store every single Music ever created since the dawn of time

Maybe not

I have 70gb of music, only in 128kbps MP3, it would be a LOT more in terms of storage if it was stored in a lossy codec or even uncompressed such as WAV

[pipTheGeek]

I use iTunes as a media player because I like the interface.
@dangel, iTunes is the only media player I know of that actually looks like a windows app. Even if it does ignore the system colours.
@funkstar, if you mark all the tracks as part of a compilation then it will group them under the album instead of by artist then by album.
I don't own an iPod or an iPhone or anything else that starts i. I don't like the fact that iTunes always installs the iPod service or that I have to install a load of code that is for upgrading the firmware on an iPhone, but I live with it becuase I haven't found anything preferable yet.

If anyone can help with an alternative, my music is stored on a file server, everyone shares the same physical library but rate the tracks differently and use smart playlists to exclude stuff they don't like. I also use iTunes DJ. I haven't yet found another media player that has something equivilent.

[Funkstar]

@funkstar, if you mark all the tracks as part of a compilation then it will group them under the album instead of by artist then by album.

So I have to go through all my correctly tagged MP3's manually then?

They all have the same album name and all tagged as being part of a compilation already. Why doesn't iTunes pay attention to the meta data already there?

[Terbinator]

@funkstar, if you mark all the tracks as part of a compilation then it will group them under the album

I think that's his issue^

[pipTheGeek]

Fair enough. I had assumed that it would pay attention if the information is in the mp3 tag information, but I have only ever (seriously) used iTunes so I don't know how well it plays with correctly tagged files from other media players. Although downloads from Amazon always seem to be correctly located.

One thing that did annoy me recently was they removed the option for not using the track number in the filename, no warning or anything. I upgraded, all fine, my wife went to open iTunes and it couldn't find most of the tracks. I had to write a little app to fix the file paths in her library file.

PLEASE, someone suggest a media player that looks like a windows app and has something equivilent to iTunes DJ!

[kalniel]

So I have to go through all my correctly tagged MP3's manually then?

They all have the same album name and all tagged as being part of a compilation already. Why doesn't iTunes pay attention to the meta data already there?

Check the artist field - what got me was tracks with the same album name but different artists, for example collaborations. Once edited to the same they work okay, but it's not as nice a way of grouping it as other programs (by default).

Edit - I guess you know that, reading page 1 of the thread

[Terbinator]

PLEASE, someone suggest a media player that looks like a windows app and has something equivilent to iTunes DJ!

In what sense ? i.e. : "file, tools, help" going across the top ?

[Lucio]

He must store every single Music ever created since the dawn of time

The sad fact is, knowing Lee, that's probably 5000 varients of the same song remixed by differnet DJ's

[Lee H]

The sad fact is, knowing Lee, that's probably 5000 varients of the same song remixed by differnet DJ's

Isn't that what dance music is anyway...

I'll have you know my music collection is varied and spans from House, through all the dance and trance types, through to the dubstep and D&B genre with a bit of grime and then indie to throw a spanner in the works

My most used folder though is my collection of all the essential mixes from 1993 onwards and if I load that up on it's own in itunes this alone is enough to make my system crawl to a stutter. Personally, I've used WMP for quite a while now as it does the job (plays music when I need to) and it's management is good as well.

[jimborae]

What get me is quite often when adding a ripped cd to iTunes it will duplicate every track for some reason. Also when I create ringtones despite them showing in Itunes that they are on the phone when I go to select them on the phone only is showing.

I'm sure if I knew all the tricks on how to use iturds properly I wouldn't hate it as much as I do but it is so unintuative and it shouldn't be!

[pipTheGeek]

In what sense ? i.e. : "file, tools, help" going across the top ?

Yes. I expect windows applications to look and behave in a certain manner. It means I can work out how to use it easily.

I'm sure if I knew all the tricks on how to use iturds properly I wouldn't hate it as much as I do but it is so unintuative and it shouldn't be!

The reason I tolerate it is becuase I didn't need to learn any tricks. This is the advantage of it using standard conventions. I've always found it to be the most intuative media playing application. But I don't have to deal with syncing it with an iPod.

Sorry, I'm starting to sound like a fanboy. I'm not, but I am a programmer who is easily annoyed by any application that doesn't behave as I expect, and that includes all media playing applications I have tried to date.

PS - No, I'm not a fan of the office ribbon either, although I understand the reasoning behind it so I'm more tolerant of that than I am of how WMP looks/feels.

[Marcos]

I didnt care for iTunes at all until i got an iPod, it did seem clunky, until you the 2 work very well together. When the Genius feature was added, iTunes became irreplaceable.

[dangel]

So here's a little investigation into iTunes - you got me interested.

So, 93mb download - which breaks into:



Half of that it actually iTunes, the other half is a mixture of stuff I don't want, Apple's (doubtless) emulation layer to allow their mac app to run on Windows (call it a framework) and various other bundles of joy including an ever-aggravating updater app. At this point we've 100mb+ of compressed files to install - how big is this thing exactly?



Well, ballpark that's 329mb.. TBH this isn't filling me with hope, but let's install this tarball..

Oh hang on..



Argh, so where's the 64bit installer? Oh it's in the teeny tiny small print - and says it's for Vista.. But i'm running Windows 7. Ok i'll press on and hope it works.. back in a while..

[TooNice]

PLEASE, someone suggest a media player that looks like a windows app and has something equivilent to iTunes DJ!

Foobar2k? It has a menu bar. I call it the 'tweakers' music player. Basically the basic install is so vanilla you might even wish it was more like iTunes, WMP or Winamp. But if you take time to learn, you can make exactly how you want it. Or you can check if what others have made suits you.

[Terbinator]

So here's a little investigation into iTunes - you got me interested.

So, 93mb download - which breaks into:

Bonjour ?

Kill me now, please.

[Mike Fishcake]

Argh, so where's the 64bit installer? Oh it's in the teeny tiny small print - and says it's for Vista.. But i'm running Windows 7. Ok i'll press on and hope it works.. back in a while..

It works fine - I'm using it with my ipod touch with no problems! (though I do only use itunes for syncing really - hardly ever use my ipod for listening to actual song files. It's either internet stuff, games, other apps or last.fm!)