Next version of iTunes (iTunes 5?), any word?

24

Comments

  • Reply 21 of 65
    rongoldrongold Posts: 302member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Danosaur

    You should be able to link songs together, so that even in shuffle they will play in order. They're sort of like "mini-playlists" which can range from two to a hundred songs.



    I'll elaborate if that's unclear.



    It would also be nice if when playing those linked songs together on an iPod there would be no gap between them as the iPod loads. Great for songs that follow each other and run into each other on an album.




    Quote:

    Originally posted by DanMacMan

    I do that with Quicktime Pro. For example on the Bob Seger Live Bullet album, Travelin' Man and Beautiful Loser are meant to string together as one, however iTunes rips them apart. So I opened Travelin' Man into Quicktime and the same with Beautiful Loser, then copy that and paste it into the first song. Export it out as an aif file, and reimport it back into iTunes as one aac file.



    You can already do this. Have you checked the Advanced menu item in iTunes. Just SHIFT-click the songs you want joined together in a contiguous order, then in the Advanced menu, scroll 3/4 of the way down and select Join CD Tracks.



    You get something like this:







    The song names here happen to be movements but you get the picture.
  • Reply 22 of 65
    rongoldrongold Posts: 302member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by shetline

    CD-Text is at best second place to... GAPLESS PLAYBACK*! iTunes, and iPods as well, desperately need gapless playback.





    *At this point someone will typically pipe in and say "iTunes already has that!", either totally not understanding the problem, or not understanding the gapless playback problem enough, so that they suggest turning on crossfade and setting the time to 0.




    iTunes already has that. See my above post.
  • Reply 23 of 65
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by rongold

    iTunes already has that. See my above post.



    And you've misunderstood the issue... as predicted.



    iTunes "Join CD Tracks" option only joins (drum roll, please)... CD tracks. So it only helps when you're ripping from your own CDs, doesn't do a damn thing for you with iTunes Music Store purchases, and also comes at the price of losing individual access to each track.



    True gapless playback works across tracks encoded as independent files. It requires not just carefully designed playback software, but, for optimal performance, requires extra information encoded into each track to aid in creating seamless intertrack transitions.
  • Reply 24 of 65
    Quote:

    Originally posted by shetline

    And you've misunderstood the issue... as predicted.



    iTunes "Join CD Tracks" option only joins (drum roll, please)... CD tracks. So it only helps when you're ripping from your own CDs, doesn't do a damn thing for you with iTunes Music Store purchases, and also comes at the price of losing individual access to each track.



    True gapless playback works across tracks encoded as independent files. It requires not just carefully designed playback software, but, for optimal performance, requires extra information encoded into each track to aid in creating seamless intertrack transitions.




    Nonsense. It just needs to have already buffered the previous song. This is my only real complaint with iTunes, mainly because it's so easy to fix.
  • Reply 25 of 65
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by gregmightdothat

    Nonsense. It just needs to have already buffered the previous song. This is my only real complaint with iTunes, mainly because it's so easy to fix.



    No, it's not quite so easy as that, unless you're talking about losslessly encoded music. The reason it's not so simple has to do with the way compressed music is processed as "frames" of audio, and the related issue of "padding".



    The duration of a compressed track is slightly greater than the duration of the corresponding original track, due to extending the track to fill a complete number of frames (typically each frame is 1024 samples, or about 1/43 sec. at 44.1 kHz), and due to padding, which is added to simplify the encoding process.



    Completely smooth gapless playback requires additional data to inform the playback system exactly where the "real" audio data begins and ends, so that padding can be trimmed away. Otherwise, no matter how competently one handles the buffering, there can still be dropouts and glitches.



    Additionally, the waveform changes caused by compression might disrupt the way the waveform at the end of one track fits together with the waveform at the start of a following track. This problem isn't solved by simple buffering, but can be solved with additional data to ensure consistency in a small part of the lead-in and lead-out waveforms.
  • Reply 26 of 65
    Quote:

    Originally posted by shetline

    ...



    Oh... thanks and sorry to have doubted you :P
  • Reply 27 of 65
    james bjames b Posts: 21member
    A major feature I'd like is itunes broadcast. where anyone can create there own radio station.



    i don't think they should all appear in the radio section. but you could send someone the link, and they can listen to what you're listening to.



    Seems simple enough.



    Also, on screen controls during fullscreen visuals.



    And kiosk mode, where I can make iTunes full screen and control access with passwords to certain controls. like deleting a song. So you can use iTunes at a party for example or in a shop.



    Lastly, the number of tracked inside a playlist next the the playlist name (like iPhoto has), but in small blue letters instead. I'm sure they'll add this cause iPhoto has it.
  • Reply 28 of 65
    endymionendymion Posts: 375member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by James B

    A major feature I'd like is itunes broadcast. where anyone can create there own radio station.



    i don't think they should all appear in the radio section. but you could send someone the link, and they can listen to what you're listening to.





