iTunes update to address truncating glitch

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Apple is working on a maintenance update to its iTunes software that will address a number of performance issues, AppleInsider has learned, including nasty bug which shaves off a portion of the last track during CD imports.



Apple reportedly became aware of the truncating problem following a flurry of reports from disgruntled users who've been congregating on the company's support forums for the past three weeks.



One, going by the name of dlalla, reported that since upgrading to iTunes 7.6.1, all his CD imports have resulted in the last 6 seconds of the final track getting cut short.



"I'm having the same issue, and didn't notice it until today," said another. "Considering the volume of CDs I import on a regular basis, this is going to be a real pain - I have to go back now and figure out when I upgraded, and what I have imported since then that will need to be fixed."



Other users confirm the glitch to have turned up as part of the iTunes 7.6.1 update released February 21st. They note that the issue is particularly prevalent while importing to compressed formats such as AAC or MP3 using a speedy optical drive. Users of slower optical drives say they haven't noticed the issue.



While they await the forthcoming iTunes update, some users have resorted to a workaround. They've found that by importing the final track of each CD to AIFF format, then converting it to a compressed format afterwards, they can avoid the problem.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 23
    stompystompy Posts: 408member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    "I have to go back now and figure out when I upgraded, and what I have imported since then that will need to be fixed."



    The support forums probably have the following tip (but no link from AI). It's pretty simple to make a smart playlist that will identify potentially bad rips.

    1. "Date Added" "is after" "2/20/2008"

    2. "Track Number" "is" "1"



    Get info on the first track, see if 7.6.1 was used to encode it. Command + N through the playlist.

    This will identify each CD that might have the 6 second problem; then listen to the last track to verify good/bad rip.



    Sucks if you ripped a lot in those 3 weeks though.
  • Reply 2 of 23
    zanshinzanshin Posts: 350member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by stompy View Post


    The support forums probably have the following tip (but no link from AI). It's pretty simple to make a smart playlist that will identify potentially bad rips.

    1. "Date Added" "is after" "2/20/2008"

    2. "Track Number" "is" "1"



    Get info on the first track, see if 7.6.1 was used to encode it. Command + N through all tracks.



    Sucks if you ripped a lot in those 3 weeks though.



    I didn't think anybody bought CDs anymore... Aren't they dead? Where would you even go to find one to buy???



  • Reply 3 of 23
    porchlandporchland Posts: 478member
    I've had problems getting the optical drive in my PowerBook to eject a disc after I burn it since the last update of iTunes.
  • Reply 4 of 23
    webfrassewebfrasse Posts: 147member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by zanshin View Post


    I didn't think anybody bought CDs anymore... Aren't they dead? Where would you even go to find one to buy???







    amazon.com. It's cheaper than on iTunes and MUCH better sound quality.



    /Mikael
  • Reply 5 of 23
    louzerlouzer Posts: 1,054member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by stompy View Post


    The support forums probably have the following tip (but no link from AI). It's pretty simple to make a smart playlist that will identify potentially bad rips.

    1. "Date Added" "is after" "2/20/2008"

    2. "Track Number" "is" "1"



    Get info on the first track, see if 7.6.1 was used to encode it. Command + N through all tracks.



    Sucks if you ripped a lot in those 3 weeks though.



    Isn't item #2 incorrect, since it is the last track, not the first one, that is bad?
  • Reply 6 of 23
    and here was I thinking that my DVD drive laser was *ucked...



    Apple and 21st Century QA = 0



    I never buy from iTunes store as Amazon is so cheap and you get a real CD to sell later on in life.



    Anyone here tried to sell off an iTunes purchased item?
  • Reply 7 of 23
    I think this iTunes issue is only affecting iTunes for Windows users, not iTunes for Mac users.



    I was unable to reproduce this problem on my Mac Pro, and I checked the MP3s I imported earlier this week using 7.6.1 (9). All were fine.



    Anyway, I'd be interested to hear if any Mac people are affected by this bug or if this is limited to the Windows version.
  • Reply 8 of 23
    stompystompy Posts: 408member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Louzer View Post


    Isn't item #2 incorrect, since it is the last track, not the first one, that is bad?



    I should have specified, this will identify the rips that might have the 6 second problem, not the specific tracks.



    Not sure what rule would get you the last tracks from varying length albums, and I wanted to limit the results to 1 track / album so I could quickly scan the "Encoded with" info. (My assumption is that all tracks on an album would be ripped with the same software/version.)
  • Reply 9 of 23
    stokessdstokessd Posts: 103member
    the iTunes MP3 encoder is about as crappy as they come. I'd recommend using Max to rip the CD (which uses cdparanoia) so you have some reasonable confidence that what you are about to encode is really what was on the CD. Then use LAME to do the actual encoding. The LAME algorithm is really much better sounding (at the same bitrate) to my ears than the fraunhoffer encoder in iTunes. Then drop the encoded files into iTunes.



    Sheldon
  • Reply 10 of 23
    chris_cachris_ca Posts: 2,543member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by stokessd View Post


    the iTunes MP3 encoder is about as crappy as they come.



    Why use MP3 at all?
  • Reply 11 of 23
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Chris_CA View Post


    Why use MP3 at all?



    Exactly!!



    All of you people who are way behind need to update your album collections to nice, open source, full quality FLAC files!!



    I'm surprised how stubborn Apple is; they still hasn't added support for it in iTunes or the iPod, yet.