    Not built-in, but Nicecast will do what you describe.
  • Reply 29 of 65
    icfireballicfireball Posts: 2,594member
    here is an Idea:



    I doubt this would be the case but it is possible. In iTune 5, there is compatibility with Apples own PMD (portable media device); and thus a store where you can download movie trailers (for free) and music videos (for free...maybe?), and full length movies or tv shows (for a price -- duh). I think the TV shows would be a good idea. You get on to iTunes, and bomb...you missed that one episode of desperate housewives...boom...you download it (using H.264 of course),

    and than iTunes 5 transfers it to your iPod for instant viewing...and instant gratification. And did I mention that it would no longer have comercials?



    And by the way...you can already veiw movie trailers and music videos inside iTMS.
  • Reply 30 of 65
    Quote:

    Originally posted by James B

    And kiosk mode, where I can make iTunes full screen and control access with passwords to certain controls. like deleting a song. So you can use iTunes at a party for example or in a shop.





    Agreed. That would be very nice and practical indeed!



    We should send all these suggestions to http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunes.html

    It can't hurt.
  • Reply 31 of 65
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    h.264 requires far too much power for viewing on an ipod.
  • Reply 32 of 65
    stevesteve Posts: 523member
    I'd like to see a library sync engine built into iTunes 5.



    I have a Windows desktop and a Mac laptop, and I always get screwed up when going from one to the other, since music inevitably ends up getting spread across both. Sure, you can stream from one or the other, but your Smart Playlists, etc. don't change, which kind of defeats the entire purpose of them. I'm sure they could just evolve AutoSync from keeping track of and merging data between iPod and iTunes, to multiple computers.
  • Reply 33 of 65
    Really, there are only a couple of features I would like to see added. Apple needs to extend the "Group Compilations While Browsing" functionality to the iPod. Also, I am an avid user of Smart Playlists but I find myself limited by having to choose either "all" or "any" operators. I would like to be able to logically group the conditions that define the playlist. So I could do:

    ( A or B ) and C



    And of course, CD-TEXT!
  • Reply 34 of 65
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    I too vote for CD-TEXT!



    It requires absolutely no user interface... it should just work.
  • Reply 35 of 65
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Steve

    I'd like to see a library sync engine built into iTunes 5.



    I have a Windows desktop and a Mac laptop, and I always get screwed up when going from one to the other, since music inevitably ends up getting spread across both. Sure, you can stream from one or the other, but your Smart Playlists, etc. don't change, which kind of defeats the entire purpose of them. I'm sure they could just evolve AutoSync from keeping track of and merging data between iPod and iTunes, to multiple computers.




    I think integrating iTunes with the sync engine in Tiger will eventually come. I don't know what the RIAA will think though. And the sync engine is only for Tiger, so not so much as far as compatibility goes.
  • Reply 36 of 65
    tednditedndi Posts: 1,921member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Xool

    I think integrating iTunes with the sync engine in Tiger will eventually come. I don't know what the RIAA will think though. And the sync engine is only for Tiger, so not so much as far as compatibility goes.



    I agree. If I own the music and have authorized it on multiple machines then I should be able to synch it.
  • Reply 37 of 65
    jms698jms698 Posts: 102member
    Another idea: Integrating Spotlight with iTunes (if this isn't already working in Tiger). At the moment, if I move an MP3 file on the hard drive, the reference to it in iTunes breaks. However, if they iTunes playlists were dynamically built by Spotlight on demand, there would never be a "broken link" problem.
  • Reply 38 of 65
    tednditedndi Posts: 1,921member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jms698

    Another idea: Integrating Spotlight with iTunes (if this isn't already working in Tiger). At the moment, if I move an MP3 file on the hard drive, the reference to it in iTunes breaks. However, if they iTunes playlists were dynamically built by Spotlight on demand, there would never be a "broken link" problem.



    great point!! then if you have music stored on external hard drives etc. itunes would "know" where all of the music lives!!



    a great implementation of spotlight for those of us with large music files and laptops.



    It would free a ton of needed space on my powerbook's drive.
  • Reply 39 of 65
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    Quote:

    Another idea: Integrating Spotlight with iTunes (if this isn't already working in Tiger). At the moment, if I move an MP3 file on the hard drive, the reference to it in iTunes breaks. However, if they iTunes playlists were dynamically built by Spotlight on demand, there would never be a "broken link" problem.



    Brilliant. And like Ted said it would free up much needed space on my PowerBook.
  • Reply 40 of 65
    r3dx0rr3dx0r Posts: 201member
    i'd rather see them add multiple music source folders (one as default so you don't get prompted every time you import music) and the ability to change using 'get info'). adding spotlight would kind of disable itunes's way to organize your music imo.
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