    Until then I will use Banshee or Winamp!
  • Reply 12 of 23
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Louzer View Post


    Isn't item #2 incorrect, since it is the last track, not the first one, that is bad?



    please think before you post, ALL CDs have a track 1



    the more i see of the world the less logic i find applied to it \
  • Reply 13 of 23
    demenasdemenas Posts: 109member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 4 Chord Max View Post


    I think this iTunes issue is only affecting iTunes for Windows users, not iTunes for Mac users.



    I was unable to reproduce this problem on my Mac Pro, and I checked the MP3s I imported earlier this week using 7.6.1 (9). All were fine.



    Anyway, I'd be interested to hear if any Mac people are affected by this bug or if this is limited to the Windows version.



    I heard the problem about a week ago on a recent rip on my Mac Pro with 7.6.1 and OS X 10.5.2. I haven't gone back and checked other rips. I do a LOT of rips.



    Steve
  • Reply 14 of 23
    demenasdemenas Posts: 109member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by stokessd View Post


    the iTunes MP3 encoder is about as crappy as they come. I'd recommend using Max to rip the CD (which uses cdparanoia) so you have some reasonable confidence that what you are about to encode is really what was on the CD. Then use LAME to do the actual encoding. The LAME algorithm is really much better sounding (at the same bitrate) to my ears than the fraunhoffer encoder in iTunes. Then drop the encoded files into iTunes.



    Sheldon



    I rip to AAC at 256kbps.



    Steve
  • Reply 15 of 23
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by demenas View Post


    I rip to AAC at 256kbps.



    Thanks Steve; I'm trying to determine whether there's any value in writing an Applescript workaround for this.



    Unfortunately, I think iTunes for Windows needs VB to automate, if it can at all...



    Steve, is your Mac Pro PowerPC or Intel-based? Just trying to narrow whether it's a G5 thing.



    I'm ripping 192kbps MP3 without any issues. Also using 10.5.2. Also using error correction when importing and do NOT play songs while importing or converting.



    If any other Mac people are seeing this issue with their imports, please respond to this thread. Also note if it's just the last track or all tracks that are getting cut off. Thanks in advance.
  • Reply 16 of 23
    demenasdemenas Posts: 109member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 4 Chord Max View Post


    Thanks Steve; I'm trying to determine whether there's any value in writing an Applescript workaround for this.



    Unfortunately, I think iTunes for Windows needs VB to automate, if it can at all...



    Steve, is your Mac Pro PowerPC or Intel-based? Just trying to narrow whether it's a G5 thing.



    I'm ripping 192kbps MP3 without any issues. Also using 10.5.2. Also using error correction when importing and do NOT play songs while importing or converting.



    If any other Mac people are seeing this issue with their imports, please respond to this thread. Also note if it's just the last track or all tracks that are getting cut off. Thanks in advance.





    Hi,



    I have an Intel Core 2 Duo Mac Pro from mid 2006 (the first Intel Mac Pro) with 6GB RAM.

    I always have Error Correction on and do NOT play songs while importing or converting (except for those times I accidentally hit the Play button!)



    The only one I have heard was the last track. I'll try and go through my recent rips tomorrow.



    Steve
  • Reply 17 of 23
    stokessdstokessd Posts: 103member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Walter Slocombe View Post


    please think before you post, ALL CDs have a track 1



    the more i see of the world the less logic i find applied to it \



    Whoosh!!!!



    That's the sound of the concept completely missing you. The idea wasn't that the track listed is bad, the idea is that you now have a list of albums that are potentially bad where you now have to go in and check the last track. It's much harder to make a smart folder that lists the last track of every album but super easy to make one that lists the first track.



    If you note the date of creation would be after iTunes 7.6.1.



    Sheldon
  • Reply 18 of 23
    I found another work around to overcome the truncating glitch, which does not require any intermediate compression nor changing the audio format.



    After inserting your CD and before importing it, select the last track, open the info dialog (Apple+I), go to the Options pane and check the "Begin" and "End" checkboxes leaving the duration of the song as detected from the CD. Save this setting and import the track: now iTunes during the import will be forced to read the whole track until its end.



    In this way I managed importing the last track at its full length.



    (iMac G5 2.1GHz running Leopard 10.5.2 and latest iTunes).
  • Reply 19 of 23
    elrothelroth Posts: 1,201member
    It's an issue for Macs (iMac G5). I had ripped about 90 CDs since installing iTunes 7.6.1, and 12-14 were bad. I checked them by loading the CD and comparing the last track's time on the CD with the time of the imported track in iTunes. A couple of tracks were 1 second short, most were 3-5 seconds short.



    Re-importing was fine - only once did the imported single track have the same problem (in that case I dragged the file from the CD to the desktop, opened with iTunes (which imports it as AIFF). I converted using the Advanced menu and then deleted the AIFF file). I only use Apple Lossless - I don't know if the amount of compressin makes a difference.



    It took about 2.5 hours to fix it all.
  • Reply 20 of 23
    stompystompy Posts: 408member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by elroth View Post


    It's an issue for Macs (iMac G5). I had ripped about 90 CDs since installing iTunes 7.6.1, and 12-14 were bad. I checked them by loading the CD and comparing the last track's time on the CD with the time of the imported track in iTunes. A couple of tracks were 1 second short, most were 3-5 seconds short.



    Just another point of reference, my library has two 7.6.1 rips, one was ok, the other was 3 seconds shorter than the CD. The missing time was originally silent anyway, maybe that's normal? (iMac Intel, Apple Lossless rip)
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